Europe’s leading provider of credit information, CRIF, has expanded its open banking-powered consumer credit solution to the UK, helping more people access affordable, responsible credit during the current economic climate.

CRIF’s credit scoring solution, which is now available to UK banks and lenders, utilises open banking technology to securely connect to a consumer’s current account and access real-time, in-depth information on their financial situation. CRIF then categorises this data to profile spending behaviours, financial health, affordability, identity, cashflow forecast and even credit risk, whilst also allowing financial institutions to identify any business development opportunities – for example offering cheaper insurance deals.

Building on traditional credit checks, CRIF’s automatic, real-time profiling and insights allow lenders to improve both the quality and speed of their decision-making. It enables more consumers to access financial products that are right for them without being wrongly declined due to a lack of up-to-date financial information or potentially having to turn to higher-cost options. As well as this, open banking data allows consumers to be evaluated for their creditworthiness even if they have a limited credit history, including those who haven’t borrowed before or recently, or those who are new to the country.

CRIF’s consumer credit scoring service is connected to over 3,200 banks and has already benefited millions of consumers and hundreds of thousands of SMEs across Europe. To date, over 150 major lenders are leveraging CRIF’s open banking proposition to automate processes, lend more and decrease risk. This service gives both local and global players the unique benefit of a single point of access to data and locally adapted categorisation and analytics on 15 European countries.

Sara Costantini, Regional Director for the UK & Ireland at CRIF, said:

“The cost of living crisis is putting a major strain on consumers and businesses alike. Without accurate, up-to-date credit information, many risks being declined financial support, facing higher interest rates or could be offered unaffordable products. 

“It’s more vital than ever that financial providers can lend accurately but responsibly to consumers and businesses. Our new open banking-powered consumer credit scoring gives UK lenders a much more in-depth and up-to-the-minute view of an individual’s financial circumstances than previously possible.

“With credit reference agencies in 30 countries, we’re better placed than anyone else to help lenders make better, more accurate decisions around the creditworthiness of consumers and businesses, ensuring that more people can access affordable, responsible credit when they need it.”

In the UK, this consumer-focused service joins CRIF’s existing credit scoring service for businesses, Credit Passport, which uses open banking to provide business lenders and financial providers with the most accurate view of a small business’ finances in real-time. The service is currently used by over 30,000 UK small businesses to help them better understand and improve their credit score and evidence their creditworthiness to lenders.

The launch of CRIF’s consumer credit scoring service in the UK is part of its mission to enable financial providers to offer their customers a full, seamless digital journey, from customer onboarding and evaluation, all the way through to business development and allows providers to deliver a customer experience that consumers have come to expect in a digital age.