ClearScore is a British

financial technology Financial technology (abbreviated as fintech) refers to the application of innovative technologies to products and services in the financial industry. This broad term encompasses a wide array of technological advancements in financial services, ...

business that provides

credit scores A credit score is a numerical expression based on a level analysis of a person's credit files, to represent the creditworthiness of an individual. A credit score is primarily based on a credit report, information typically sourced from credit ...

reports A report is a document or a statement that presents information in an organized format for a specific audience and purpose. Although summaries of reports may be delivered orally, complete reports are usually given in the form of written documen ...

and affordability scores for individuals at no cost to its users. It also provides a marketplace in which people source credit cards, loans and car finance. ClearScore earns commission from the financial services providers 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). 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 In financial services, open banking allows for financial data to be shared between banks and third-party service providers through the use of application programming interfaces (APIs). Traditionally, banks have kept customer financial data withi ...

. , the company had over 20m users and operates in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, New Zealand,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. ClearScore has partnerships 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 A credit score is a numerical expression based on a level analysis of a person's credit files, to represent the creditworthiness of an individual. A credit score is primarily based on a credit report, information typically sourced from credit bu ...

and report. 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. In July 2016 the company added a

credit history A credit history is a record of a borrower's responsible repayment of debts. A credit report is a record of the borrower's credit history from a number of sources, including banks, credit card companies, collection agencies, and governments. A bo ...

feature called Timeline to its site. In November 2016 it added car finance offers, and in February 2017 launched a

chatbot A chatbot (originally chatterbot) is a software application or web interface designed to have textual or spoken conversations. Modern chatbots are typically online and use generative artificial intelligence systems that are capable of main ...

to help users improve their credit. The company launched in South Africa in June 2017, India in August 2018, Australia in February 2020 and Canada in September 2022. 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 Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

. The ad was cleared by the ASA. In March 2018,

Experian Experian plc is a multinational corporation, multinational data broker and consumer credit reporting company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Experian collects and aggregates information on more than 1 billion people and businesses including ...

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 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the principal competition regulator in the United Kingdom. It is a non-ministerial government department in the United Kingdom, responsible for promoting competitive markets and tackling unfair beh ...

(CMA) indicated that they considered that the acquisition would reduce competition in the UK market. In April 2020 it launched a Dark Web Monitoring service called ClearScore Protect. In 2021 the ClearScore Group launched a second app using 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. In 2022, the ClearScore Group acquired Money Dashboard, a provider of open banking technology and opened a secondary UK technology and data science hub in Edinburgh. In 2023, the ClearScore Group announced a partnership with

illion , is a Japanese singer, songwriter, musician, record producer and actor. Noda is the lead vocalist, songwriter and guitarist of the Japanese rock band Radwimps and also began a solo project, illion, in 2012. Life and career Early life, Rad ...

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.

Products and services

ClearScore provides

s and

credit reports A credit history is a record of a borrower's responsible repayment of debts. A credit report is a record of the borrower's credit history from a number of sources, including banks, credit card companies, collection agencies, and governments. A bo ...

from

credit bureau A credit bureau is a data collection agency that gathers account information from various creditors and provides that information to a consumer reporting agency in the United States, a credit reference agency in the United Kingdom, a credit report ...

Equifax Equifax Inc. is an American multinational consumer credit reporting agency headquartered in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia and is one of the three largest consumer credit reporting agency, consumer credit reporting agencies, along with Experian and T ...

(in the UK) and

(in South Africa and Australia). Most of ClearScore’s services are free to consumers. ClearScore Protect provides

dark web The dark web is the World Wide Web content that exists on darknets ( overlay networks) that use the Internet but require specific software, configurations, or authorization to access. Through the dark web, private computer networks can communica ...

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

References

{{reflist British banned television advertisements Credit scoring