Uplinq, a global credit and scoring assessment platform for small business lenders, has teamed up with digital payments giant Visa to provide scoring and risk assessment tools to small business lenders throughout the US and Canada.
As per the agreement, Visa will facilitate the introduction of Uplinq to key financial institutions, enabling the delivery of Uplinq’s API technology that aids lenders in risk mitigation while broadening the accessibility of fair credit to small business proprietors across North America.
The partnership announcement follows a series of significant developments for Uplinq earlier this year, including a recent collaboration with the SME Finance Forum, recognition as “Fintech Startup of the Year – Lending” by the 2023 Banking Tech Awards USA, and being shortlisted for the US FinTech Awards 2023 – Banking Tech of the Year.
Matt Baker, Head of Small Business, Visa Commercial Solutions, emphasized the criticality of quick access to working capital for all businesses, particularly small businesses that constitute the foundation of the global economy.
He expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration, stating:
Through this strategic collaboration, we look forward to introducing Uplinq’s advanced credit decisioning technology to our financial institution clients across the U.S. and Canada to ultimately help more small businesses in both countries.
Uplinq’s innovative platform assists small business lenders in evaluating a business’s entire ecosystem, rather than solely relying on traditional financials and credit scores, before making lending decisions.
Utilizing its pioneering technology, Uplinq harnesses billions of alternative data sets from over 150 countries, incorporating aspects such as market, community, and environmental conditions into the credit evaluation and loan adjudication processes.
The company said its technology has already underpinned more than $1.4 trillion in underwritten loans globally.
Ron Benegbi, CEO and founder of Uplinq, expressed his excitement about collaborating with Visa. He noted:
This engagement is a testament to the promise of our technology in bridging the vast and persistent gaps that small businesses still grapple with when trying to access fair credit, especially as related to minority and all protected class segments.
In March, Uplinq announced its partnership with SME Finance Forum – an entity that is managed by World Bank Group member International Finance Corporation. The collaboration between the two entities is aimed at expanding finance to global SMEs.