The Future of Finance is Facebook – how social data is used by credit companies

_A new study from credit comparison experts TotallyMoney.com shows which companies are using which alternative data sources and making traditional credit checks look like a thing of the past.      _ It’s not an unusual concern in this day and age to be worried about how your online presence might come across to potential employers, but now the consumer internet footprint has another important use: helping applicants secure a loan. The stellar new tool from TotallyMoney.com lets you explore a universe of credit companies - start-ups and industry heavyweights alike - to find out what online and phone data is used, and by whom. Focus on the data to see how it’s used, or check out the companies to see what goes into building their customers’ financial profiles. Global Developments Social data isn’t just the prerogative of the industry’s start-ups; the whole finance sector across the world is starting to take notice of information beyond financial history. Some of the major names to take notice of include:

• Affirm, founded by Max Levchin (co-founder of PayPal) – who use all sorts of unusual data, such as contributions to code library GitHub
• Movenbank, who have started with Facebook, Twitter, Google and LinkedIn, but are looking to include more data as the technology develops
• The Chinese government, who plan to institute a nationalised system of social credit scoring and rank every Chinese national by 2020
• Branch, who focus on East Africa for their customer base, and check SMS history, call logs and contact lists to build an applicant’s financial profile
• FICO, the US firm with significant ties to Experian and Equifax in the UK, are looking into a variety of smart-phone and social media details

The use of non-traditional data sources for credit scoring might well be the natural evolution for the finance industry, but the impact won’t just be felt by loan-seekers and FinTech aficionados – the new technology is also being made available to landlords and recruiters to check out a potential tenant or new hire. Changing Data “The way the credit industry uses data is changing,” Said Joe Gardiner, head of brand a communication at TotallyMoney.com, “We believe everyone should have the best information available when it comes to credit scoring – and that means staying on top of the latest methods and technology.” The future of the finance industry is in the consumer internet footprint. Explore the interactive piece and find out exactly how.