Credit Karma, one of the world’s highest-valued financial technology companies, makes its first move into Europe with an agreement to acquire TransUnion’s Noddle business, a service that provides free, unlimited access to credit scores and reports to people in the U.K., from TransUnion. Noddle’s more than 35 employees in London and Leeds will join the Credit Karma family and, over the next 12 months, Credit Karma plans to more than double the workforce in the U.K., significantly growing its presence in the country.
Noddle’s more than 4 million members will join Credit Karma, a technology platform that already helps more than 85 million members in North America make financial progress. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval from the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority, and is expected to close in late 2018 or early 2019.
“We are driven by our mission to help people make financial progress. To truly deliver on this, we knew we needed to expand beyond North America,” said Nichole Mustard, Chief Revenue Officer and Co-founder of Credit Karma. “The U.K. was an obvious next step, and Noddle is the ideal partner to help us get there. We look forward to welcoming its more than 35 employees to the Credit Karma family.”
Credit Karma will provide people in the U.K. with one of the most up-to-date and personalized experiences in the market, including complete access to their credit reports and scores from TransUnion as well as truly free services to help monitor and grow their credit. Most importantly, Credit Karma will provide members with access to financial products best suited for their financial situation.
“Noddle’s similar mission and history as the first provider of free credit information in the U.K. made this a clear decision for Credit Karma,” said Credit Karma’s Vice President of International, Valerie Wagoner. “We’re confident our depth of experience working across data providers along with banks and lenders will accelerate the number of services we provide to help consumers make the most of their money.”
The expansion comes at a pivotal year for Credit Karma, which now serves more than 85 million members in the U.S. and Canada. Silver Lake Partners’ recent $500 million secondary investment saw an increase in the company’s valuation to $4 billion based on common stock and ranking it among the top fintech companies in the world based on valuation.
“We are proud to have partnered with Credit Karma from its inception to empower tens of millions of consumers with the information they need to make smarter financial decisions,” said John Danaher, TransUnion’s president of Consumer Interactive. “This deal represents an expansion of our mission to the United Kingdom, and we look forward to supporting Credit Karma as they continue to expand globally.”
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