Have you ever gone out to run an errand or do something around the house, only to find out that whatever it was you were doing did not need to be done? Have you ever found yourself saying, “That’s information that would have been helpful to me 30 minutes ago?”
The federal government is attempting to rectify that problem in the healthcare industry by creating an open-sourced standard for medical records. The goal is to update a decades-old design that looks like a retail store receipt and to create a standard to allow for more easier sharing of patients’ medical records.
That got me wondering why financial institutions, including auto lenders, don’t share information with one another. Privacy concerns aside, wouldn’t it be helpful to know if Customer A averaged three promises to pay before making every loan payment?
This is about consumer credit data that cannot be found in a credit report. It’s the context and perspective that is not included in a credit report, but helps paint the picture of a customer. It’s about what can be found in the notes files of an customer’s loan file. It’s about knowing that a customer’s previous auto lender needed to make 10 calls before finally getting in contact with the individual.
What’s in a customer’s loan file also goes beyond improving collection efforts. The data can help improve a customer’s experience and satisfaction. If I have a new customer, I want to know everything about that individual so I can make sure that my products and offers are aligned with his or her needs.
Knowing everything you need to know, when you need to know it, is a hugely important tool. It cuts down on mistakes and redundancies. It eliminates the potential for missteps and errors.
Yes, there are likely privacy concerns when it comes to sharing customer data between financial institutions. But I do not think the concerns are so immense that they would scuttle the potential benefits. There’s a saying around governments that sunshine is the best disinfectant. Transparency is important. The same argument can be made for banks and their customers. Sharing information could help everyone do a better job.
