Rethinking the Home Equity Line of Credit

It is time for banks to reconsider home equity growth strategies. There are substantial opportunities in targeting and offer design, including the use of precision pricing. Home equity lenders refocused their marketing and underwriting approach in the wake of the 2008 credit melt-down, but have they now fenced themselves in? In walling off risk exposure, most banks have raised thresholds on FICO scores; lowered combined loan-to-value ceilings; and tightly focused on cross-sell to established deposit customers. While understandable as a crisis response, such tightening is now inadvertently compromising balance growth and profitability in a recovering market. The irony of focusing ...