Jaja launches its own-branded credit card for new customers

Credit lender Jaja Finance has opened new applications for its own-branded Vanta Purchase credit card, marking its re-entry into the market after a tumultuous few years.

Jaja first launched a credit card in 2019 but, after acquiring the Bank of Ireland’s UK credit card business for £530m the fintech went through a multi-year tech integration process that ended up with backers KKR and TDR Capital taking control of the business via a £120m investment.

The result was that Jaja paused its own credit card applications and instead grew customers via its Post Office, AA and more recently Asda-branded credit cards instead.

With the Vanta Purchase card that’s now changed, with Jaja offering a card with zero per cent interest for the first four months, no annual fee and a 34.9 per cent APR, all directly through its website for new customers.

Jaja says Vanta Purchase is aimed at near-prime customers, where it has seen a gap in the market from its work with Asda and its Bank of Ireland portfolio.

“While the cost of borrowing has increased for everyone, near-prime borrowers are being hit the hardest, and there’s little being done to help them,” Lucas Dalglish, chief commercial officer at Jaja Finance said.

“We want to give these borrowers access to simple and good value credit while helping them improve their credit score.”

For those customers who have improved their credit scores, Jaja also offers the Vanta credit card which comes at a lower APR, but is only available via ClearScore currently.

Jaja CEO David Chan last year said the fintech is aiming to become the UK’s leading digital lender by 2025, with a 40 per cent increase in its employees last year.