"If You Pay Your Telecom Bills Well, You Can Use Home Appliance Rentals" LG Uplus Offers Credit Evaluation Using Telecom Big Data

LG Electronics Care Solution Subscription Utilizes LG Uplus-NICE Credit Information 'Telco Score'
Subscription Available for 'Thin Filer' Customers with Limited Financial Transaction History... First Adoption Among Non-Financial Companies

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] LG Uplus announced on the 31st that it will provide 'TelcoScore,' a credit evaluation model utilizing telecommunications big data, to LG Electronics' home appliance rental service 'Care Solution,' becoming the first non-financial company to do so.

TelcoScore is a credit evaluation model that combines LG Uplus's telecommunications big data with NICE Credit Information's financial credit evaluation expertise. It overcomes the limitations of existing evaluation models that primarily assess credit based on financial transaction performance information, enabling credit evaluation for a larger number of customers.

Rental services are gaining significant attention due to advantages such as the activation of the sharing economy and low usage fees. However, rental services, which require monthly payments over several years, may restrict subscription if the customer's credit evaluation score is low. As a result, so-called 'thin filer' customers, such as university students, young professionals, and housewives with insufficient financial transaction records, have sometimes been unable to use rental services.

LG Electronics plans to expand the target users of rental services within the year through TelcoScore, in addition to the traditional credit scores based on financial transaction records, when customers apply to rent household appliances such as water purifiers and stylers. Customers who pay their telecommunications bills without delay can receive high TelcoScore points.

LG Uplus plans to further expand the use of TelcoScore to alleviate customer inconveniences by utilizing telecommunications big data. TelcoScore has been used by numerous financial institutions, including Kakao Bank, since 2017.

Kim Hyung-chan, Head of Future Business at NICE Credit Information, said, “With the expansion of platform-centered non-face-to-face services, the emergence of subscription services, and the increase in single-person households, the alternative credit evaluation market reflecting telecommunications information is expected to continue expanding not only in the financial market but also in the non-financial market.”

Jeon Kyung-hye, Executive Director of Data Business Promotion at LG Uplus, said, “Alternative credit evaluation using telecommunications information such as individual payment history of telecommunications bills has been steadily utilized mainly for loan screening of thin filer customers by financial companies. Recently, its value has been recognized in various non-financial services such as rentals and subscription services, gradually expanding its scope of use. Telecommunications information is expected to be a good solution not only for credit evaluation but also for solving customer pain points.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.