ZESTCASH ANNOUNCES NEW CREDIT DECISIONING INFRASTRUCTURE
New underwriting models can extend credit to 25% more Americans
and increase repayment by 20%
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- April 26, 2012 -- ZestCash, Inc., a financial services technology
startup committed to serving the needs of the underbanked, today announced a new credit
decisioning infrastructure (patent pending) that can run multiple underwriting models in parallel,
each with a different focus, to better analyze credit risk. ZestCash also introduced Hollerith, a
new set of underwriting models that allow the company to extend credit to 25 percent more
Americans and increase repayment from customers by 20 percent.
Traditionally, lenders have used single regression models that analyze approximately fifteen
points of data to make credit decisions. When ZestCash launched two years ago, it began
applying big data analysis to underwriting for the first time. Now, instead of employing just one
underwriting model, the ZestCash decisioning infrastructure can run dozens of models in
parallel, returning loan decision results within seconds.
ZestCash currently runs about 10 unique underwriting models simultaneously that consume
thousands of raw data elements including third-party data and data collected from borrowers.
The models then transform this data into tens of thousands of useful meta variables to assess
key customer behaviors such as fraud, short-term and long-term credit risk, or the amount of
money a borrower will likely repay. The models are then “ensembled” to arrive at a final
underwriting decision that more accurately predicts credit risk.
“We went into this business to save the underbanked billions of dollars,” said Douglas Merrill,
Founder and CEO of ZestCash. “We knew that applying machine learning and big data analysis
to underwriting would make a real difference, and it has. Increasing credit availability means we
can help more people cover unexpected costs and stay out of a vicious debt trap.”
A recent study found that 33% of Americans do not have access to even $1,000 to cover
emergency expenses (NFCC). For many, an unexpected expense can be devastating.
ZestCash offers short-term installment loans to borrowers who do not have access to traditional
credit. These loans are designed to help people cover unexpected costs and basic life
necessities such as medical bills, auto repairs, and rent. Since the company‘s launch one year
ago, ZestCash has helped more than 10,000 customers who have borrowed nearly $10 million
dollars from the company.
Shawn Budde, ZestCash Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, said, “In addition to offering
more loans to more people, we’ve also been able to use data to help us increase our customers’
net payback by 20 percent. Those are tremendous statistics in the financial services industry.
Big data has the potential to completely alter underwriting as we’ve known it for decades,” he
said.
ZestCash loans are currently available in Missouri, Utah, Idaho, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
The company plans to expand product availability into additional states in the coming year.
About ZestCash, Inc.
ZestCash offers fair and transparent credit alternatives to underbanked Americans who do not
have access to credit from traditional lending institutions. The company offers short-term
installment loans designed to help people cover unexpected bills and basic life necessities. The
company was founded in September, 2009 by Douglas Merrill, the former Chief Information
Officer of Google, and Shawn Budde, the former Head of Subprime Credit Cards at Capital
One. For more information, please visit www.zestcash.com.
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