The Score

Hosted by VantageScore

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Latest episode

Sep 2024

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About the show

Join Jeff Richardson he hosts VantageScore’s newly recast podcast, THE SCORE podcast, for the lending community. Each week he and his guests—journalists, academics, researchers, and others in the know—explore concepts important to lenders like you. Tune in and learn what you need to know to tap new credit-worthy borrowers to grow your portfolio—while supporting financial equality and inclusion.

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60 recent

September 9, 202410 min

The Impact of AI in FinTech

According to the World Economic Forum, 85% of financial services organizations are using AI in some capacity. It’s no secret the artificial intelligence ‘arms race’ is impacting virtually every industry, especially financial services. It’s also creating interesting and novel challenges for every industry, both in its application and its usage. It’s often said that technology advances faster than regulation. Is that the case with artificial intelligence, or are the rules of the road keeping pace with innovation? And how should fintech companies approach AI governance to ensure fair outcomes?Tamra Moore is VantageScore’s Deputy General Counsel. Tamra has over 15 years of experience as a thought leader on legal issues associated with the use of AI and machine learning. She joins The SCORE this week to discuss the importance of centering the consumer experience in AI usage. Listen to the episode here.

August 21, 202412 min

Bank of America: VantageScore 4.0 is “Better” for Mortgage

To date, nearly all mortgage loans continue to use outdated credit scoring models, though in other loan categories, much newer, more predictive, and inclusive models are most commonly used. But the mortgage industry is advancing. By next year, all mortgage loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will require a VantageScore 4.0 credit score. In advance of this change, Bank of America recently issued an independent research report analyzing the VantageScore 4.0 mortgage data set. Pratik Gupta is the Head of CLO & RMBS Research at Bank of America Securities. Pratik joins The SCORE this week to discuss the findings of Bank of America’s recent research into VantageScore 4.0. Pratik outlines his findings and reasons his team of analysts concluded it’s “better” for mortgage than the incumbent score. Listen in to learn more.

July 23, 202417 min

A $1 Trillion Opportunity?

It's been called the “$1 trillion opportunity.” Currently, the housing market is paralyzed. Homeowners are left out of the market due to a lack of inventory or—even worse—can’t access it due to outdated credit scoring models that exclude them. Recent VantageScore research found an estimated $1 trillion of pent-up growth potential in the form of borrowers who have historically been left out of homeownership opportunities due to unfairly restrictive, decades-old scoring models. But that's all changing with the implementation of VantageScore 4.0 for mortgages funded by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.Anthony Hutchinson is Senior Vice President of Industry and Government Relations at VantageScore. Tony joins The SCORE this week to help lenders understand the importance of implementation and plan their migration to VantageScore 4.0. To learn more about VantageScore 4.0 for mortgage, visit https://www.vantagescore.com/lenders/industries/mortgage/.

July 9, 202416 min

The Importance of Competition in Financial Services

For markets to operate efficiently and for consumers to receive the best services, it is critical that competition exists in the financial services industry. Credit unions, or not-for-profit financial cooperatives, have unique structural differences that allow them to pass profits onto their member-depositors in the form of lower loan interest rates, higher yields on savings, and fewer or lower fees. With historically high interest rates deeply impacting household budgets and consumers’ wallets, credit unions represent a small but impactful part of the financial ecosystem in the United States. But they have to compete with large banks with billion-dollar marketing and technology budgets. Credit unions, or not-for-profit financial cooperatives, have unique structural differences that allow them to pass profits onto their member-depositors in the form of lower loan interest rates, higher yields on savings, and fewer or lower fees. With historically high interest rates deeply impacting household budgets and consumers’ wallets, credit unions represent a small but impactful part of the financial ecosystem in the United States. Carrie Hunt is the Chief Advocacy Officer of America’s Credit Unions, the new national trade association being formed through the merger of the Credit Union National Association (Credit Union National Association) and the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU). Carrie joins The SCORE to discuss how credit unions help make the financial services system more efficient, effective, and accessible to consumers. Listen in to learn more.

June 4, 20246 min

Is Consumer Credit Health Proving Resilient?

CreditGauge, VantageScore’s monthly analysis of consumer credit health, found that in April 2024, delinquencies declined for a second straight month. To date, consumers are weathering economic pressures fairly well. But is this proof of a climb out of a delinquency-heavy phase, or are household budgets on a bumpy roller coaster ride longer-term?Atif Mirza is Vice President of Digital at VantageScore, where he manages the VantageScore suite of digital tools for lenders – CreditGauge, Inclusion360, and RiskRatio – tools that help lenders expand their footprint in ways that both serve more creditworthy consumers and also boost financial inclusion.Atif joins The SCORE to help demystify the current state of consumer credit health for lenders and provide a sense of how average Americans are managing their household balance sheets. Listen in to learn more.Read the latest VantageScore CreditGauge insights: https://www.vantagescore.com/lenders/credit-gauge/

May 21, 202414 min

What Are the Root Causes of Financial Exclusion?

Through exploitative interest rates of up to 600%, predatory lenders extract an estimated $9 billion from consumers each year – often from low-income communities of color and other populations unable to access the credit they need. We know what financial inclusion is, and why it’s important. But what creates ‘financial exclusion’ to begin with, and how can we work to eradicate it?David Henderson, Founder and CEO of Giving Credit, joins The SCORE this week. Giving Credit is a fintech that recognizes and capitalizes community finance by mapping social credit networks and revealing how much you can borrow from friends and family. Listen in as David explores the root causes of financial exclusion and the ways in which alternative data uses such as reciprocated transactions and cash flow underwriting broaden financial inclusion and bring more creditworthy participants into the financial services marketplace.

April 3, 202414 min

What's Next for the Housing Market?

Whether you’re a renter or a homeowner, you likely have already had to contend with some of the challenges of the current housing market. While buyers and current homeowners faced persistently high mortgage rates and low housing supply in recent years, renters also faced steep cost increases in many markets. Will 2024 be more of the same?Selma Hepp is the Chief Economist for CoreLogic, America’s largest provider of advanced property and ownership information, analytics and data-enabled services. Selma joins The SCORE this week to provide her perspectives on the residential housing market, trends we can anticipate in 2024, and what prospective homeowners can expect in the future as they get closer to achieving the American dream.Listen to Selma’s insights here.

March 18, 202417 min

Reasons for Optimism: A 2024 Consumer Credit Outlook

Originations across many product types – mortgage, credit cards, and the like -- were all lower in 2023 than the year prior. Historically high interest rates pinched consumers and made it less appealing to open new lines of credit. Will 2024 be more of the same? What can consumers and lenders alike expect in the coming year? Is the economy’s elusive ‘soft landing’ anywhere in sight?Kelsey Zhu, Lead Analyst at Bernstein/Autonomous, joins The SCORE this week. Kelsey to talk us through where we are in the consumer credit cycle and why she’s optimistic about what both consumers and lenders have to look forward to in 2024. Listen to Kelsey’s insights here.

February 13, 20249 min

Consumer Credit Health in 2024

Spending is up! Delinquencies are up? And oh, it's an election year! With the resumption of student loan payments, persistent inflation, and other potential challenges, what can consumers expect in 2024? To be sure, all eyes will be on the economic health of consumers. This week, Susan Fahy joins THE SCORE Podcast to discuss what CreditGauge reveals about Americans’ current credit health. Susan is VantageScore’s EVP and Chief Digital Officer. In addition to spearheading the monthly CreditGauge analysis, Susan also helps keep lenders informed through leading-edge digital tools such as Inclusion360, RiskRatio, and MarketGain. Listen to Susan’s insights here.

January 29, 202414 min

Are Consumers Confident in 2024?

Recent news headlines indicate that consumers shopped big this past holiday season, and retail numbers, on the surface, appeared to be up. But given notable economic pressures like record-high inflation, how much of that was just paying ‘more’ for ‘less’? And how can consumers make sure they’re getting the best possible deal when using credit? This week’s guest on The SCORE is Matt Schulz, Chief Credit Analyst at Lending Tree, America’s largest marketplace for loans. Matt joins The SCORE to explain common mistakes consumers make when rate shopping as well as reasons why he thinks “people have more power over their money than they realize.” He also explores how the rise of buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) services will continue to transform consumer finance, why credit usage reflects consumer sentiment, and how credit card lenders will continue to compete in the new lending marketplace. Listen to the episode here.

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