Nova Credit is a cross-border consumer credit bureau that uses first-party data to enable immigrant consumers to apply for financial services using their international credit history
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Nova Credit received legal permission from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to provide credit references in the UK.
Funded in 2016, Nova Credit partners with credit bureaus around the world so that immigrants around the globe become “credit visible”. The company uses its proprietary API-driven Credit Passport tech to translate international credit data into a local-equivalent score and report it in a format familiar to local underwriters.
Since getting the regulatory permission, Nova Credit can now unlock its consumer-permissioned access to over 2 billion credit profiles worldwide for financial services providers in the UK. Incorporating credit information from foreign bureaus as part of their creditworthiness assessment would enable British lending institutions to seamlessly underwrite qualifying “newcomers” without a local credit score. Moreover, an overview of one’s full credit history unaffected by borders would help underwriters make fairer and more inclusive decisions.
Before that innovation, recent immigrants required about five years to build their local credit history back to its previous levels. Starting from scratch is not easy, so those new to the country struggled with getting an apartment lease, a cell phone plan, a credit card, or student loans.
The product can be used by any newcomer who wishes to share their credit history from their home country with a UK lender who accepts Nova Credit’s translated scores.
