Consumer data firm TransUnion said Thursday tests showed its new credit scoreoutperformed traditional scoring approaches. In fact, one autolender could have approved 24% more loan applications and grown theloan portfolio between 5.7% and 11.5%.

TransUnion tested the new score, CreditVision Link, with roughly 30 lenders and 35 millionconsumer credit reports. In the tests, lenders provided credithistories from between 12 and 24 months prior. TransUnion scoredthose records with the new scoring system and compared them againsthow the consumers performed on their loans.

TransUnion Senior Vice President Mike Mondelli explained thecredit score marries traditional credit performance data with setsof additional data like property records, tax and deed records,checking and debit account records and payday lending data.

“How long you have been your current address makes adifference,” Mondelli said. “If you have bought furniturefrom a rent to own store, how quickly did you pay that off?”

Even how well or poorly a borrower pays for magazinesubscriptions has an impact on the CreditVision Link score, headded.

Mondelli said the new approach could lift the scores of 23million borrowers now considered subprime into a higher creditstatus and allow 60 million adults who currently have no creditscore to obtain one. The company estimated 95% of adults inthe U.S. will be covered by the new scoring system.

“Nearly six in 10 Americans are struggling financially,according to recent CFSI research,” he said. “Knowing this, it is more importantthan ever to deliver innovative solutions such as CreditVision Linkthat increase lender confidence and consumer access to qualityfinancial services. Whether top-tier banks, communityinstitutions, insurance carriers or specialty lenders, ourcustomers continue to look for better ways to serve the manymillions of Americans seeking a firmer financial foothold.”

Mondelli also acknowledged the new score would carry a fee, butexpressed confidence that lenders will find the fee a worthwhileinvestment when they see how they could use it to grow their loanportfolios.

The new score complies with the Fair Credit Reporting Act andits scale runs between 350 and 850, with 850 being the best.