CFPB study shows alternative credit models lead to more loans, cheaper loans

Over the last several years, there’s been a serious push to get Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to use newer credit scoring models that consider factors such as a person’s bank account history, work history, or utility payments as part of the formula to determine a borrower’s creditworthiness. That movement grinded to a halt last year, when the FHFA said that it will not be authorizing the use of any new credit scoring model for several years, but a newly released study from the CFPB shows that using alternative credit models will not only lead to more borrowers getting loans, the loans they get will be cheaper too.