Credit Kudos
Fund manager - Ascension Ventures
Credit Kudos enable individuals to prove their creditworthiness using accurate, real-time financial data.
Challenge
Many people in the UK face barriers to accessing affordable credit. Traditional credit-scoring agencies can make assumptions about an individual’s credit worthiness, and issue low scores based on ‘thin’ credit files. As a result, many applicants are unfairly prevented from accessing financial products at competitive rates – or even accessing them at all.
Approach
Credit Kudos believes in fairer credit for all. It uses the Open Banking platform to enable individuals to prove their creditworthiness using accurate, real-time financial data. Credit Kudos charges lenders to use its services and software. Borrowers do not pay. The investment came from the £10 million Fair by Design Fund, managed by Ascension Ventures, which Big Society Capital invested £5 million into.
Impact
Credit Kudos creates an accurate picture of a customer’s financial health and creditworthiness, thanks to the Open Banking data they provide when they apply. It also enables lenders to streamline their loan approval processes and increase lending volumes, by using highly accurate up-to-date information.
Responding to COVID-19
COVID-19 has impacted people’s personal finances right across the world. It’s also hit some people and communities harder than others, deepening income inequalities. In many cases, people’s primary source of income has fallen or disappeared, leading to a higher demand for affordable credit to help cover essential spending. Now is the time to make sure people can access fair financial products.
Credit Kudos has been quick to respond, in particular supporting the growing need of the country’s five million self-employed, many of whom have been badly affected by the crisis.
Working together with partners in the fintech sector, Credit Kudos has built a new proof-of-concept tool using their Open Banking data. The tool lets self-employed people prove their previous income and predict their future loss of income, to verify their application for Government support funding. They hope the technology will help remove an administrative burden from the civil service, while also helping banks to release loans to businesses and entrepreneurs more quickly.