Online investment-linked finance firm Eight Percent will apply its fifth-generation proprietary credit scoring model to personal credit loans, using about 7.2 million personal credit screening data points. It plans to assess repayment capacity in greater detail for mid-to-low credit borrowers and people with limited financial histories, while reducing the number of screening variables.

Eight Percent said on Monday it will apply its fifth-generation proprietary credit scoring model, E-index 5.0, to its personal credit loan products.

The new model uses about 7.2 million personal credit screening data points accumulated on Eight Percent's financial platform. It reflected behavioural data in training not only from approved borrowers but also from applicants rejected during screening, customers who repaid early, and customers who returned to normal repayment after delinquency.

It also strengthened screening functions for customers whose repayment ability is difficult to assess based only on existing financial transaction histories, including mid-to-low credit borrowers, first-time workers, freelancers and gig workers.

According to Eight Percent's internal simulation results, E-index 5.0 showed 21.3 percent higher discriminatory power for repayment capacity among mid-to-low credit customers than cases using only credit scores from personal credit rating companies. For all customers, discriminatory power improved by 8.2 percent.

Eight Percent plans to use E-index 5.0 as screening and risk management infrastructure to expand linked investments in online investment-linked finance by financial companies, including savings banks and mutual finance institutions.

Park Kwon-su (박권수), head of Eight Percent's CSS team, said it upgraded the model so an AI-based machine learning model selects key signals needed to determine repayment probability, improving stability and efficiency. He said it improved the speed and stability of large-scale automated screening and laid the groundwork for handling mid-interest-rate loans more precisely when funds from institutional investors flow in.