Alternative Data Uncovers Millions of Invisible Prime Borrowers

Traditional credit scores lean heavily on loans and card accounts, leaving consumers who reliably pay rent, utilities and phone bills difficult to assess when they carry little conventional debt. Bloom Credit says 26 million Americans are credit invisible and another 19 million are unscorable. That pool creates a lending blind spot: financial institutions may classify responsible borrowers as subprime, limiting access to affordable credit while surrendering potentially sound loan growth.

Bloom Credit convened a webinar on June 25, 2026, moderated by CEO Christian Widhalm and featuring representatives from Suncoast Credit Union, VantageScore and the Financial Health Network. The discussion focused on using consumer-permissioned rent, utility and mobile-payment data to broaden underwriting without automatically increasing risk. Data highlighted after the event showed rent history can lift a thin-file consumer’s score by more than 100 points, while subprime borrowers spend seven times more of their income on interest and fees than prime borrowers.