Monzo and Starling Bank have joined a raft of incumbents to integrate with rent recognition platform CreditLadder to help tenants to improve their credit history with rating agencies.
CreditLadder has used the Open Banking compliant API which went live earlier this year via TrueLayer to read customer rent payments. The firm passes this data onto Experian each month who then add it to the tenant’s credit history.
The benefit for tenants is that by paying their rent on time, it helps to strengthen their credit history. This, in turn, can help them to access more affordable mortgages and other types of credit including cards, loans and mobile phone contracts at more attractive interest rates.
CreditLadder was one of six startups to win a share of a recent £2 million Government-backed 'Rent-Recognition' challenge, which sought solutions to the problems of providing credit scores to UK citizens living in rented accommodation.
CreditLadder CEO Sheraz Dar, says: “This is the latest development in what is an incredibly fast-moving market prompted by both consumer demand for help getting on the property ladder and a government that needs to help solve the housing crisis."