Plaid Launches LendScore 2 AI Credit Models, Targets Auto, Home, BNPL Lending

Plaid unveiled LendScore 2 on Oct. 6, 2026, an upgraded AI credit-scoring tool that adds specialized models for auto, home and short-term lending, including buy now, pay later providers. The product builds on LendScore, released in October 2025, which uses cashflow data such as savings balances and bill-payment history to predict default risk. Lenders may use it alongside or instead of traditional metrics like FICO scores. Plaid also introduced LendScore Arc, a model analyzing transaction timing and sequence to flag delinquency risk. The company said fintech lenders and unsecured consumer lenders have shown the most interest. CEO Zach Perret framed the expansion as a push beyond Plaid's core bank-account-linking business, adding that more products may launch this fall. Plaid is also developing payments and anti-fraud offerings, and its finance chief said earlier this year the company is preparing to go public.