Equifax (NYSE: EFX) announced on Tuesday it has acquired transaction data analytics company AccountScore Holdings Limited to bolster its Open Banking and insights capabilities. Equifax reported that the acquisition will see it enhance its consumer and commercial product offerings, combining traditional credit bureau information held by Equifax with bank transaction data, facilitated by AccountScore.
“Integration of these new data assets will enable Equifax clients to benefit from higher rates of automated, digital income verification, to carry out more granular assessments of affordability and expenditure and offer more predictive and inclusive credit scoring, by using the most up-to-date information available. For consumers, this combined data approach will improve an individual’s ability to demonstrate their creditworthiness by enabling information that isn’t currently used to be taken into consideration. This approach enables financial inclusion for those with ‘thin’ credit files, increasing their potential access to credit at a time of great financial uncertainty.”
While sharing more details about the acquisition, Patricio Remon, President of Europe at Equifax, stated:
“AccountScore is a pioneering company with a proven track record of building innovative Open Banking platforms and this signals our commitment to continuously evolve and embrace strategic innovation to support our clients’ digital transformation, and will bring many benefits for their customers. More than 2.5m UK consumers and businesses now use Open Banking-enabled products to manage their finances, access credit and make payments. This growth is helping to empower a generation of consumers, giving them more control over their own financial information, offering them greater access to a wider range of financial products and making it much easier to complete simple digital applications.”
Equifax then noted the acquisition positions it at the “forefront”of the latest trends in Smart Data, including the transition of Open Banking to Open Finance, to incorporate data on additional financial services products such as insurance policies, pensions and mortgages. The company added that regulatory approval for the acquisition has been received from the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).