There is 20 million financially underserved people across the UK with fair or poor credit scores

Users of open banking-powered tool BuildMyCreditScore have seen an average 52 points increase in their credit scores in the first three months since taking out the credit builder debit card.

As UK consumers increasingly look to boost their access to affordable credit options, a sample of almost 800 cardholders who have used BuildMyCreditScore over the last three months saw significant increases to their credit score.

One in ten people improved their score by over 100 points whilst for the 50% of cardholders who saw the highest uplift to their credit scores in the first three months, the average score increase was 76 points.

BuildMyCreditScore is a Mastercard debit card that allows people to build their credit score without changing their spending habits, taking out additional lines of credit or risk building debt.

Currently, according to PwC, there are 20m financially underserved people across the UK with fair or poor credit scores.

With a quarter (23%) of Brits denied credit due to their poor credit score and over four in ten (43%) wanting an easier way to build their score that doesn’t involve taking out new lines of credit, there is demand for alternative solutions that do not risk building long-term debt.

In Q4 2023, BuildMyCreditScore secured a £200,000 grant from Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, to accelerate its offering to enhance financial inclusion and boost access to credit products.

Innovate UK drives productivity and economic growth by supporting businesses to develop and realise the potential of new ideas.

This funding enabled BuildMyCreditScore to more accurately measure affordability and significantly increase applicant acceptance levels – particularly amongst those who may typically be denied access to credit products or incumbent credit building cards – through the application of advanced machine learning and open banking.

While the debit card works instantly like a regular bank card, the money is collected via Direct Debit by BuildMyCreditScore a number of days later. People are therefore able to build their credit score by demonstrating their ability to manage rolling outgoings and repay credit promptly.

James Lynn, CEO and Co-Founder of BuildMyCreditScore, comments: “Millions of people across the country have a low score and thin credit file, and this is leaving them with less fair, less affordable options when it comes to accessing credit. They need a simple solution which allows them to effectively build their credit score in a safe, low-risk way through their everyday spending.

“Traditional credit builder products typically rely on someone making prompt repayments on credit they’ve taken out. If they fail to do so for any reason, they risk falling into debt and harming their credit score further. BuildMyCreditScore disrupts this model by leveraging open banking to integrate seamlessly with a user’s usual spending habits to empower them to improve their scores without changing spending behaviour or taking out new lines of credit.”

BuildMyCreditScore is compatible with all leading high street and digital bank accounts and works with Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax to report key credit data.