The alliance intends to deliver a series of jointly developed risk management products designed to help financial institutions reduce credit and fraud risk losses.

The first product developed collaboratively by Experian and Visa, BankruptcyPredict, has the potential to reduce financial institution losses by better identifying consumers in financial distress and predicting bankruptcies up to 24 months in advance. By using both transaction data from Visa and credit file information from Experian, the product uses patented technology to deliver financial institutions credit risk scores. A financial institution would consider the score and other risk information when making account management decisions such as when to offer financial education or other actions that may help cardholders recover from financial distress.

BankruptcyPredict differs from other products on the market because it uses consumer credit and transaction activity across multiple financial account types. By taking a more comprehensive view of a consumer's credit activity - including many forms of payment cards and other loans or credit products (e.g., mortgages, lines of credit), financial institutions can make more accurate account management decisions.

"Our strategic alliance with Experian combines the expertise of both companies to offer high impact product solutions to financial institutions as they manage their customer relationships," said Elizabeth Buse, executive vice president, Visa. "A comprehensive view of financial transactions has the potential to increase the effectiveness of a financial institution's volume growth and account management efforts."

"This alliance demonstrates the intelligence and capabilities Experian and Visa can bring to our clients' risk decisions," said Kerry Williams, group president, Credit Services & Decision Analytics, Experian Americas. "Although account and portfolio management have always been vitally important, today's economic climate demands mmmore granular detail to evaluate risk and account-level choices to maintain a healthy portfolio."

BankruptcyPredict will be a subscription service commercially available from both Experian and Visa in early 2008.