People’s engagement with financial information and their understanding of how organisations use it to make decisions about the products and services they can access has been growing for many years.
Experian has played a role in this journey. We were the first to allow people to view their credit report at any time and see their Experian Credit Score with the launch of CreditExpert in September 2003. It has allowed people to view their own information through a lender’s eyes, so they can understand how to improve their situation.
We’re excited to announce the next huge leap forward – the launch of Experian Boost in the UK.
Now for the very first time, people can instantly increase their credit score to help them access more financial products and services at better rates.
Experian Boost is a free service which allows people to use a secure Open Banking platform to share their everyday transactions – from council tax to digital entertainment subscriptions, such as Netflix and Spotify. These payments have never been factored into a credit score before, so adding them should broaden access to financial services.
Our analysis shows that more than 50% of people will see their credit score increase from using Experian Boost. But, crucially, the service will not make people’s score go down when they sign up to Boost.
People are also in total control of their data. If they wish, they can withdraw their information with a few clicks, and they are still free to re-join at any time. But by keeping Boost activated on their Experian account they can build a stronger payment history which could help them get their credit card, loan or mortgage they want.
We’re confident this is going to be a significant moment in how people represent their financial profile to organisations. Five million people have signed up for Boost in the US since it launched last year, with three million of those seeing their score increase.
At Experian, we strive to put people in control of their financial data and the launch of Boost is entirely in line with this goal.
Now it’s over to you – give your credit score a Boost.
