TransUnion Credit Risk Index Reaches Record High

The TransUnion Credit Risk Index reached 124.79 in the last quarter of 2008, the highest level seen since its inception. The index recorded its biggest change on a quarter-to-quarter basis (up by 5.99% compared to 3Q08). It increased 5.41% compared to the same quarter in 2007. The index is based on the calculated average forecast of 90-day or worse delinquencies within a region and uses the fourth quarter of 1998 as a baseline comparison. According to Chet Wermanski, TransUnion Analytics and Decisioning Services' global chief scientist, the index accounts for "the non-linearity of credit scores" to measure changes in regional risk and to compare regional risk levels over time relative to the nation as a whole at the end of 1998. TransUnion, Chicago, considers index readings above 100 to have a "higher level risk."