FICO Affordability Calculator Aids Responsible Lending and Collections

LONDON — October 7, 2015

Highlights:

• FICO Affordability Calculator enables lenders to set affordable repayment schedules with borrowers
• Borrowers can complete the form online, saving time and potential embarrassment

FICO today announced the availability of the FICO^® Affordability Calculator, a tool that debt advisors and borrowers can use to set affordable arrangements for repayment of debt. This easy-to-use, web-based solution guides consumers through the budgeting process for establishing sustainable payments, or allows them to complete the form with an agent. It is available now in the UK, and can be configured easily for markets worldwide.

For more information: www.fico.com/en/products/affordability-calculator

New regulations are making it essential for financial services organizations to establish a consistent way to assess debtors' income and expenditures, and to assist them with sustainable, affordable payments. For example, the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK specifies that affordability of payments be part of lending decisions. However, many organizations are finding it hard to implement a uniform approach successfully in both customer-facing and operational environments.

"This tool helps consumers meet their payment obligations, and helps lenders and collection agencies practice responsible lending," said Gabriel Hopkins, FICO product manager. "It removes the embarrassment people often feel when explaining their financial situation to a collections agent or lender, and makes the process of establishing affordability quicker for consumer, lenders and collectors."

Forms are dynamically created to suit the customer's status, the nature of the borrowing by type, priority and liability. Questions are based on the previous responses, which helps people make an informed assessment of their financial position. Individuals can work with an advisor to complete the form if their data varies from the pre-set trusted trigger figures (such as ONS statistics), their details cannot be independently verified, or they need assistance.

Lenders and collectors can quickly change the questions using FICO^® Blaze Advisor^® decision management system. “This makes the calculator useful for all kinds of lenders and collectors,” said Hopkins, “and for not only collections but loan originations and other areas where understanding a consumer’s payment capacity is important.”

Sobre a FICO
A FICO (NYSE: FICO) é uma grande empresa de software analítico que ajuda empresas em mais de 90 países a tomar melhores decisões que levem a níveis mais elevados de crescimento, rentabilidade e satisfação do cliente. O uso inovador que a empresa faz do Big Data e de algoritmos matemáticos para prever o comportamento do consumidor está transformando setores inteiros. A FICO fornece software analítico e ferramentas utilizadas em vários setores para gerenciar riscos, combater a fraude, construir relacionamentos mais rentáveis com os clientes, otimizar operações e cumprir regulamentações governamentais rigorosas. Many of our products reach industry-wide adoption. These include the FICO^® Score, the standard measure of consumer credit risk in the United States. As soluções da FICO utilizam padrões de código aberto e computação em nuvem para maximizar a flexibilidade, acelerar a implementação e reduzir os custos. A empresa também ajuda milhões de pessoas a gerenciar sua qualidade de crédito pessoal.

For FICO news and media resources, visit www.fico.com/news.

FICO and Blaze Advisor are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fair Isaac Corporation in the United States and in other countries.