Technology Guide

Explainable AI (XAI): ending the black box era of credit scoring

How Explainable Artificial Intelligence transforms B2B credit scoring by ensuring transparency, decision justification, and regulatory compliance. Discover why every score must be explained.

What is explainable AI (XAI) in credit scoring context?

Explainable AI, or XAI, refers to a set of techniques and principles that allow understanding, interpreting, and justifying decisions made by an artificial intelligence system. Unlike traditional "black box" models (deep neural networks, complex ensembles) that produce results without explanation, XAI makes criteria, weightings, and decision logic transparent.

Technical Definition

XAI relies on techniques like feature importance, SHAP values (contribution of each criterion to the final score), or interpretable decision rules. The goal: enable a human to understand why the AI made such a decision, even without being a data scientist.

Why is explainable AI crucial in B2B credit scoring?

In credit scoring, decisions have direct financial impacts and can affect a company's reputation. Unlike other AI use cases (product recommendations, targeted advertising), financial scoring is subject to strict regulations and high transparency expectations. Here's why XAI has become indispensable:

Weighting criteria: financial data vs. behavioral data

Weighting example in an XAI model

Let's take the example of a company rated 65/100 (moderate risk). Here's how an explainable system breaks down this score:

Base score (neutral)

70/100

High debt (ratio > 70%)-5
Recent payment incident-8
Revenue growth (+15% over 2 years)+4
Seniority > 5 years+2
Low equity-3

Final score = 70 - 5 - 8 + 4 + 2 - 3 = 65/100

With this breakdown, you immediately understand that the recent payment incident (-8) is the most penalizing factor, followed by high debt (-5). You can thus adapt your decision: request guarantees, reduce payment terms, or accept under monitoring.

Frequently asked questions about explainable AI

Switch to explainable credit scoring today

Don't let AI's black box endanger your regulatory compliance and credibility. Discover how RocketFin transforms every score into a justified and transparent decision.