TransUnion has launched Credit Washing and Synthetic Fraud Scores that lenders can use in credit decisions and cite when they turn applicants down, with Oscilar’s risk platform the first to incorporate them. TransUnion describes them as the first adverse-actionable scores of their kind on the market.
Synthetic identity fraud combines real and fabricated identity elements to create consumer profiles that appear legitimate, allowing fraudsters to evade traditional detection, open accounts and generate losses. In credit washing, negative credit history is suppressed so that it no longer shows an applicant’s true risk.
TransUnion says the scores support decisions governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and permissioned by consumers. Because they are adverse-actionable, lenders can give applicants reason codes explaining why they were denied credit, capabilities TransUnion says were not previously available.
The company’s research puts total lender exposure to synthetic identity fraud at $2.4 billion as of June 2026. Its analysis found that consumers whose charge-offs had been suppressed through credit washing were 3.5 times more likely to charge off a new account within a year of opening it, and super prime consumers 10 times more likely. TransUnion says the scores draw on its data assets, analytics and identity intelligence to identify these threats earlier.
In Oscilar’s platform, the scores and their reason codes run alongside credit decisioning in a single workflow, so lenders can act on synthetic identity and credit washing risk at account opening and cite it in adverse action notices. Oscilar says it supports onboarding, credit, fraud and anti-money laundering workflows for more than 100 financial institutions.
“Synthetic identity fraud and credit washing present unique challenges because they can conceal risk behind seemingly legitimate consumer profiles,” said James Garvert, executive vice president of global fraud and communications solutions at TransUnion. “By bringing advanced fraud intelligence into explainable, FCRA-governed decisioning, we’re helping organizations uncover threats that might otherwise go undetected, make more confident decisions, and mitigate potential financial losses.”
“A fraud score only pays off if the lender can act on it,” said Neha Narkhede, co-founder and CEO of Oscilar. “TransUnion’s adverse-actionable scores give lenders a reason they can cite, and Oscilar puts that reason on the same decision and notice as the credit reasons.”
Sources: TransUnion
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
