Our mission is to enable effortless credit based on true risk.

Why? Because credit really matters. Money is a fundamental ingredient of life, and unless you’re one of the few percent of Americans with significant wealth, the price of borrowing affects you every day. Throughout history, affordable credit has been central to unlocking mobility and opportunity.

Upstart is a leading artificial intelligence (AI) lending marketplace designed to improve access to affordable credit while reducing the risk and costs of lending for our bank partners. By leveraging Upstart's AI marketplace, Upstart-powered banks can offer higher approval rates and experience lower default rates*, while simultaneously delivering the exceptional digital-first lending experience their customers demand.

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* In an internal study, Upstart evaluated the performance of our personal loan underwriting model as compared to the underwriting criteria used by a traditional bank. The results presented are based on loans originated on Upstart’s platform with at least one payment due prior to June 22, 2022.

** As of 3/31/2023.

^ As of 3/31/2023. Fully Automated metric is calculated on a quarterly basis. Fully automated loans are defined as loans originated end-to-end (from initial rate request to final funding) with no human involvement.

but has changed little in recent decades.

Traditional lenders use simple FICO-based models to decide who is approved for credit and at what interest rate. While simple and intuitive, these “scorecard” methods are limited in their ability to quantify risk.

have never defaulted on a credit product, yet less than half have access to prime credit.* The implication is eye-opening. With a smarter credit model, lenders could approve almost twice as many borrowers, with fewer defaults.

* According to an Upstart retrospective study completed in December 2019.

and creating new ones. Whether self-driving cars, home assistants, or language translation, software that learns and improves on its own has moved from research labs to the mainstream in just a few years.

to apply AI to the multi-trillion dollar credit industry. Upstart goes beyond the FICO score, using non-conventional variables at scale to provide superior loan performance and improve consumers' access to credit.

learning and optimizing in response to daily loan-level repayment and delinquency data.

As of December 31, 2021, and based on a comparison between the Upstart model and a traditional credit-score only model. The APR calculation compares the two models based on the average APR offered to borrowers up to the same approval rate. The hypothetical credit-score only model used in Upstart's analysis was developed in connection with the CFPB No Action Letter access-to-credit testing program and was built from a traditional credit score only model trained on Upstart platform data. APR for the scorecard was averaged for each given traditional credit score grouping.

In an internal study, Upstart evaluated the performance of our personal loan underwriting model as compared to the underwriting criteria used by a traditional bank. The results presented are based on loans originated on Upstart’s platform with at least one payment due prior to June 22, 2022.

In an internal study, Upstart compared the actual realized loss rates of Upstart loans securitized in Thirteen securitization transactions between 2019 and 2022 and the loss rate predictions for those loans obtained from KBRA Surveillance Reports published by Kroll Bond Rating Agency, with the most recent report being published in January 2023. As compared to Kroll’s loss predictions, actual realized losses ranged from 7% to -86% vs base case assumptions, with an average deviation across all thirteen securitization transactions of -44%. 

Fully automated loans are defined as loans originated end-to-end (from initial rate request to final funding) with no human involvement.

over the next decade. While Upstart is focused today on the US consumer market, similar techniques can be applied to all credit markets.

AI-based lending expands access to affordable credit by constantly finding new ways to identify qualified borrowers. Yet an AI based model must avoid unlawful disparate impact or statistical bias, that would be harmful to disadvantaged groups.

Upstart has demonstrated that our marketplace doesn’t introduce bias to the credit decision process and has developed reporting procedures to ensure future versions of the model will continue to be fair. In September 2017, Upstart became the first company to receive a No Action Letter (NAL) from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The purpose of such letters is to reduce potential regulatory uncertainty for innovative products that may offer significant consumer benefit. On November 30, 2020, at the expiration of the first NAL, Upstart received a new NAL from the CFPB for a 3-year term. On June 8, 2022, the CFPB terminated the program at Upstart's request.

Join us as we bring a combination of modern data science and relentless effort to improve the lives of borrowers.

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