FICO and Círculo de Crédito Make It Easier for Millions of Mexicans to Get Credit

SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Círculo de Crédito, the fastest-growing credit bureau in Mexico, can provide credit scores on nearly twice as many people, thanks to its adoption of an innovative score from analytic software firm FICO. Since it has been using the FICO^® Extended Score to score people with little or no credit history, Círculo de Crédito has increased the percentage of people who can be scored from 45 percent to around 85 percent.

Watch the video: http://www.fico.com/en/customers/circulo-de-credito

Some 10 million Mexicans lack enough credit history to calculate a risk score, which makes it harder to get approval for a loan or credit card. FICO worked with Círculo de Crédito to develop a customized score based on the high correlation of an individual's risk with the risk level of people who live at the same house. With FICO Extended Score at Círculo de Crédito, Mexican financial institutions can use the history of an individual's family members to assess their credit risk.

"The FICO Extended Score is allowing millions of people, such as students and housewives, to be scored and get credit for the first time," said Juan Manuel Palmieri, director at Círculo de Crédito. "We are strengthening our relationship with FICO and excited by the possibilities we see to help the market here strengthen."

"FICO is committed to increasing financial inclusion around the world," said Jim Wehmann, executive vice president for Scores at FICO. "The approach we take is country-specific, because every market has different data and consumer trends. We put considerable research into the FICO Extended Score we developed for Círculo de Crédito, and we're thrilled to see it paying off for Mexican lenders and consumers."

Círculo de Crédito has 45 percent market share in Mexico, with more than 2,600 clients in different sectors, including financial institutions, retail, microfinance, telecommunications and government institutions. The credit bureau offers customer data, value-added products such as scores, and customized solutions.

About FICO

FICO (NYSE: FICO) powers decisions that help people and businesses around the world prosper. Founded in 1956 and based in Silicon Valley, the company is a pioneer in the use of predictive analytics and data science to improve operational decisions. FICO holds more than 170 US and foreign patents on technologies that increase profitability, customer satisfaction and growth for businesses in financial services, telecommunications, health care, retail and many other industries. Using FICO solutions, businesses in more than 100 countries do everything from protecting 2.6 billion payment cards from fraud, to helping people get credit, to ensuring that millions of airplanes and rental cars are in the right place at the right time.

Learn more at www.fico.com.

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FICO is a registered trademark of Fair Isaac Corporation in the US and other countries.

SOURCE FICO

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