Kalapodas, Evangelos and Mary E. Thomson, "Credit Risk Assessment: A challenge for financial institutions", IMA Journal of Management Mathematics, Vol. 17, No. 1, (January 2006), pp. 25-46.

Abstract: This study explores financial credit risk assessment. This is an important issue because there is currently no standardized method used by financial institutions for the assessment of credit risk. A critical evaluation of the most popular credit risk assessment methods--the judgmental method, credit-scoring and portfolio models--highlights a number of limitations when used on their own. Several interviewees confirm that credit risk assessment methods should be combined for effective credit risk assessment. Accordingly, the study proposes a framework for improving credit risk assessment, which combines the strengths of these methods and copes successfully with their limitations.

Keywords: judgmental method, credit-scoring models, portfolio models.