What’s ahead for 2019?

With a global reach that spans over 34 countries, one in seven consumers in the world have information housed on TransUnion infrastructure. Using sophisticated dynamic analytics tools and with significant investment in our technology, we have expanded the breadth and depth of our data to become a leading global risk information solutions provider, and we’re really excited to bring this knowledge to the UK marketplace.

As we look to 2019, there are a number of exciting developments ahead, including the introduction of our trended credit data. This allows us to identify consumer behaviours not previously possible, and is not a single product but a concept that enhances many of our products. This data can provide key indicators of revenue and risk, identify balance trends to tell us about where the consumer is headed, and can deduce spend by examining previous and current balances and payments.

David Ross, our chief technology officer, said: “The ability to segment consumers based on their behaviour is enhanced by trended credit variables and algorithms, leading to an improved ability to match consumers with the right offers. Using trended data, the scores can better predict delinquency or default by taking advantage of the predictive power of our proprietary algorithms.”

Our trended data solutions can improve lender and consumer outcomes through more precise insights. In the US for example, TransUnion’s trended data has meant that 26 million previously unscoreable consumers can now be scored, and upwards of 23 million more consumers are now considered super prime. Our full suite of capabilities harnessing this insight ensures value can be delivered across the lifecycle in a range of operating environments.

Success stories include a financial institution that was experiencing a drop in response rate to their credit card solicitations. By optimising their targeting with trended data, they increased the response rate to over four times what it had been.

In another example, a major car finance provider needed to grow stagnating originations, but could not increase their overall risk profile. Using trended credit insights, they were able to approve many of the applicants they had been turning down, and without raising risk levels.

David continues: “It’s cases like these that highlight just how impactful this data can be. We have many more similar stories across a host of different business sectors and are looking forward to bringing this additional level of insight to bear for our UK customers.”

In other exciting developments, we’re building on our current leading affordability solutions and leveraging new legislation around Open Banking to help deliver greater visibility of consumer finances.

Open Banking came into force at the start of this year and offers unparalleled insight into a consumer’s affordability, by enabling them to explicitly share current account data, including payment and repayment commitments, when and with whom they choose.

Will North, our core credit director said: “Our testing shows that Open Banking data is very complementary to existing credit and affordability reporting; providing the most granular data source available, allowing detailed income and expenditure categorisation and new predictive attributes and scores.

“The enhanced insight that Open Banking can bring will assist businesses in many ways, ranging from helping to deliver pre-approved credit cards, loans and overdrafts, to monitoring for financial stress or changing circumstances, while consumers will enjoy a smoother customer journey and more tailored product and service offering.”

We’ll be at the Open Banking Expo in London on 27 November, where our head of product for Open Banking, David Firth, will be looking at how Open Banking might change the affordability and credit reference landscape and what it means for consumers.

We’ll also be hosting a debate on the journey towards mainstream adoption and sharing more news about our Open Banking solution. Find out more here