Navigating Risk and Growth: How Data is Reshaping Account Opening in 2025

In Q4 2024, over 300 frequent viewers of the monthly Market Pulse webinar offered by Equifax provided insights into how their organizations are approaching risk management, account opening, and the use of data in 2025. The survey reveals a strong connection between data utilization and account opening strategies, particularly concerning risk management and the growing interest in alternative data.

The survey encompassed a diverse group of respondents from a range of industries, with 27% from Credit Unions, 27% from banking, 21% from fintech, 15% from mortgage and housing, 6% from auto, and 4% from telecommunications. The respondent pool was nearly evenly split between positions as business stakeholders (52%) and data users/experts (48%).

The survey revealed the following key trends about account openings/originations and data:

Risk Management

65% of respondents plan to focus on proactive risk identification in 2025, while 42% intend to adopt enhanced risk modeling. Strengthening governance (29%) and exploring AI integration and technology support were also noted. These findings indicate a strong awareness of the need to evolve risk management strategies in the face of market uncertainty.

Prioritizing Risk and Growth

Enhancing risk management capabilities (27% top priority, 24% second priority) and approving more loans with less risk (26% top priority, 20% second priority) were identified as top strategic priorities for 2025. While utilizing differentiated data to meet financial inclusion goals was a priority for some (8% top priority, 14% second priority), it ranked lower compared to the other two. 86% of respondents are actively seeking growth opportunities while carefully managing risk, demonstrating a balanced approach in the current environment.

Alternative Data

Some respondents are already finding creative and productive ways to leverage the power of alternative data in their organizations. 28% are using it to reduce risk, 21% for scoring new customers, and 19% to support financial inclusion goals without increasing risk. This shows a growing recognition of the value of alternative data.

Opportunities to Optimize Account Openings and Originations

The survey reveals a few key opportunities for organizations to leverage traditional and alternative data to optimize their account opening and origination processes:

1. Enhanced Risk Management: With a strong focus on proactive risk identification and enhanced risk modeling, organizations can utilize data analytics to identify potential risks earlier and be more agile.

2. Data-Driven Loan Origination: The high percentage of respondents using data for loan origination (59%) indicates a significant opportunity to further refine this process. By leveraging comprehensive data sets, including traditional and alternative data, organizations can improve the accuracy of their risk assessments and approve more loans with less risk.

3. Balancing Growth and Risk: While nearly half of the respondents are not currently using alternative data, there is a clear interest in its potential. Organizations can explore opportunities to incorporate alternative data sources into their risk assessment and customer scoring models, particularly for financial inclusion. 76.1 million consumers in the U.S. are considered thin file or credit invisible and expanded and alternative data can reveal qualified applicants that are hidden. The fact that 86% of respondents are seeking growth opportunities while carefully managing risk highlights the need for tools and strategies that support this balance. Data-driven decision-making can help organizations identify and capitalize on growth opportunities while mitigating potential risks, with some lenders seeing 15.5% increases in approval rates.

The focus on proactive risk identification, the prioritization of data-driven loan origination, and the emerging interest in alternative data all point to a future where such data is increasingly becoming imperative in the financial industry. In today's rapidly changing marketplace, it is more important than ever for organizations to have a comprehensive and accurate view of their customers' creditworthiness, making alternative data even more crucial for those looking to stay ahead of competition and economic headwinds. By embracing these trends and leveraging data effectively, organizations can unlock new opportunities for growth, building a more resilient business, despite challenges and uncertainty that could lie ahead.

Keep Your Business Goals Within Sight

We hope you will join us for our March 2025 Market Pulse webinar taking place on Thursday, March 20, 2025, when we will have an all-star economist panel discussing the key economic trends in Q1 and the hottest topic impacting the market. To ask questions from top economists in real time and gain deeper insights before anyone else, you simply have to be there. 

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