Traditional credit scoring excludes millions of creditworthy people because their financial behaviour is not captured in the places lenders look. Equiscore provides a verified affordability and payment behaviour layer so you can assess the thin-file population responsibly.
The problem
Credit scoring models are built on data that describes how people have used credit products in the past. For a growing segment of the population, that data is absent, incomplete or out of date. The model does not fail because it is poorly designed. It fails because the underlying data is insufficient.
A person who has never held a credit product does not have a poor credit history. They have no history. Standard models treat absence of data as a signal of risk, which it is not.
A customer who built a strong credit profile in another country arrives in the UK with no transferable score. Creditworthy borrowers are declined or offered unsuitable products.
Variable, self-employed and gig economy income does not fit neatly into the income verification models most lenders use. Stable earners are declined or underwritten conservatively.
Credit files reflect historical events for years. A customer whose finances have genuinely stabilised may be declined based on data that no longer reflects their current position.
The underserved opportunity
5 million+
credit-invisible UK adults
Experian estimates that around five million UK adults have limited or no formal credit history. A significant proportion of these are not poor credit risks; they are people for whom the data simply does not exist.
Millions
declined who could have borrowed responsibly
The FCA's Financial Lives survey has consistently found that large numbers of adults who were declined credit believe they could have managed the repayments. Alternative data supports that view in many cases.
July 2023
FCA Consumer Duty took effect
The FCA's Consumer Duty requires firms to demonstrate that their products and services deliver good outcomes, including for customers with complex needs or non-standard financial histories.
Figures from Experian, FCA Financial Lives and public regulatory sources. Used for illustrative purposes.
Customers who have recently moved to the UK with no local credit footprint, regardless of their financial history abroad.
First-time borrowers and recent graduates who have not yet accumulated the credit product history scoring models require.
Sole traders, contractors and freelancers whose income patterns do not fit standard employment-based affordability models.
People whose financial position has genuinely improved but whose credit file still reflects historical difficulties.
Regulatory context
The FCA's Consumer Duty, which took full effect in July 2023, requires firms to demonstrate that they deliver good outcomes for all customers, including those with non-standard financial circumstances.
Firms that decline customers based on inadequate data face increasing regulatory scrutiny. The Duty creates a direct incentive to improve the quality of information used in credit decisions rather than defaulting to conservative exclusion.
Equiscore gives lenders a structured, consent-led evidence layer that supports better outcomes and creates a clearer audit trail for how affordability was assessed.
The Duty specifically requires firms to consider customers who may have characteristics of vulnerability or non-standard financial histories.
Firms must be able to demonstrate how decisions were made. Verified affordability data provides a stronger audit trail than proxy scoring alone.
Declining a customer because the data doesn't exist is a different situation from declining because of demonstrated risk. The Duty encourages distinguishing between the two.
How it works
Equiscore is an additional evidence layer for your underwriting process. It does not replace your existing credit data. It provides the context your current data cannot.
Step 1
Equiscore connects to an applicant's bank account to verify real income, regularity of receipts and monthly expenditure patterns. The data is live, not estimated from historical bureau files.
Step 2
Rent, bill and subscription payments that do not appear on credit files are identified and surfaced. A customer who consistently meets their financial commitments becomes visible.
Step 3
Applicants build a verified Trust Portfolio that includes their financial behaviour context and supporting evidence. Your underwriters receive structured information rather than raw documents.
Step 4
Demonstrating that lending decisions are based on verified affordability data rather than proxy signals strengthens your Consumer Duty audit trail and supports positive regulatory outcomes.
Equiscore is designed to complement your existing credit data providers, not replace them. Use it as a referral pathway for applications that standard scoring cannot resolve.
Responsible growth in the thin-file segment requires better data, not looser criteria. Equiscore provides the verified evidence base that makes responsible inclusion viable.
Lend responsibly to the people your models currently cannot see
We are working with a select group of lenders ahead of our full launch. If you are looking for a better way to assess thin-file and non-standard applications, get in touch.