ClearScore
TypePrivately held company
IndustryPersonal finance, software, financial technology
FoundedJuly 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)
Founder
Headquarters
London
,
United Kingdom
Key people
Justin Basini (CEO and Co-founder)|
Products
Revenue£44 million (2020)
OwnersInclude QED Investors, Blenheim Chalcot and Lead Edge Capital
Number of employees
222 (2020)
Websitewww.clearscore.com

ClearScore is a British financial technology business that provides credit scores, reports and current account spending analysis for individuals at no cost to its subscribers, it earns commission from the financial companies to which it refers individual clients that have used its services.

It was founded in July 2015, by Justin Basini (b. June 1974), Nigel Morris and Dan Cobley (b. June 1967).[1][2] It claims that it was the first company in the United Kingdom to provide free credit scores and credit report. ClearScore then expanded to include increased visibility of affordability, using current account spending patterns via Open Banking. As of 2022, the company had over 17m users[3] and operates in the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa and Canada.

ClearScore earns revenue from financial institutions, who pay ClearScore when acquiring new customers through the service. The Group has agreements with over 150 financial institutions around the world.

History

ClearScore launched on 15 July 2015. It was the UK's first service giving consumers access to their credit score and report.[4] Its initial offering provided credit scores and reports, and in July 2015 the company added credit card offers to its site, and in September 2015 it added personal loan offers. In December 2015 it launched the UK’s first credit checking app.[5]

In July 2016 the company added a credit history feature called Timeline[6] to its site.[7] In November 2016 it added car finance offers, and in February 2017 launched a chatbot to help users improve their credit.[8] In April 2020, the firm launched the dark web monitoring service ClearScore Protect.[9]

The company launched in South Africa in June 2017, India in August 2018, Australia in February 2020 and Canada in September 2022.[10] ClearScore India closed in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

In September 2018, the Advertising Standards Authority received 35 complaints that a ClearScore TV advert aired in June "trivialised" domestic violence. The ad was cleared by the ASA.[11][12]

In March 2018, Experian announced plans to acquire ClearScore for £275 million ($366 million). The acquisition was abandoned in February 2019 after the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) indicated that they considered that the acquisition would reduce competition in the UK market.[13]

In 2020 it launched a Dark Web Monitoring service called ClearScore Protect.[9]

In 2021 the ClearScore Group launched a second app, called DriveScore, using cutting edge telematics technology to give drivers data on their driving performance so that they can save money on car insurance if they choose to share the data.[14]

In 2022, the ClearScore Group acquired Money Dashboard, a leading provider of open banking technology and opened a secondary UK technology and data science hub in Edinburgh.[15]

In 2023, the ClearScore Group announced a partnership with illion in Australia. As part of the partnership, illion will be retiring its Credit Simple consumer proposition and Credit Simple users will be able to continue to access their credit scores and reports through the ClearScore app.[16]

Products and services

ClearScore provides credit scores and credit reports from credit bureaus Equifax (in the UK) and Experian (in South Africa and Australia). Most of ClearScore’s services are free to consumers.[17]

ClearScore Protect provides dark web monitoring for users.

ClearScore offers an ‘Affordability Score’, characterized as guidance as to what a user can afford to borrow.

References

  1. ↑ "Google's former No. 2 in Europe just launched a startup that gives you a completely free credit score". Business Insider. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  2. ↑ Torrance, Jack (14 June 2017). "Meet the entrepreneur making credit scores free". Management Today. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  3. ↑ "ClearScore's UK CEO: '17 million customers is just the start'". AltFi. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  4. ↑ "Fintech start-up ClearScore to make credit scores free for consumers". Tech City News. Archived from the original on 21 April 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  5. ↑ "ClearScore app: How to get free access to your credit rating". Independent. 24 December 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  6. ↑ "ClearScore debuts new credit scoring tool". Finextra. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  7. ↑ "Bobs Guide". 20 July 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  8. ↑ "ClearScore Launches World's First Chatbot to Build Credit Confidence". Bobs Guide. 22 February 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  9. 1 2 "ClearScore Protect | Dark web monitoring. For free, forever". ClearScore.
  10. ↑ "The continuing ClearScore mission: to boldly deliver financial well-being to our users". ClearScore. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  11. ↑ Oppenheim, Maya (26 September 2018). "Advert accused of 'trivialising domestic violence' for depicting couple's row over avocados is cleared". The Independent. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  12. ↑ "ASA Ruling on Clear Score Technology Ltd t/a ClearScore". ASA. 26 September 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  13. ↑ February 2019, 28th (28 February 2019). "Experian calls off £275m ClearScore acquisition". FinTech Futures. Retrieved 16 March 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ↑ walker, alastair (27 September 2021). "DriveScore Hits The Road: Insurance Pricing Based on Behaviour -". insurance-edge.net. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  15. ↑ "Capital gains as credit scoring firm ClearScore Group unveils Edinburgh jobs boost". www.scotsman.com. 19 May 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  16. ↑ LIMITED, CLEAR SCORE TECHNOLOGY (20 March 2023). "ClearScore Expands in Australia: Now Serves 1m Users". GlobeNewswire News Room. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  17. ↑ "Why is ClearScore free?". ClearScore. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
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