TACKLING PERSONAL INSOLVENCY HEAD ON
Equifax Insolvency Navigator will help lenders predict – and avoid – bad debt and implement effective customer management strategies
London 20th September 2007 – In the first quarter of 2007, the Government Insolvency Service announced record numbers of personal insolvencies, sending alarm bells ringing for lenders across all sectors. Added to this, voluntary organisations such as Citizens Advice Bureaux have pressured lenders to look at a wider range of information about an individual’s credit status before extending new finance. And, the ‘credit crunch’ currently being experienced across the UK lending sector is adding further pressure.
In response to these challenges, Equifax, the leading consumer credit information expert, is launching Insolvency Navigator. A powerful new consumer risk management tool, Insolvency Navigator has been created using an substantial new development sample which gave Equifax a greater insight into the profile of those people who are most likely to become insolvent.
“The growth of personal insolvencies in the UK over the last few years led Equifax to conduct an in-depth analysis of those characteristics and behaviours specific to insolvents” confirmed Neil Munroe, External Affairs Director, Equifax. “Now, armed with this information delivered through Insolvency Navigator, lenders can assess the likelihood of their customers becoming insolvent and, as a result, implement the most effective risk management strategies to avoid bad debt and financial loss.”
Utilising Equifax’s comprehensive credit reference data, Insolvency Navigator was built by the same team that created Equifax’s market leading Risk Navigator customer management scores.
“An extensive and entirely new development sample was created to maximise the volume of data available for analysis” continued Neil Munroe. “This enabled us to implement multiple population splits and build data characteristics never before used in credit risk models. For example, because bankruptcy and insolvency rules differ across the UK, Insolvency Navigator includes characteristics that can recognise geographical location. This ensures that the predictiveness of the tool is maximised to provide the highest level of precision in assessing an individual’s ongoing credit risk profile.”
Equifax believes that Insolvency Navigator will play a crucial role in risk management across every aspect of the customer management lifecycle. It will provide an additional filter for new credit applications, as well as enabling more effective cross-sell activity by removing higher risk individuals from new offers. It will also play a vital part in on-going account management, including identifying candidates for credit limit freeze or reduction. And it will enable collections activity to be more effectively targeted by focusing on the high risk defaults first.
“Insolvency Navigator demonstrates Equifax’s on-going focus on developing innovative products that help lenders reduce risk and bad debt” concluded Neil Munroe. “Recent interest rate rises have put increasing pressure on consumers already deep in debt, making it essential for lenders to protect themselves from bad debt and financial loss as a result of a customer becoming insolvent. Insolvency Navigator gives lenders a new level in the assessment of consumer credit risk, enabling more accurate and timely customer management decisions.”
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For further press information please contact: Claire Foster, Kate Clements or Wendy Harrison at HSL on 020 8977 9132 / Fax: 020 8977 5200 or Email: claire@harrisonsadler.com
About Equifax
Equifax empowers businesses and consumers with information they can trust. A global leader in information solutions, we leverage one of the largest sources of consumer and commercial data, along with advanced analytics and proprietary technology, to create customised insights that enrich both the performance of businesses and the lives of consumers.
Customers have trusted Equifax for over 100 years to deliver innovative solutions with the highest integrity and reliability. Businesses – large and small – rely on us for consumer and business credit intelligence, portfolio management, fraud detection, decisioning technology, marketing tools, and much more. We empower individual consumers to manage their personal credit information, protect their identity and maximise their financial well-being.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Equifax Inc. employs approximately 5,000 people in 14 countries throughout North America, Latin America and Europe. Equifax is a member of Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500® Index. Our common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol EFX.
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