Announcing the winners of Tearsheet’s 2024 Data Awards

As apps and institutions further integrate, data and data sharing have become the building blocks of modern finance. Entire ecosystems are being built around financial institutions and fintechs that incorporate rich and impactful information about their customers.

Tearsheet’s Data Awards 2024 are the industry’s top awards program, recognizing and celebrating the best data products, services, and brands powering the modern financial system.

…and these are this year’s winners!

Data Company of the Year: Zest AI

Zest AI’s AI-powered lending technology leverages data to increase loan approvals, especially for historically underserved groups. Their models have resulted in up to 80% automation of approvals and significant boosts in approval rates for Hispanic, Black, AAPI, and female borrowers.

Zest AI has exhibited strong innovation and execution in service of its mission. The company has developed nearly 400 AI-underwriting models and secured 15 patents, with another 35 pending, covering fairness, automation, accuracy, and explainability. Zest AI’s rapid customer growth, 100% retention rate, and high NPS score further underline its ability to deliver tangible impact through its data-driven lending solutions.

Best Alternative Data Vendor: Carpe Data

Carpe Data empowers claims managers, adjusters, and investigators to
proactively identify and capture evidence of fraud. It also reveals insights to underwriters, aiding them in better classifying and selecting commercial risk.

Both Carpe Data’s proprietary small commercial data suite, Minerva, and their AI-powered fraud detection software, ClaimsX Ultra, help insurance carriers
increase operational efficiency by automating traditionally time-intensive and
insufficient processes to save time, improve accuracy, and better serve
policyholders.

Best Customer Data Implementation Award: Pagaya

Pagaya’s AI-powered platform utilizes an extensive data network and sophisticated analytics to evaluate consumer creditworthiness in a more nuanced manner than traditional underwriting models. The platform processes hundreds of millions of data points to refine credit risk assessments and consumer behavior predictions, identifying creditworthy individuals that may be overlooked by rigid, score-based systems.

This innovative approach to credit evaluation has enabled Pagaya to become the top issuer of personal loan Asset-Backed Securities (ABS) transactions in the U.S. Recognizing the limitations of conventional underwriting at many banks, Pagaya’s data-driven solutions aim to promote greater financial inclusion by providing more comprehensive and predictive credit assessments.

Data Innovation Award: Bloom Credit

Bloom+ by Bloom Credit leverages consumer banking data to help expand access to credit for underserved populations, including younger consumers and immigrants with limited credit history. By analyzing recurring monthly payments made through checking accounts, Bloom+ enables these consumers to demonstrate their creditworthiness, which traditional credit scoring models often overlook. This novel approach aims to address the challenges faced by the over 100 million Americans who lack access to mainstream credit products.

The Bloom+ platform delivers this data-driven solution directly to financial institutions in a white-labeled, no-code format, allowing them to seamlessly integrate the service into their existing customer experience. This integration enables FIs to attract and retain the next generation of customers, while also generating new revenue streams.

Best Alternative Data Product: Method Financial

Method Financial’s authentication technology allows instant access to a
consumer’s full liability portfolio using just personal information,
eliminating the need for usernames and passwords. This provides financial
service providers with access to real-time, high-fidelity data on consumer
debts and credit lines. By empowering providers with this up-to-date liability
information, Method enables more personalized and competitive financial
products and services.

Method’s innovations have tangible benefits — they have facilitated hundreds of millions of dollars in liability repayments and increased same-day payment execution rates for partners. Their credential-less account aggregation streamlines processes like debt consolidation, benefiting both financial institutions and consumers.

Best Data Marketing Campaign: American Express

American Express is renowned for its customer experience. To stay current amid fluctuating U.S. interest rates, Amex partnered with Movable Ink for a dynamic module updating terms and rates instantly. This enhancement significantly reduced production time and ensured an accurate customer experience every time, contributing to a significant lift in CTR.

The process went from five days to update to basically seconds, ensuring customers have the most recent information and the experience synonymous with being an Amex cardmember.

Best New Alternative Data Product: Nova Credit

Nova Credit’s platform addresses a gap in the U.S. credit system by leveraging alternative data sources to assess the creditworthiness of underserved consumers. The platform integrates connectivity to bank, payroll, and credit bureau data, allowing lenders to access a more comprehensive picture of a borrower’s financial profile. This enables Nova Credit to provide analytical insights that complement traditional credit scoring models, with the goal of expanding access to credit.

Nova Credit’s innovative approach has demonstrated tangible impact for its clients. The company reports significant improvements in key performance metrics for lenders using its suite of products, including its cash flow underwriting, income verification, and cross-border credit solutions