Dubai-based Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB), which provides information and analytics to support credit decisions, has entered a strategic partnership with UK-based cross-border credit reference provider Nova Credit. The partnership looks to enable newcomers to leverage credit history from their home country when applying for financial services in the UAE.
The UAE-based AECB and Nova Credit collaboration will enable real-time, large-scale application approvals. It will enable AECB subscribers, UAE-based local and international financial institutions and lenders, to access translated credit history of new UAE expatriates, upon their approval as part of credit applications.
Al Etihad Credit Bureau explained that the move highlights its own commitment to enhance the UAE financial ecosystem as the first institution in the GCC with the capability to provide real-time access to standardised foreign credit data from multiple bureaus worldwide.
Marwan Ahmad Lutfi, CEO of AECB, said: “AECB is proud to be among the region’s first federal entities to provide cross-border credit solutions, creating value for lenders, individuals, businesses, government entities, and the public through key collaborations with international bureaus.
“As we continue to introduce cutting-edge products to our customers, we reiterate our commitment to creating a positive social impact, in line with the UAE’s vision of becoming the epicentre of a borderless global economy.”
‘Building a borderless financial system’
Misha Esipov, co-founder and CEO of Nova Credit, discussed the partnership. Esipov said: “Building a borderless financial system has been our guiding vision since our inception and by bringing the Credit Passport® to new parts of the world we are one step closer to making this a reality.
“With this collaboration, AECB will be able to better support the thousands of newcomers to the UAE every year seeking access to the financial services they need.”
Collin Galster, VP of international at Nova Credit, also discussed the need for the partnership. Galster said: “Today’s consumers deserve the ability to take ownership of their financial data and not be locked out of accessing basic services due to the siloed characteristic of our global credit reporting system.
“We are looking forward to taking this next step with AECB and expanding the global footprint of Credit Passport® so consumers around the world can experience borderless credit reporting.”
Recently, Nova Credit also expanded its partnership with American Express to cover more immigration corridors to the US Prospective Card Members that are immigrating to the US from South Korea and Switzerland.
As a result, American Express will leverage Nova Credit’s Credit Passport® solution to instantly translate credit records from South Korea and Switzerland’s credit reporting agencies into a US-equivalent credit report and score. This aimed to help American Express make more effective application decisions for those who are new-to-country.
