NEW YORK-- September 29, 2022 -- Nova Credit, the world’s leading consumer-permissioned credit bureau, today announced that it has partnered with HSBC to provide the bank with global access to its cross-border credit data product, Credit Passport®, creating more opportunities for credit access to cross-border customers across the globe. This partnership will allow HSBC to access the translated credit history of new-to-country consumers as part of their credit applications, upon their permission. This innovative solution will enable the bank to make more real-time application approvals responsibly and at a greater scale. The first deployment, with HSBC Singapore, launched in May.

To underscore its support in Nova Credit and accelerate its global expansion, HSBC Ventures has made an investment of $10 million in the company.

Global Deployment Starts with Singapore
Historically, credit history has stopped at the border, preventing many financial services companies and lenders from being able to serve customers who have proven creditworthiness in their home country, but arrive credit invisible. Credit Passport® seamlessly and securely integrates into a financial institution’s credit application process, enabling applicants’ global credit records and score to be instantly accessed in just a few clicks.

HSBC Singapore is the first HSBC entity to launch the capability as part of the bank’s global rollout, also making it the first organization ever to implement Credit Passport® outside of the U.S., enabling it to instantly access the translated credit history of new-to-country consumers moving to Singapore, facilitating quicker access to credit for them.

Nova Credit and HSBC Singapore will initially use Credit Passport® to support the thousands of new to Singapore customers with credit history in India. The bank intends to expand the coverage of the solution to include customers with a credit history in Australia, the United Kingdom and the Philippines in 2022, and to more country bureaus in 2023, making it available to even more Singapore newcomers.

“Opening up a world of opportunity, sits at the core of HSBC’s purpose, and we’re always passionate about identifying new ways to solve problems faced by our International customers” said Taylan Turan, Group Head of Retail Banking and Strategy, Wealth and Personal Banking at HSBC. “Accessing credit in a new market can be a challenge and is something we’ve been helping customers with for years. We’re excited to be partnering with Nova Credit, to improve our ability to do this even more, with its innovative digital Credit Passport. We’re proud to be the first organisation to offer this to customers in Singapore.”

Additional Investment to Support Company’s Global Scale
As a testament to their belief in Nova Credit’s vision to stitch together the world’s financial system, HSBC Ventures has invested $10 million in the company. This investment will enable Nova Credit to support HSBC as they accelerate the deployment of Credit Passport® around the globe.

HSBC Ventures joins the likes of leading investors, including Kleiner Perkins, Canapi Ventures, General Catalyst and Index Ventures, and executives from Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Citi.

Since launching in the U.S. in 2016, Nova Credit has built relationships with credit bureaus in over 20 countries to gain consumer-permissioned access to over a billion credit profiles, and developed partnerships with big-name lenders such as American Express and Verizon.

“Nova Credit and its Credit Passport® product are at the forefront of financial innovation and we are delighted to bring this solution to our large international customer base,” said Catherine Zhou, Global Head of Ventures, Digital Innovation and Partnerships at HSBC. “Seeing the company’s success in reaching migrant communities over the past six years in the U.S., it is clear that Credit Passport® should be shared with a wider audience. This is the first step in an exciting journey, and we look forward to working with Nova Credit to bring scale to the business and its work towards financial inclusion.”

“Despite considerable globalization, our financial world remains far from borderless. This historic partnership with HSBC will bring the Credit Passport® to new parts of the world, unlocking new frontiers in the flow of financial information,” said Misha Esipov, co-founder and CEO of Nova Credit. “This partnership ensures that more people who cross borders can take their data with them, in a secure and compliant manner, and ultimately arrive and thrive in their new home.”

“This partnership and funding is the first step toward achieving a core goal of delivering the Credit Passport® globally: ensuring your financial identity is your own, no matter where you’re from or where you choose to live,” said Collin Galster, VP of International at Nova Credit. “We are honored to take this historic step in partnership with HSBC.”