How Big Does Big Data Need to Be?

Big Data was on the agenda last week at the third annual Asia Pacific Chief Risk Officer Forum, held in Bangkok and hosted by FICO with IDC Financial Insights. But it might not be the Big Data you’re thinking about.

For example, Australia’s contingent were discussing “comprehensive reporting,” which is set to start in 2014 when Australia’s credit bureaus begin sharing positive data. As FICO research has proven many times, in many regions, positive data makes credit bureau scores like the FICO® Score much more predictive than negative-only data.

Is positive credit bureau data Big Data?

My colleague Ross McGown showed how using two-way mobile communications with customers can shut down fraud faster, improve results in collections and create much greater customer satisfaction.

Are texts Big Data?

My own presentation covered the power that analyzing data from a customer’s deposit / current / DDA account. This data — which includes attrition triggers, salary deposit patterns, actual income, repayment percentages, and markers of relationships elsewhere — can help lenders identify customer needs and make more relevant customer offers. I shared work we did with a major UK bank to identify the most profitable allocation of credit offers — for overlimits, credit cards, new loans and mortgage loans — to a customer, based in part on analysis of their deposit data. (See below.)

Source: FICO™ Banking Analytics Blog. © 2012 Fair Isaac Corporation.

Is deposit data Big Data?

My point here is that Big Data often just means whatever data you’re not already using. Any increase in data has the potential to be valuable, if you can collect enough of it, often enough, analyze it thoroughly and put that analysis to good use.

What most people call Big Data – including social media data — has big potential. But in the rush to figure out how to use it, let’s not lose sight of the tremendous value in data that’s already within our reach.