Nova, a premier cross-border credit reporting agency, has been granted regulatory approval to provide credit references in the United Kingdom. This move marks a significant milestone for the company which aims to help immigrants access financial services by using their credit history from their home country as a reference.
The UK has a large and growing immigrant population, and many of these individuals struggle to establish credit in the country due to a lack of credit history. Nova Credit aims to bridge this gap by using credit data from immigrants’ home countries to provide lenders and credit bureaus with a more complete picture of an individual’s creditworthiness.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has granted Nova Credit “restricted permission” to operate in the UK, allowing the company to provide credit references to lenders and credit bureaus on behalf of immigrants who are seeking to establish credit in the country. The move is expected to make it easier for immigrants to access credit and other financial services, such as mortgages and loans.
Nova Credit uses proprietary algorithms and machine learning (ML) techniques to analyze credit data from a variety of sources, including credit bureaus and financial institutions. The company then creates a credit reference that can be used by lenders and credit bureaus in the UK to assess an individual’s creditworthiness.
Misha Esipov, Co-founder & CEO of Nova Credit, said, “The UK is home to one of the world’s largest and most diverse immigrant communities; one in seven people in the UK was born overseas. We are thrilled to bring Nova Credit across the Atlantic to support the next generation of UK-bound immigrants. This critical consumer segment is the largest driver of the country’s population growth and is mission-critical to any business looking to maintain and grow market share.”
The company already operates in the United States and Canada, and the expansion to the UK marks a significant step in its global expansion plans. The FCA’s decision to grant Nova Credit restricted permission is a positive step towards making the financial services sector more inclusive, and it is expected to be welcomed by immigrants and lenders alike.
“Using the Nova Passport, UK lenders will be able to understand the financial history of consumers from over 20 countries and instantly use this information to make more fair and inclusive decisions. We have been thrilled by the reception we’ve received from the UK’s leading banks, FinTechs, auto lenders, and telecom providers, and look forward to announcing our first wave of partners in the coming months”, said Collin Galster, Non-Executive Director of Nova Credit UK.