OREANDA-NEWS. September 30, 2015. Efficiency is essential for today’s lenders. It’s not enough to have data, lenders also must process it smartly and swiftly to effectively manage portfolio risk, adhere to regulatory requirements, and identify growth opportunities.

This is especially true for credit unions that are capturing an increasing share of the consumer lending market. As credit unions go head-to-head with national financial institutions that have traditionally leveraged proprietary or 3rd party portfolio risk management platforms that aren’t economically viable for smaller institutions, they must find ways to source the right data and make it available to multiple stakeholders in a consistent and actionable format.

Equifax is helping credit unions combat inefficiencies historically associated with manual processes embedded in many credit unions’ risk management programs through a recent engagement with technology firm Visible Equity®. Equifax’s offline residential property and consumer credit data is now available to credit unions via data integration with Visible Equity, a provider of web-based business intelligence and analytical tools for financial institutions — in particular, credit unions.

This integration provides institutions with access to Equifax residential property data, including collateral valuations and public-record liens, as well as consumer credit data — historically only available in raw data format — via Visible Equity’s web-based software. The software offers clean user interfaces and easy-to-access reporting tools. It’s used by lenders, analysts and financial officers to help identify, measure and monitor risk and opportunity in loan portfolios.

With expanded access to data and enhanced analytics capabilities, credit unions have the ability to address the inefficiencies and inconsistencies associated with manual data aggregation and analysis. The Equifax-Visible Equity engagement also helps credit unions benefit from the use of large datasets needed to more efficiently meet regulatory demands, such as Allowance for Loan and Lease Loss (ALLL) portfolio segmentation and home equity account management.

“At Equifax, we are committed to leveraging our differentiated data to help improve the business performance of our customers,” said James Frasche, Vice President of Property Data & Analytics at Equifax. “Expanding access to our property and credit data assets via Visible Equity’s platform helps credit unions enhance their portfolio risk management and reporting capabilities.”