Champion of credit-challenged minorities views eCredable Lift as powerful tool in the fight to address the ‘credit invisible’ challenge
FAITH Bautista, the founder and CEO of both the National Diversity Coalition and the National Asian American Coalition, is joining the advisory board of eCredable.
Bautista is a long-time champion of minorities looking to improve their financial lives by improving their credit scores. She has spent her career advocating for minorities in need of financial assistance at every level of local, state, and national government.
“Every financial conversation inevitably turns into a discussion about your credit score,” said Bautista. “Your credit score is the key to access better housing, better employment opportunities, and affordable financial services to help you build and grow your financial wealth over time.”
“There are almost 50 million ‘credit invisibles’ in the United States,” said Steve Ely, CEO of eCredable, and former president of Equifax Global Consumer Solutions. “These people don’t have access to mainstream financial products and services, and frequently turn to lenders of last resort that charge exorbitant fees. eCredable was built to address this challenge head-on by helping people report their phone and utility accounts to credit bureaus to create or enhance their credit score.”
Most phone and utility companies do not report to credit bureaus, which means that paying these bills on time doesn’t help build a positive credit history. Most people pay these types of bills and deserve credit for paying these accounts on time. The impact to credit scores like FICO® Score 8 and VantageScore® 3.0 is profound for people who are new to credit, or have an inactive credit report. The average score increase for the person with an inactive credit report is 32 points when reporting three utilities with 12 months of on-time payment history. For someone that is completely new to credit, they might see a score well above 700.
“When I heard what eCredable Lift can do for credit invisibles, I immediately thought of the impact this could have for the millions of people I’m trying to help right now – and right away. Since eCredable Lift uses up to 24 months of payment history, you can see an immediate impact on your credit score,” Bautista explained.
Bautista joins an impressive Advisory Board made up of industry veterans focused on financial education and empowerment. “I’m delighted that Faith has agreed to lend her immense experience and understanding of the underserved population we know we can help. Her ability to reach a national audience of people that can really benefit from better credit scores will dramatically accelerate our ability to help millions of people,” said Ely.
Bautista is also a founding member of Project REACh, an OCC initiative led by Brian Brooks, who is the acting Comptroller of the Currency. Project REACh is designed to promote greater access to capital and credit for underserved populations. Addressing the “credit invisible” challenge is one of the three key objectives of this program, and eCredable Lift has the potential to make a significant difference.
“There are a variety of innovative developments underway to tackle this problem,” said Ely. “We chose an approach that doesn’t require the current financial ecosystem to take on a new solution that requires them to modify their existing underwriting practices to helping people without credit. Our approach works for virtually every credit invisible person, and at a price they can afford.”
Mr. Ely is on the subcommittee for financing and credit for Project REACh in the Los Angeles area. Mr. Ely has also joined the Advisory Boards for the NDC and NAAC.
eCredable is a Data Furnisher focused on the 50 million adults considered to be “credit invisible,” and the 6 million small businesses that typically lack payment history in their business credit files. eCredable empowers consumers to include phone, internet, and utility information in their TransUnion credit report which produces traditional credit scores lenders use when assessing creditworthiness – scores like FICO Score® 8 and VantageScore® 3.0. eCredable empowers small business owners to include phone, internet, and utility information in multiple business credit files which produce business credit scores lenders use when assessing creditworthiness. The company was founded in 2009, and is headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia. For more information visit www.eCredable.com and www.Business.eCredable.com.
