Data quality

At the recent Analytics and Financial Innovation Summit in Minneapolis, attendees weighed in on whether credit unions have have what it takes to effectively dig into big data -- and, if they don't have it, what will it take to get it?

Not all data providers are created equal, and credit unions must carefully evaluate any new partner’s technology, processes and more.

MIT professor Maria Loumioti has studied loans made strictly using hard data and loans where a loan officer clearly was influenced by personal connections or feelings about a borrower. The results shed light on the value and limitations of "soft" information.

Big data is a key for banks to better understand what financial products underbanked consumers and small businesses need.

The credit bureaus will change the way they include information about tax liens and civil judgments in credit reports. This could spur lenders' use of alternative credit data.

The president's executive order reflects a lack of trust in the identity information shared between countries. In theory, blockchains are tailor-made to solve this problem, but current systems may not be up to the task.

Financial innovation will stall unless we, as an industry, collaborate on a universal data gathering standard.