CU Direct Connect (CUDC), a participant in the Colorado automotive financing market that provides indirect services to credit unions and dealers, announced the upcoming availability of a custom auto loan risk score designed by FICO.

Officials highlighted this new score — which is expected to be available during the third quarter — is geared to help credit unions that are lending through CUDC’s program manage their risk with greater precision and safely extend their credit to more people.

Designed to complement the proven performance of the FICO Score, CUDC explained that the custom application score analyzes specific data elements from consumers’ credit bureau files, information from the consumer’s credit application and deal information to more precisely distinguish good and bad credit risks for vehicle installment contracts.

The overall goal is to help participating credit unions drive more profitable decisions.

As CUDC expands into Wyoming, Arizona and other markets, this new custom score will allow CUDC credit unions to better manage credit risk on portfolios in new markets.

“The FICO Score has been the gold standard for assessing consumer credit risk in North America for 25 years,” said Tim VanTassel, vice president of credit risk lifecycle solutions at FICO. “Adding our custom application score brings CUDC and its lending partners the sharpest possible prediction of a borrower’s likely performance on an auto loan.”

CUDC president and chief executive officer Blair Korschun reiterated that the company fully supports its credit union partners that are looking to drive better bottom line results by taking a smart, strategic approach to credit-risk evaluation and compliance

“By working with FICO to create a custom application score, we are taking a big step in supporting our credit union partners and their interests,” Korschun said. “By using this new score, the credit unions in the CUDC program can better manage risk associated with auto loans.”

To learn more about the CUDC program and becoming a credit union or dealer partner, go to www.CUDirectConnect.com.