Meet the Fintech Stocks Quietly Transforming How Credit Risk is Assessed in Financial Services

At a time when more Americans are becoming concerned about their debts at a time when the cost of living is increasing, the accuracy of credit risk is becoming more important than ever for borrowers hoping to access fair repayment rates for their loans. 

Despite technological advances in artificial intelligence helping to deliver the tools that can assist in more accurate credit scoring measures, many lenders still depend on traditional measures, which are less dynamic and more historically focused than their modern counterparts. 

Many financial institutions rely on using the FICO Score system, which creates a credit worthiness score based on metrics like a borrower’s payment history, amounts owed, length of credit history, the number of credit accounts owned, and new credit added. 

But critics argue that the FICO system is too historically focused, and can unfairly penalize those with student debt or historical medical bills. 

Credit risk has come increasingly into the spotlight as US consumer credit rose to $20.73 billion in April, higher than the $17.5 billion gain expected. This has left credit at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.8%, while revolving credit has increased at an annual rate of 10.4% and non-revolving credit at 2.9%. 

With more Americans borrowing money, the limitations of the FICO credit scoring system are once again entering the spotlight. With more innovative AI-focused fintech players already creating functional alternative use cases, let’s take a deeper look at the stocks that could help to create a fairer credit risk ecosystem in the coming years: 

Upstart Holdings (UPST) 

As a pure-play AI lending platform, Upstart (NASDAQ: UPST) evaluates more than 2,500 alternative data points to assess borrower risk, far surpassing the capabilities of FICO models. 

Despite recording a 16% decline in 2026 so far, Upstart’s Q1 results showed a major resurgence in the platform’s digital lending ecosystem, with transaction volumes soaring 77% and total originations weighing in at $3.4 billion, representing a 61% increase from the prior year’s quarter. 

Because Upstart uses AI and machine learning (ML) technology to expand credit access to borrowers, the platform could reach new customers in the months ahead as more Americans look for ways to manage their finances. 

By taking far more factors into account when evaluating credit worthiness, such as educational background, employment history, and real-time cash-flow behaviors, Upstart may have the blueprint to a fairer lending landscape and could be a strong long-term hold for investors. 

Experian (EXPN) 

Listed on the London Stock Exchange, Experian (LON: EXPN) is an example of a long-standing financial institution adopting modern fintech tools to improve the quality of its credit assessments. 

The company uses AI and ML to automate credit decisions while also monitoring for fraud and delivering personalized financial guidance. 

Experian already has access to massive proprietary datasets, allowing the platform to integrate conversational agents and predictive models to provide bespoke services for both customers and businesses alike. 

The platform is preferred by financial advisors, who can also integrate AI tools into their CRM for more personalized advice to clients. 

Although Experian has struggled to build momentum in 2026, one of the firm’s biggest assets for credit scoring is its Ascend Platform, which utilizes ML to allow lenders to instantly process risk parameters for highly accurate credit decisions. 

Moody’s (MCO)

Rather than acting as its own autonomous credit rating system, Moody’s (NYSE: MCO) acts as an assistive tool for lenders to accurately assess the creditworthiness of prospective borrowers. 

Moody’s AI agents are capable of gathering and validating borrower data while also drafting financial summaries and creating credit memos in a matter of minutes. 

The same technology can help to monitor the portfolios of users, monitoring for early warning indicators while flagging anomalies in real-time for a greater level of financial management. 

Despite falling 11% in 2026 so far, Moody’s delivered record-breaking Q1 2026 results, reporting adjusted diluted EPS of $4.33 and revenue of $2.1 billion. 

Growing AI Credit Risk Use Cases

With US inflation ticking higher in recent months, the task of borrowing at fair rates will become more important for Americans, building the use cases associated with AI-powered credit risk solutions. 

While the financial landscape has long been bogged down by traditional processes that can unfairly penalize borrowers, the more dynamic nature of artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions mean that more users can take out the loans that the need on fairer terms. 

Although it’s taken longer for digital transformation to bring new efficiencies in the world of finance, these stocks are well-positioned to help modernize old processes at scale into the future.