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Credit risk modeling with the power of AI

Elevating the customer experience while enhancing credit decisions, fraud detection, and compliance

Banks are using advanced technology and more data to make better decisions about lending money, preventing fraud, and following regulations. While moving away from legacy systems can be challenging, leveraging tech-enabled platforms and advanced analytics—supported by Deloitte’s financial services capabilities and robust cloud infrastructure of Amazon Web Services (AWS)—can help improve performance, serve customers faster, lower risks, and open up new opportunities both for banks and their customers.

Key takeaways

  • AI and generative AI are revolutionizing credit risk modeling by improving decision-making, fraud detection, and compliance
  • Data quality and modern infrastructure are essential to ensure high-quality, compliant data is available for accurate credit decision-making
  • These technologies enhance lending efficiency and customer experience through faster, more personalized service and real-time decisions
  • Strong governance and transparency are critical to maintain compliance, reduce bias, and ensure stakeholder trust
  • Successfully adopting next-generation risk modeling requires strategic partnerships with experienced professionals like Deloitte and AWS

Navigating the challenges of AI-driven credit risk

To fully realize the promise of AI in credit risk modeling, banks face a number of hurdles. Legacy, siloed data systems can slow innovation and invite inefficiencies, especially in credit pricing and decisioning. Plus, transitioning to AI-driven approaches requires a mature, cloud-based infrastructure with strong data governance, access, and quality controls—areas where many institutions still lag.

AI and GenAI introduce new data streams and but also new complexity. Without robust governance, transparency, and a commitment to fairness, these can create challenges in meeting regulatory standards and combating bias. Moreover, data must be monitored and protected throughout its life cycle, with institutions ensuring every data point that influences lending decisions is accurate, well-governed, and clearly understood.

Understanding different forms of AI

AI is not one-size-fits-all. Distinct types of AI offer distinct kinds of capabilities and applications. For example, traditional machine learning (ML) can automate analytics and rule-based tasks, while Gen AI can interpret and create unstructured content, mimicking human reasoning and creativity.

A recent internal benchmark reveals that three-quarters of banks are already using ML for credit scoring, early warnings, and pricing. And Gen AI is now emerging as a reliable complement, streamlining the loan process by making application interactions smarter and more comprehensive.

Together, ML and GenAI can empower banks to not only enhance risk modeling, but also elevate the customer experience through personalized services and near real-time decisions.

The benefits of AI credit risk modeling

  • Faster loan approvals: Automate decisioning to shorten approval times
  • Personalized lending: Use AI to match products to individual borrower profiles
  • Expanded access: Confidently extend credit to new and underserved segments with advanced analytics
  • Real-time decisions: Provide applicants with immediate, AI-driven loan outcomes
  • Enhanced fraud detection: Identify and address anomalies for earlier prevention
  • Pricing accuracy: Apply dynamic, AI-powered pricing tailored to risk
  • Lower defaults: Leverage broad data, including unstructured sources, to anticipate and reduce risk of default
  • Model validation: Use GenAI to strengthen and streamline risk model validation for compliance
  • Automated data integration: Turn unstructured or incomplete data into reliable inputs
  • Quality management: Ensure ongoing data accuracy, consistency, and availability
  • Transparency: Enable traceable, auditable decisions with real-time dashboards
  • Reduced costs: Lower operational and capital costs through automation
  • Smart risk management: Balance conservative and aggressive risk models to maximize opportunity
  • Scalable solutions: Deploy adaptable, cloud-native platforms for current and future demands
  • Guided applications: Support borrowers with AI-enhanced digital assistants
  • Inclusive lending: Use AI to analyze nontraditional data, increasing access for diverse borrowers
  • Cloud scalability: Handle growing data and processing
  • Continuous model improvement: Employ version control and specialized models for efficient updates
  • Proactive monitoring: Monitor for bias, hallucinations, and privacy issues
  • Comprehensive oversight: For model development, deployment, and performance
  • Dashboard integration: Provide leaders with real-time visibility into model data, scoring, and decisions
  • Legacy integration: Operate AI alongside existing systems for reliability and benchmarking

Deloitte and AWS

AI-driven credit risk modeling introduces complex platform, data, talent, and operational challenges that demand both deep expertise and robust infrastructure. Deloitte and AWS bring together leading financial services knowledge and advanced cloud capabilities to help banks address these needs.

By integrating Converge™ by Deloitte BankingSuite with AWS cloud architecture, banks can deliver more engaging customer experiences, make real-time credit decisions, and accelerate processes through an integrated approach that strengthens, rather than replaces, traditional risk modeling and enables faster, more accurate lending, improved compliance, and greater transparency.

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