When Anita Chalkley moved from Australia to the United States 16 years ago, she unexpectedly joined the ranks of the “credit invisibles” — without a U.S. credit history, even basic tasks like putting down a deposit for an apartment and getting utilities connected became hardships. Today, as SVP for credit acquisition strategy at Synchrony, she is involved in efforts to improve credit access through non-traditional underwriting data.
On the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast — presented by Agri-Access — Chalkley and Synchrony Chief Credit Officer Max Axler discuss Synchrony’s business-to-business-to-consumer card-issuing business model. As part of the bank’s efforts to safely grow the number of people eligible for credit, it has incorporated “consumer-consented cash flow” into its suite of data, allowing the underwriting model to view how consumers make financial decisions with their spending and saving even if they don’t have a traditional credit history — and thus expanding access to credit.
They also discuss the bank’s participation in the OCC’s Project REACh using this data. “ We see that more than 50% of the consumers reach a prime plus, prime or better credit score within 12 months, and if we track that further, they maintain it over the coming period as well,” says Chalkley. “That’s really changing the lives for these consumers and opening up access across more financial products in the ecosystem.” Chalkley and Axler also discuss the bank’s development of Synchrony Prism, which incorporates technology and credit analysis to add more attributes to the underwriting decision.
This episode is presented by Agri-Access.
- Click here to download the episode if you can’t see the player above.
- Learn more about the ABA Foundation’s Get Smart About Credit program, celebrated year-round but especially on October 16.
In this episode
Chief Credit Officer
Synchrony
SVP, Credit Acquisition Strategy
Synchrony
