Beyond Traditional Credit Checks In markets Credit Scoring and Insurance Profiling with limited credit bureau coverage (e.g., Southeast Asia, Africa, parts of Latin America), lenders and insurers turn to alternative data — much of it from phones. This includes SMS content (like payment reminders), call logs, contact list density, and app installation data.
Smartphone-Based Scoring
Fintech companies assess:
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Phone Tenure: Longer ownership implies stability.
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Recharge Patterns: Frequent recharges suggest better liquidity.
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App Ecosystem: A user with productivity or finance apps may be more creditworthy.
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Behavioral Traits: How a person types, scrolls, or even hesitates can be correlated with risk.
Insurance Risk Models Credit Scoring and Insurance Profiling
Some insurers use GPS data to assess driving vietnam phone number list behavior or fitness levels. Health insurance firms might reward users who meet step-count goals via their phone’s pedometer. Auto insurers offer discounts based on driving scores derived from accelerometer and GPS data collected through a mobile app.
Ethical and Legal Concerns
While these models can expand access to underserved populations, they raise issues of consent, transparency, and bias. Critics argue that they create opaque “black box” scoring systems and deepen digital surveillance.
Location Intelligence and Urban Planning
Phones as Proxies for Movement
Every phone has a GPS sensor and a persistent internet connection. Aggregated, this data forms a comprehensive, real-time map of human mobility. Businesses and governments are using this location intelligence to guide decision-making.
Business Applications
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Retail Site Selection: Chains analyze foot traffic to pick optimal locations.
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Competitor Intelligence: Track store visits to rival businesses.
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Event Planning: Identify where attendees the targeting rules and came from and how long they stayed.
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Logistics Optimization: Map delivery routes or anticipate delays based on congestion patterns.
Urban Planning & Public Sector Use
City planners analyze anonymized movement data to:
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Evaluate the usage of public transit or bike lanes.
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Predict crowd densities for safety or resource allocation.
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Monitor COVID-19 social distancing compliance (as seen in 2020–2021).
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Improve traffic light timing and emergency response routes.
Players in the Space
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Placer.ai and Foursquare offer tools mobile database for commercial location analytics.
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Google’s Mobility Reports provided COVID-era insights on national movement trends.
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HERE Technologies and TomTom aggregate mobile GPS data for traffic and mapping applications.