TransUnion Pleased with VantageScore(sm) Reception and Marketplace Traction

With the introduction of VantageScore(sm) being only two months old, TransUnion is already seeing significant traction in the marketplace among its customers. Engagement of TransUnion resources and testing of VantageScore against customer portfolios is already underway by many of TransUnion’s national customers as well as mid-size financial institutions, credit unions, the automotive industry, mortgage lenders and others. “The positive response from TransUnion customers is a clear indication that the market was looking for choice, clarity and consistency that VantageScore brings,” said Jeff Hellinga, TransUnion’s president of U.S. Information Services. “Like many of our customers, we have been very pleased with the preliminary test results against other generic risk models in the market.”

To assist its customers with testing, analysis and adoption, TransUnion established a dedicated VantageScore team. Using VantageScore in combination with a customer’s own portfolio and historical data from TransUnion’s proprietary database, TransUnion’s implementation team can “re-score” a customer’s entire portfolio and then track the results up to the current reporting period. Those results can then be compared against the results obtained from the incumbent model.

“This testing approach enables customers to clearly see the benefits of VantageScore,” said Chet Wiermanski, one of the creators of VantageScore and vice president of Analytics for the company. “Our ability to retrospectively examine a client’s applicant base to identify consumers that were denied credit using an older model and then subsequently measure credit performance with a product opened at similar time is a valuable tool customers are using to help establish the value offered by VantageScore. This superior risk predication multiplied by tens of thousands of missed opportunities can quickly impact the bottom line.

In addition to testing and validation, another clear indication of market acceptance is programming by the top vendors that work in the credit card and financial arena and code for scoring models. CGI-AMS and Magnum Communications will be among the first vendors to complete acceptance programming for VantageScore in May.

VantageScore is the first of its kind to leverage a consistent scoring methodology across all three national credit reporting companies. The score is unprecedented in that it looks at and analyzes data at the same point in time on the same consumer records from all three national credit reporting companies. VantageScore was developed using a national sample of anonymous credit information of approximately 15 million consumers and uses a score range of 501-990.

To learn more about VantageScore and how to begin testing it with TransUnion against your portfolio, contact Jason Wright at jwright@transunion.com.