A Data-Science Lender Takes on Student Debt - NYTimes.com

A modern version of the "know your customer" adage

"Earnest asks its borrowers for a lot of information. It wants to see their bank accounts, credit-card statements, student loan and any other loan balances. It also wants to see any investment accounts or retirement accounts. It asks loan candidates to make sure their LinkedIn accounts of job and education history are filled in and up to date.

This is all done without paperwork. Earnest expects its borrowers to conduct their financial lives online. Earnest says it has read-only access to the information. It pledges not to store personal data or sell it. Earnest’s software algorithms give weight to things not factored into traditional credit analysis like education and savings, which, in the start-up’s calculations, point to capacity to pay and lower risk."

A Data-Science Lender Takes on Student Debt - NYTimes.com