Connect with execs from The New York Times, TIME, Dotdash Meredith and many more
How one startup aims to help ‘credit invisible’ foreign workers in the U.S.
For millions of immigrants and temporary foreign residents in the U.S., establishing a financial identity here can be complicated and expensive. Since credit reports don’t cross borders, an immigrant with an exceptional credit score in his home country may arrive in the U.S. as “credit invisible” — a status that may render him ineligible for loans or long-term housing.
“From getting a credit card, an auto loan, or getting a mortgage, all those use cases require a financial identity,“ said Misha Esipov, CEO of Nova Credit, a startup that’s developed a product called “Nova Credit Passport,” an alternative credit report that’s based on credit bureau data from other countries. The product launched last summer.
Nova Credit is an alternative score to assess foreign residents’ creditworthiness based on their home country credit data. It can also be used for Americans returning to the country after years working abroad. The company obtains the data through agreements with major foreign credit bureaus, a process that can only be initiated with the customer’s consent, Esipov said. Though Nova Credit is initially focusing on India and Mexico, it has entered into arrangements with credit bureaus in Europe, Canada, Australia and the Philippines. The company said it has forged relationships with U.S. banks and credit card issuers, though one analyst said U.S. lenders may still have questions about scores based on foreign credit data.
More in Marketing
In Graphic Detail: Inside the state of the creator economy industrial complex
The creator economy might have started out as an alternative to traditional media, but is becoming more and more like it as it professionalizes.
Shopify has quietly set boundaries for ‘buy-for-me’ AI bots on merchant sites
The change comes at a time when major retailers like Amazon and Walmart are leaning into agentic AI.
WTF is ‘Google Zero’?
The era of “Google Zero” — industry shorthand for a world where Google keeps users inside its own walls — is here.