Yonder now offers a credit card *without* needing a credit score

Rio Ferdinand-backed challenger credit card Yonder is breaking fresh ground today, with the removal of its credit score requirement.

The change means that millions of people who have poor or no credit score will still be able to apply for Yonder’s card, by using their open banking data.

By working with Yapily to collect an applicant’s bank account information, Yonder says it can analyse income and expenses to build a “holistic credit profile”.

“Unfair credit scoring methods, legacy app experiences, and vague pricing techniques are a thing of the past,” said Yonder CEO and co-founder Tim Chong.

“With open banking, we’re bringing back fairness and equality to the credit industry. Yapily’s technology and open banking expertise are helping to make that vision a reality.”

According to Chong around 9 per cent of the UK adult population have little or no credit history, amounting to around 5 million people.

As well as opening Yonder up to these potential customers, the partnership with Yapily will also result in the addition of open banking payments for customers paying off their credit balances.

Yonder only emerged out of stealth earlier this month and has already made a splash by raising £20m from a group of investors including Northzone, LocalGlobe and footballer Rio Ferdinand.

The startup was founded last year by ClearScore alumni Tim Chong, Theso Jivajirajah and Harry Jell.

They founded Yonder initially to help Australian citizens arriving in the UK who often struggle to get a credit card despite having a good job and home in Australia.