Using Open Banking technology, tenants can now improve their credit score, increase their eligibility for a Zopa loan and potentially reduce the cost of a loan from the neobank through its partnership with CreditLadder. 

For those that rent, getting access to finance and loans at competitive rates can be made harder as monthly rental payments are not recorded on their credit file. However, a new partnership between neobank Zopa and financial inclusion service CreditLadder will now allow renters to make every penny count towards their credit score.

Using Open Banking technology, Zopa customers can now use CreditLadder to ensure their rental payments are recorded on their credit file. In turn, these payments are taken into consideration in Zopa’s unique credit score tool and loan eligibility checker, Borrowing Power. Borrowing Power is a free tool in the Zopa app which calculates a customer’s financial health score, recommends targeted actions to help them improve it and links directly to their eligibility for Zopa products. By teaming up with CreditLadder, Zopa app users that rent will have the opportunity to improve their Borrowing Power score and gain better access to cheaper Zopa loans. This is yet another Open Banking initiative from the neobank to help even more people gain access to its fair and transparent credit options.

CreditLadder is the UK’s first and biggest rent reporting platform and has reported close to £500m in rent payments on behalf of tenants. Rent payments are recognised through the Open Banking technology CreditLadder employs, and this in turn is reported to the UK’s leading credit reference agencies each month.

Data from Equifax shows that just under 70% of users with a ‘thin credit file’ - this is where users have two or fewer credit accounts - saw an increase in their credit score when 12 months of rental payments were added.

Clare Gambardella, Chief Customer Officer at Zopa Bank, said: “We at Zopa are proud to be teaming up with CreditLadder to enable our customers to report their rent payments and use them to help build their credit score. We believe that as many people as possible should have access to fair, simple and transparent products. Partnering with CreditLadder and using its Open Banking technology via our app makes it possible for us to offer those that rent a more accurate credit score, tailored tips on how to improve their credit health and access to more affordable Zopa loans in the future.”

Sheraz Dar, CEO and Co-Founder of CreditLadder said; “There are over 10 million households in the UK who rent and our mission is to ensure they can benefit from reporting their rent payments to improve their credit score - just like home owners do when it comes to their mortgage. The partnership with Zopa is a great use of technology that can help its customers access finance at better rates simply by using CreditLadder to report their rent payments each month.”

Anyone can access Zopa’s Borrowing Power feature within its free app. All users that are renters with thin file credentials will be offered the chance to sign up to CreditLadder.

For more information on the partnership, please visit: https://www.creditladder.co.uk/press