A hybrid unsupervised machine learning model with spectral clustering and semi-supervised support vector machine for credit risk assessment

PLoS One. 2025 Jan 10;20(1):e0316557. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0316557. eCollection 2025.

Abstract

In credit risk assessment, unsupervised classification techniques can be introduced to reduce human resource expenses and expedite decision-making. Despite the efficacy of unsupervised learning methods in handling unlabeled datasets, their performance remains limited owing to challenges such as imbalanced data, local optima, and parameter adjustment complexities. Thus, this paper introduces a novel hybrid unsupervised classification method, named the two-stage hybrid system with spectral clustering and semi-supervised support vector machine (TSC-SVM), which effectively addresses the unsupervised imbalance problem in credit risk assessment by targeting global optimal solutions. Furthermore, a multi-view combined unsupervised method is designed to thoroughly mine data and enhance the robustness of label predictions. This method mitigates discrepancies in prediction outcomes from three distinct perspectives. The effectiveness, efficiency, and robustness of the proposed TSC-SVM model are demonstrated through various real-world applications. The proposed algorithm is anticipated to expand the customer base for financial institutions while reducing economic losses.

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms*
  • Cluster Analysis
  • Humans
  • Risk Assessment / methods
  • Supervised Machine Learning
  • Support Vector Machine*
  • Unsupervised Machine Learning*

Grants and funding

This research was partially supported by a research grant (Grant ID: 72061127002 from the National Natural Science Foundation of China) and the Shenzhen Key Research Base Grant in Arts & Social Sciences (ID: 3678123) for the author Wei Huang. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. No additional external funding was received for this study.