Equifax And HNC Software Announce Gemini Bankruptcy Solution

ATLANTA and SAN DIEGO, April 15, 1998 -- Equifax Inc. and HNC Software Inc. today introduced a new product, Gemini Bankruptcy SolutionSM, to significantly improve early identification of potential bankrupt accounts. Gemini Bankruptcy Solution combines Equifax's Bankruptcy Navigator Index(r) score with HNC's ProfitMax(tm) Bankruptcy cardholder bankruptcy prediction system.

ProfitMax Bankruptcy is a transaction-based, dynamic HNC profiling of the cardholder relationship and their transactions with a single issuer. Equifax's Bankruptcy Navigator evaluates the cardholder's relationship with all credit grantors. Gemini Bankruptcy Solution combines the features of both products in an optimized algorithm that combines the two scores. It accurately predicts more bankrupt accounts, lowers the false-positive rate, and increases the predictive lead-time.

According to Allen Jost, vice president of business development, Financial Industries Solutions at HNC, "In exploring joint development projects with Equifax, we found that each company had a bankruptcy predictor that was more predictive of bankruptcy than the scores traditionally used by credit card issuing banks. Although there was some overlap, Bankruptcy Navigator and ProfitMax Bankruptcy were not identifying the same set of potential bankrupts because of differences in what the two scoring models evaluate. This told us that we could expect a performance improvement from a new type model combining the two scores."

"We are pleased at the advantage that is gained by the new mathematical model employed in Gemini Bankruptcy Solution," said James Allhusen, executive vice president and group executive, Equifax North American Information Services. "This is an example of the kind of innovation that is increasingly important in ensuring that the science of credit scoring keeps pace with the information explosion," he added.

Equifax and HNC will introduce Gemini Bankruptcy Solution at the Faulkner & Gray Credit Card Forum in New Orleans, April 14-17.

Equifax's worldwide knowledge-based information, transaction processing, consulting and software businesses are designed to bring buyers and sellers together, thus changing the shape of global commerce. Equifax serves the banking, financial, retail, credit card, telecommunications/utilities, automotive, government and health care industries. It is a leading supplier of business information solutions in Canada, the UK and Latin America. Equifax operates in 17 countries with sales in more than 40 countries. Founded in 1899 in Atlanta, Equifax (NYSE: EFX) today has 10,000 employees around the world. Revenues for the 12 months ended December 31, 1997, were $1.4 billion. Visit the company's Internet web site at http://www.equifax.com.

Headquartered in San Diego, California, HNC Software Inc. (NASDAQ: HNCS) is a world leader in the development and delivery of predictive software solutions in client/server environments. HNC provides innovative predictive software systems in the financial services, retail, insurance information, and electronic commerce markets.