Using unstructured data to tidy up credit reporting

The credit data housed in the credit reporting agencies (in the U.S. the big three are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) traditionally focuses on peoplesu0027 personal credit and payment history, down to details about how promptly theyu0027ve repaid loans and when they were late on a payment. Companies that grant credit, ranging from mortgages to car loans to credit card limits, use the agencyu0027s information to decide what products to offer and on what terms. People with clean histories may get better terms; people with smudged financial backgrounds may not. But other inaccuracies and incomplete information leads to uncertainty and costs everyone. In an interview, Greg Jones, vice president of Enterprise Data u0026 Analytics at Equifax, explains how the company is expanding its sourcing of data to include unique data assets and exploring social media and other unstructured data sources, and how this expansion has the potential to make individual profiles even more exact, improving the market for everyone.