US Fintech Firm Nova Credit Moves on UK Market

Cross-border credit bureau targets those who cross over to new countries.

San Francisco-founded cross-border credit bureau Nova Credit has arrived in the UK with ambitions for the whole European market. 

Nova Credit Co-Founder Nicky Goulimis will serve as the Executive Director of Nova Credit UK, and Matt Davies, who is based in the UK, joins as Head of UK Market Development. Davies’ experience includes senior business development roles at NTT DATA and Nokia.

The company says it will focus initially on the UK. It operates in the B2B and B2C sectors – and is on a mission to target people who “immigrate to new countries every year”. These individuals will need things like credit cards, car finance or phone contracts.

Collin Galster, VP International at Nova Credit & Director of Nova Credit UK, comments: “Millions of immigrants cross borders every year to work, study and establish new lives for themselves and their families. In doing so, they leave years of credit history behind them, ‘stuck’ in the countries they’ve left. The majority of these individuals are creditworthy, yet underserved. Without access to their past credit history, lenders have no choice but to automatically decline their applications for new finance.”

In terms of the B2B crowd, businesses can use Credit Passport. Consumers provide consumer permission directly in the application process and businesses get access to international credit data in real-time.

Nova Credit also provides Cash Atlas. Businesses can use bank transaction data to assess consumers’ ability to pay, both now and in the future.

The fintech company senses plenty of opportunities in the UK. It notes that of the ten million immigrants living in the country today, 3.5 million are relative newcomers who have little or no UK credit history but who, based on the historic credit data in their country of origin, could be categorised by UK lenders as creditworthy borrowers.

Davies notes: “By 2035, 100% of the UK’s annual net population growth is expected to come from immigration.”

More than 1.3 million immigrants were granted visas to the UK last year and 80% of foreign-born residents remain in the UK for at least five years. Additionally, Nova Credit says the mean income of a foreign-born individual working in the UK is higher than that of a UK-born national.

The firm launched in 2016 and has developed partnerships with credit bureaus in over 20 countries. Its US customers include American Express, Verizon and SoFi.

Nova Credit has offices in San Francisco and New York City, and is backed by investors including Kleiner Perkins, General Catalyst and Index Ventures, as well as executives from Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Citi.

Antony Peyton
Antony Peyton
Antony Peyton is the Editor of eWeek UK. He has 18 years' journalism and writing experience. His career has taken him to China, Japan and the UK - covering tech, fintech and business. Follow on Twitter @TonyFintech.
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