London, 28/12/2007

In 2001, CRIF developed ICB’s first Credit Bureau scoring model and it has been monitored regularly by CRIF on a quarterly basis. The scorecard is in daily use by ICB members, assisting them in their customer risk analysis. It has also been used by members to analyse their lending portfolios retrospectively. Even though the first-generation credit bureau score has been very stable throughout its history, ICB and CRIF observed recent changes in the Irish consumer financial markets that prompted the redevelopment of the model.


The ICB CRIF Score was developed after extensive analysis of the ICB database in order to determine which characteristics or combination of characteristics were the most predictive of potential risks, forecasting the borrower’s likelihood of future delinquency based on the credit report information. The service has proved to be a reliable risk assessment tool which rank orders borrowers and scores individual past and current credit performances (the higher the score, the lower the risk).

Capitalizing on CRIF’s experience, the ICB CRIF bureau score has become an added value solution for maintaining a competitive edge by anticipating and quantifying the risk in every phase of the customer lifecycle.
ICB are very pleased to offer this second generation of the ICB CRIF bureau score to its members. Gerry O’Neill, Operations Director at ICB, said, “While the first generation of the ICB CRIF score has remained robust since its launch in November 2001, the subsequent increase in the take-up of credit products in the consumer market suggested a re-evaluation. We are confident that the outcome of this re-evaluation, in the form of the second generation of the ICB CRIF score, offers even greater predictive power to our members. We will be inviting members to undertake a retrospective analysis exercise to confirm the benefit it can provide in risk management."
 
“Based on our experience in developing credit bureau scoring systems around the world –  Davide Capuzzo, CRIF Analytic Director, said -  CRIF knows that it is very difficult to encounter the same consumer markets in two different countries. The main differences we find are in the data environment, the local privacy laws, and the various credit cultures: this means that the optimal way to develop a good product is to tailor it to the local credit market. I am very glad that ICB decided to continue its collaboration with CRIF in the next phase of their credit bureau scoring system evolution, as this recognizes CRIF’s continuous commitment to high-quality solutions and support to ICB.”
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