Nova Credit’s software integrates and standardizes international credit data, which ultimately reduces the effort and cost for lenders to serve these customers. 

San Francisco-based fintech Nova Credit just received permission from the Financial Conduct Authority to operate in the UK.  

Immigrants are often “credit invisible” because different countries have very different credit reporting systems, causing lenders to either struggle with the underwriting for credit cards or loans, or decline to provide them at all.

But through deep relationships with global credit bureaus and its API-driven credit risk technology, Nova Credit makes financial history from one country usable in another. This allows lenders to offer fairly priced credit-based products to immigrants faster, without the manual process of requesting documentation from abroad. 

“Nova Credit’s technology lets lenders make more real-time application approvals without any added risk and at a greater scale to a previously untapped audience,” a company spokesperson told Insights Distilled.  

Helping the under-banked have better access to loans is a boon to both society and banks’ bottom lines: The immigrant population is one of the fastest growing demographics in the UK, Nova Credit’s tools make it more efficient to serve them, and its authorization comes only months before the UK’s new consumer duty regulation comes into effect.   

Nova Credit has received backing from HSBC’s venture arm, as well as from execs at Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Citi.