Fair Isaac Corp. (FICO) has launched the newest version of its safe driving score this week with a smartphone-based application to assess driver risk.
“Our goal is to get the [safe driving] score to be the industry standard, which can be used by insurance companies to help with their decision process,” Rachel Bell, vice president of scores and analytics at FICO, told Auto Finance News.
The safe driving score app uses sensors in a smartphone to pick up acceleration, distraction, and breaking to get drivers to understand what they are doing that creates a “risky profile” and what they can do to improve their score, Bell said. “Similar to feedback a consumer receives about a credit score, the app will present feedback after every ride,” she said.
The app also helps fleet managers understand when drivers are “high risk” and, in turn, can help reduce fleet losses caused by collisions, Bell noted.
The enhanced app has an 18% improvement in predictive accuracy when determining if a driver is high risk. Additionally, it can determine drivers who are 30% more likely to be involved in future collisions.
Though, currently, consumers’ safe driving scores don’t factor into lender underwriting decisions, that scenario could change. “There needs to be a demand for it,” Bell said. “Do the drivers want it? Do lenders want it? Maybe someday.”
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