Technology and the information that is readily available for consumption is vast and complex. This information, known as big data, can be used to develop a strategy to market and conduct your business to its peak performance. But what exactly is big data? Big data is the large, hard-managed volumes of data – both structured and unstructured – that inundates a business on a daily basis. How a business utilizes this information is what matters to the day-to-day operations.

Risk Management

In the bail bonding industry, big data can be used to develop a better system of identifying and addressing key risk factors that are a challenge to the day-to-day operations of a bail agency. Implementing a risk management assessment will allow the bail agency to evaluate and avert the key challenges that each defendant brings with them. 

There are advantages to working with a data company that can provide vital information from various sources such as public records, private data sources, criminal records, credit reports, financial reports and more. These companies have the ability to collect massive amounts of data that can leave a “virtual breadcrumb trail” of the actions and behaviors of your client. The collected data can help to build a risk assessment of a defendant, allowing the bondsmen to evaluate their criminal past, employment status, financial situation and track their movements within an area. This information is then used to determine if the defendant is a good risk, meaning they will abide by the bail process, or if they are a risk that will leave the bondsmen in a difficult situation. 

Using big data and digital identity is key to determining the risk management for your bail bond company. Almost every person on the planet has some form of digital identity. That paired with the other data that companies and servers collect with every transaction, login, purchase, social media account, GPS tracking, and Google search helps companies trace the habits and potential risk of an individual that is in need of a bail bondsman.

Bail bond agencies have to protect themselves against those defendants that fail to appear, skip bail, recommit or commit a crime or do not make the necessary payments to fulfill their obligation to the courts. Combining the use of big data and predictive analytics will give a risk assessment for potential defendants. While all information collected is not fool-proof, it does allow for more informed decisions on the risk that a client brings with them. 

Technology is propelling the bail bond industry toward a business model that will reduce the risk of defendants that do not comply with the courts. Critics feel that this use of artificial intelligence and predictive analytics data is unfair and biased. However, bail bond agencies have a responsibility to not only their business, but to the clients they serve to use the information collected to make informed and just decisions that will benefit the greater good. These types of data create transparency between client and bondsmen.