The EDGE Blog

Cashflow Insights and the CFPB’s “Small-Dollar Rule”

The “Small-Dollar Lending Rule” is going to hurt: our preliminary analysis of EDGE client data suggests there could be as much as 14% losses for lenders’ portfolios, depending on the product. Additionally, our research shows that lenders can reduce those losses to 5-10% by leveraging bank data analytics (more below).

CU*Answers and EDGE Partner to Transform Credit Union Operations with Core and LOS Integrations

CUSO partners to provide cashflow underwriting technology to credit union community

Lenders now can use EDGE lead screening to evaluate lead purchases with rich bank transaction data

EDGE, the leading cashflow consumer reporting agency (CRA), released a new customer acquisition solution that enables lenders to screen leads using  rich bank transaction data, prior to purchase.

White Paper: The Impact of Regulatory Differences on Lending and Borrowing Behaviors

Read this white paper from EDGE to learn about how regulatory differences affect lending and borrowing patterns. 

Revolutionizing Income Verification

How open banking and cashflow analytics can eliminate the stipulation process for credit unions

Improve Your Second Looks by 6%-8% with Cash Flow Underwriting

Once the cornerstone of all lending decisions until the mid-eighties, cash flow underwriting is at a new tipping point thanks to machine learning and data analytics. 

EDGE and Fuse Announce Strategic Partnership for Automated Cashflow Underwriting

Next-gen loan origination platform to offer end-to-end open banking underwriting insights as part of its highly-customizable system.

Sync1 Partners with EDGE to Deliver Open Banking Insights to Credit Unions

The partnership will enable credit unions using Sync1's cloud-based loan origination platform to look beyond traditional credit scores and have access to attributes based on real-time financial insights from members' share draft accounts as well as external accounts.

Is Your Analytics Partner Ready For The Big Dance?

Just like the NCAA Championships are a step function above other college basketball tournaments, there are top-tier cash flow analytics partners and then there's everyone else. One of the most important differentiators is whether they’re a consumer reporting agency (CRA).

What do you know that Amazon doesn’t know about your members? And what are you doing about it?

Last fall, Amazon entered the automotive retail space followed by speculation they'll eventually move into financing. For credit unions where auto lending is an important business, this development seems concerning until you appreciate and act on the valuable member data you already have in hand.

HES FinTech Partners with EDGE to Elevate Lending Solutions with Advanced Open Banking Analytics

HES is thrilled to announce our strategic partnership with EDGE, a trailblazer in open banking data and analytics that provides lenders with comprehensive insights into consumer creditworthiness and fraud risk based on an extensive repository of bank data.

EDGE Announces Agreement to Integrate with Corelation in order to Unlock Open Banking Insights from Credit Unions' Own Data

Industry-first open banking platform will deliver access to external accounts alongside direct connectivity to credit unions' core systems for complete financial picture of members and indirect applicants.

Playing Both Sides of the Field: Combining Orthogonal Datasets

Super Bowl LVIII is on the books. Whether you were among the 123 million like me who watched the game or the other half of the country who didn’t, you’re probably familiar with the adage “defense wins championships.” Seeing the Chiefs and 49ers go back and forth got me thinking about the legacy consumer risk paradigm where you’re only assessed on your equivalent of defense – how successfully you’ve kept creditors at bay, as reported on traditional credit reports based on historical tradelines.

Vergent LMS Partners with EDGE to Deliver Open Banking Credit Risk Insights to Lenders

Leading fintech loan management platform adds real-time cashflow underwriting analytics to enhance customers' underwriting and credit risk decisions

Making your data work for you: Open banking for credit unions

For much of the past decade, open banking has been a buzzword tossed around by opinion leaders, pundits, and a few of my smarter friends. I'll admit that I didn't have more than a third-grader's understanding of open banking until I met the EDGE team and started ideating with them on what we could build and bring to credit unions.

Open Banking Unleashed – More Connections, Better Data, Higher Revenue

Nearly every checking and savings account in the U.S. can be accessed through a bank data aggregator. An entire ecosystem of open banking fintech has emerged around this data – from financial health dashboards to payments authentication to credit risk assessment.

Solving the Thin File/No File Dilemma

Leading credit union fintech news outlet Finopotamus covered EDGE's recent entry into the space and unique value proposition in leveraging credit union's own data to improve member care and advance financial inclusion with cashflow underwriting.

EDGE announces enhanced identity verification and fraud prevention capabilities

Cash flow analytics platform EDGE has enhanced its fraud and identity offering with an initial release of risk attributes that complement its existing identity verification capabilities in the EdgeCheck product.

Improving Loan Evaluation with Real-Time Income Detection

In the world of lending, making sound decisions is paramount. A borrower's income is a critical factor in assessing their creditworthiness and ability to repay a loan. Lenders require effective tools to evaluate this key aspect of every loan application. Enter EdgeIncome, a solution that empowers lenders to make informed decisions while streamlining their operations.

Akoya and EDGE partner to drive greater transparency and financial inclusion in consumer lending

Akoya will deliver consumer-permissioned bank account data to EDGE and its consumer lending customers for better informed underwriting decisions.

EDGE joins panel at Envestnet | Yodlee's Engage 2023 conference

EDGE´s Vice President of Strategy joined other leaders in fintech and credit risk analytics to speak on a panel on "The Power of Alternative Data in Lending" at Envestnet | Yodlee's inaugural Engage conference hosted in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Looking at credit scores only tells part of the story – cashflow data may tell another part

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau conducted an analysis based on its Making Ends Meet survey suggesting that cashflow data can inform better credit underwriting decisions.

Efficient data analysis and streamlined credit decisions with EdgeRefine

EDGE is thrilled to announce the release of our new product, EdgeRefine, a cutting-edge technology product designed to revolutionize the way you analyze bank data and streamline consumer credit decisions.

EDGE announces expanded sales leadership and launch with credit unions

EDGE, a consumer reporting agency and leading cash flow analytics platform, has appointed Craig Peterson as Vice President of Sales for Credit Unions. Peterson will lead EDGE’s offering for credit unions with responsibilities encompassing all new market development and related platform, channel, and product partnerships.

Unlocking Cash Flow Insights: The Power of a Banking Activity Credit Risk Score

Bank transaction-based credit risk underwriting revolutionizes lending by providing valuable insights into borrowers' repayment abilities, and EdgeScore excels as a leading predictive risk score in accurately assessing risk across the credit spectrum.

Save Time This Summer – Faster Customer Processing with Edge

Verification of income has traditionally been one of the most expensive and time-consuming steps in a loan application. With the innovation of instant bank verification (IBV), proof of income can be achieved in near real-time along with a host of risk insights relevant for credit decisions.

EDGE affirms commitment to financial inclusion as a Consumer Reporting Agency

Bank transaction analytics platform EDGE announced today that it is officially a Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA). As a CRA, EDGE can deliver income verification and credit risk analytics based on consumer-permissioned data while providing all consumer safeguards required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

NinjaEdge announces rebranding, including name change to Edge

NinjaEdge has unveiled a new name, new logo, and new products as part of an extensive rebranding initiative

NinjaEdge adds Head of Customer Success to lead new customer onboarding and ongoing support

Mani Venkat brings deep experience in customer engagement best practices, banking and financial services, and consumer credit risk analytics.

BNPL – Borrowing No Different

Edge, using its industry-leading data lake, has gained valuable insights into the influence of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) on various credit types. Proprietary research reveals that borrowers engage in familiar patterns such as loan stacking, increased borrowing during financial stress, and heightened default risk due to additional obligations.

BNPL Liabilities – Hidden in Plain Sight

Buy Now, Pay Later plans are frequently in the headlines for opportunities and risks alike. BNPL obligations pose a challenge for other lenders because they are largely unreported to credit bureaus. However, these liabilities can be reliably found in bank transaction data – an essential step in decisioning on a complete picture of consumer risk.

Proprietary insights from NinjaEdge highlight risks of BNPL obligations not visible to other lenders

At Opal Group's summit, Mark Friedgan, CEO of NinjaHoldings, showcased NinjaEdge's data-driven analysis of 2.5 billion bank transactions, addressing the risks of "hidden liabilities" like BNPL loans and advocating for more profitable underwriting solutions that encompass a consumer's complete financial picture.

NinjaEdge releases enhanced risk score and expanded features to address effects of inflation

“Already a critical tool in many lenders’ decision-making, our updated score is even more predictive of consumer underwriting risk. We have significantly improved our ability to score applicants with less data or lacking consistent income sources.”

NinjaHoldings CEO delivers keynote address for LEND360 conference

Mark Friedgan – CEO of NinjaHoldings, the parent company of NinjaEdge – kicked off the LEND360 conference in Chicago with timely perspective on consumer lending against the backdrop of unprecedented inflation and the potential to grow profitability through the economy’s ups and downs using NinjaEdge analytics.

Cash Flow Underwriting – What’s Missing from Your Bureau

Traditional credit scores are inadequate for assessing risk in nearly half of the U.S., while analyzing cash flow behaviors in checking and savings accounts provides a more comprehensive financial picture, leading to actionable insights that enhance underwriting decisions.

NinjaHoldings CEO delivers keynote address for Leaders in Lending conference

Mark Friedgan, CEO of the parent company of NinjaEdge, spoke on incubating the cashflow underwriting IP that would eventually become the NinjaEdge B2B analytics offering.

NinjaEdge and Tekambi announce partnership to optimize top-of-funnel risk assessment for consumer lending

NinjaEdge, the innovator in alternative data analytics for consumer risk assessment, announced today a strategic partnership with leading consumer lending decisioning software provider Tekambi. NinjaEdge is integrating its proprietary bank transaction analytics software-as-a-service with Tekambi’s platform which optimizes lead purchasing, underwriting, and buying for lenders.

NinjaEdge introduces complimentary solution for verifying connectivity ahead of purchasing bank transaction data

NinjaEdge, the only bank transaction analytics platform built by lenders for lenders, released today its NinjaEcho solution that provides clients with no-cost confidence that a healthy connection can be established to a consumer-provided checking or savings account.

Liberty Rent integrates NinjaEdge for enhanced risk analytics

NinjaEdge announced today the successful integration of its proprietary bank data analytics service into Liberty Rent’s platform to convert more applicants into residents for landlords. Founded in 2014, Liberty Rent is a SaaS analytics company that provides best-in-class risk analysis, payment services, and third-party claims settlement for multifamily property owners and managers. With its rent guarantee solution, Liberty Rent facilitates “no cost, no risk” acceptance of potential residents for property management companies throughout the U.S.

NinjaEdge and Infinity Software announce strategic partnership

Alternative data and risk assessment platform NinjaEdge announced today a new partnership with Infinity Software, the leading loan management software provider for alternative credit lenders in North America. The partnership will seamlessly integrate NinjaEdge’s proprietary bank data analytics service into Infinity’s ecosystem of traditional and alternative credit risk signals, decision engines, and verification providers.