Equifax Australia and Mastercard have partnered to integrate Equifax’s advanced data analytics with Mastercard’s Open Finance solutions.

Introducing Innovative Financial Solutions

The collaboration aims to introduce cutting-edge products tailored for the Australian market, enhancing financial services offerings.

In an initial move, the partnership launched Equifax Open Score, a novel bank transaction score designed to assist approximately 2.5 million consumers who have limited or no credit history but still require access to financial services, such as young people, recent immigrants, and those re-entering the credit market.

This solution is aimed at addressing underrepresented groups often overlooked by traditional credit assessment methods, aiming to support better financial understanding and long-term well-being for these individuals. By leveraging insights from bank transaction data through Mastercard’s global Open Finance network, consumers can gain a clearer picture of their financial health.

Equifax Open Score is based on secure consumer-consented bank transactions data under the Consumer Data Right (CDR). The score, ranging from 0 to 10, provides detailed factors that influence a consumer’s financial profile, helping users understand their standing in the credit market more effectively. Additionally, it includes features like:

• Enabling lenders and financial services providers to see previously hidden credit consumers;
• Providing transaction alerts that highlight key behaviors within a user’s data, allowing customers to manage expenses and identify potential fraud;
• Including a Confidence Metric that indicates the reliability of the score in representing the consumer’s financial health;
• Offering insights into income, expenses, and spending patterns based on banking transactions.

This partnership leverages Mastercard’s accredited Open Finance platform to ensure secure sharing of banking data while respecting consumer consent. Through this collaborative effort, consumers gain control over their financial information, fostering a safer environment for shared data.