Experian has announced the launch of Experian Cashflow Attributes for commercial lenders, a new solution that transforms business bank transaction data into analytics-ready attributes. The offering is designed to help financial institutions make more informed decisions and gain a deeper understanding of the financial health of the businesses they serve.

The product expands Experian's cash flow and small-business lending capabilities, using banking insights to inform credit decisions and responsibly broaden access to business credit. It translates day-to-day banking activity into standardized data points that lenders can weigh alongside conventional commercial credit files when assessing business borrowers.

"Small businesses are a vital part of our economy and helping them access the credit they need to grow and expand starts with providing lenders with a more complete understanding of their financial health," said Molly Poppie, Chief Product and Analytics Officer for Experian Financial Services and Data. "Commercial credit data is critical to understanding business risk, and Cashflow Attributes for commercial lenders adds another powerful dimension by providing an automated and current view of how a business is operating. By pairing these insights, we can help lenders make more-informed decisions and power more opportunities for small businesses to thrive."

The announcement comes as access to capital remains critical for small businesses looking to operate and grow. According to the Federal Reserve Banks' 2026 Small Business Credit Survey, 60% of small businesses sought financing in the prior 12 months, most commonly to meet operating expenses (56%) or to pursue an expansion or new business opportunity (46%). Yet just 42% of applicants received all the financing they sought, while more than 1 in 5 received none.

At the same time, lenders need sufficient information to confidently evaluate a business's financial health and ability to repay. For companies with limited commercial credit histories, traditional credit information alone may not provide a complete picture. Cash flow insights can add an additional view into how a business is operating and its overall financial condition, helping lenders make better-informed decisions and identify opportunities to responsibly extend credit to more businesses.

Experian's preliminary analysis shows that Cashflow Attributes for commercial lenders are particularly useful for businesses with thin credit files, providing up to a 24% lift in predictive performance when paired with traditional commercial credit data.

"At a time when decision-making, especially using AI, is becoming a significant competitive differentiator, Experian Cashflow Attributes for commercial lenders makes particular sense," said Jerry Silva, vice president at IDC Financial Insights. "Modern decision platforms need access to multiple alternative data sources, and having commercial transaction information will give those institutions that leverage it a competitive leg up."

His assessment reflects a broader shift in commercial lending toward multi-source decisioning, in which permissioned bank transaction signals are weighed alongside — rather than in place of — traditional commercial credit files.

Turning Business Transactions into Actionable Insights

Leveraging first-party transaction data, such as information from an institution's existing business checking account relationships, or permissioned commercial bank account transaction data, Cashflow Attributes for commercial lenders provides insight into a business's financial health. This includes predictive analytics on liquidity, revenue trends, operating expenses, debt exposure and repayment capacity.

Designed to complement Experian's commercial credit data, more than 500 analytics-ready attributes can be used across underwriting, portfolio management and model development, helping lenders quickly integrate cash flow insights into their workstreams.

Continuing Experian's Investment in Cash Flow Insights

The launch reflects Experian's continued investment in expanding its cash flow capabilities across both consumer and commercial markets. It also broadens the company's existing commercial credit data and analytics capabilities by adding transaction-based signals to lending decisions.

Experian Cashflow Attributes for commercial lenders leverages technology from Slope, a specialist in business decisioning and commercial bank account data that Experian selected to help accelerate the delivery of commercial cash flow capabilities to clients.

"We're excited to collaborate with Experian to help bring richer cashflow insights to commercial lenders," said Lawrence Lin Murata, co-founder and CEO of Slope. "Small businesses generate valuable financial signals through their daily operations and banking activity. By combining Slope's expertise in transforming business transaction data with Experian's industry-leading commercial credit data and analytics, we're helping lenders gain a deeper understanding of business performance and create more opportunities for small businesses to access the capital they need to grow."

With Slope's technology now underpinning the product, the next development to watch is how commercial lenders fold these attributes into the underwriting, portfolio management and model development workflows Experian has outlined — work aimed at the same funding gap the Federal Reserve's survey documents.

Source: GlobalFinTechSeries