A novel framework for enhancing transparency in credit scoring: Leveraging Shapley values for interpretable credit scorecards

Credit scorecards are essential tools for banks to assess the creditworthiness of loan applicants. While advanced machine learning models like XGBoost and random forest often outperform traditional logistic regression in predictive accuracy, their lack of interpretability hinders their adoption in practice. This study bridges the gap between research and practice by developing a novel framework for constructing interpretable credit scorecards using Shapley values. We apply this framework to two credit datasets, discretizing numerical variables and utilizing one-hot encoding to facilitate model development. Shapley values are then employed to derive credit scores for each predictor variable group in XGBoost, random forest, LightGBM, and CatBoost models. Our results demonstrate that this approach yields credit scorecards with interpretability comparable to logistic regression while maintaining superior predictive accuracy. This framework offers a practical and effective solution for credit practitioners seeking to leverage the power of advanced models without sacrificing transparency and regulatory compliance.