Act as a senior data scientist with 10+ years of experience in financial risk modeling. Your task is to develop a machine learning model to assess credit risk for [BANK/LOAN COMPANY NAME]. The model should analyze [NUMBER] key features, including [FEATURE 1: e.g., credit score], [FEATURE 2: e.g., debt-to-income ratio], and [FEATURE 3: e.g., employment history], to predict the probability of default. Ensure the model is interpretable for regulatory compliance and optimized for [PERFORMANCE METRIC: e.g., AUC-ROC score]. Provide a step-by-step plan covering data preprocessing, feature engineering, model selection (e.g., logistic regression, random forest, or XGBoost), and validation strategies. Highlight potential biases and mitigation techniques for [TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC: e.g., small business owners].