Curve taps Credit Kudos to strengthen its Klarna-rival

All-your-cards-in-one fintech Curve is bolstering its upcoming Klarna-rival, Curve Credit, with the help of challenger credit reference agency Credit Kudos.

The partnership, announced today, will see Kudos assessing the affordability and creditworthiness of customers who apply for Curve Credit.

As a reminder, Curve Credit has been in development since at least last summer when Curve rolled out an internal alpha among its employees.

The service will let customers split payments from any of their cards into instalments spread over three, six or nine months.

Playing on Curve’s ‘Go Back in Time’ feature, customers will also be able to split payments even up to 90 days after they’ve bought something.

“With the right approach, credit can enable financial freedom; allowing people to access the finance they need to meet unexpected needs and take advantage of new opportunities,” said Paul Harrald, head of Curve Credit.

Harrald said the partnership with Credit Kudos is “a giant step closer towards truly simplifying our customers’ finances”.

Last year Curve also picked Thought Machine to power its lending platform, and Harrald told AltFi that the fintech is aiming to have 300,000 UK active customers within the first three years.

“In the UK, my three-year plan, I would expect to have of the order of 200,000 to 300,000 active Curve Credit customers at any point in time and perhaps £400m to £500m in loans granted to those customers,” he said.