(May 13) Most of Bank stocks rose more than 1% in early market trading.
According to WSJ, Wells Fargo JPMorgan Chase, and U.S. Bancorp are among a group of banks thatwill start providing customer deposit account information as part of a government-supported initiative to give more people access to credit cards, theWall Street Journalreports, citing people familiar with the matter.
The idea is to use alternative data, such as bank account information, to determine credit risk for those people who don't have a traditional credit score. The pilot program is expected to start later this year, the newspaper said.
The effort comes as loan growth at banks weakens with consumers wary of taking on debt and stimulus payments giving them the ability topay down credit card balances.
A couple of years ago, the government encouraged use of alternatives to traditional credit scoresin the mortgage application process.