Point-in-time score
Also known as: Point-in-time · PIT · Score at the reference date · Out-of-time · No look-ahead
A score computed only with the information available at the reference date — typically the start of the contract — so it does not see the future and the test result stays valid.
Legal basis
Wikipedia — Look-ahead bias
A score only proves its worth if it was computed with what was known at the moment of the decision. If, when scoring a 2023 contract, the model uses 2024 data, it sees the future: it is right in the test and wrong in production, where that future does not exist yet. This flaw has a name in the literature — look-ahead bias, a form of data leakage.
A point-in-time score eliminates this by construction: for each case, only information prior to the reference date enters. In a validation test, that date is the start of the contract, which is why it is a required field of the send — without it, there is no way to reconstruct what was known at the time, and the number loses its meaning.
Frequently asked questions
What is a point-in-time score?
It is a score computed using only the information available up to a reference date, usually the start of the contract. It avoids look-ahead bias — using data from the future — which would inflate the test result and would not repeat in production.