This Fintech Is Helping Immigrants Transfer Their Credit History Across Borders
Bleyt is helping immigrants transfer their credit history across countries. The company has a built-in money app that uses AI to obtain pull financial data from local credit providers and bureaus. It also features a multi-currency account and card, allowing immigrants to minimize delays when accessing financial services in new countries.
Immigrants struggling to access financial services
When Bleyt’s founder, Wale Akanbi, moved to from Nigeria to the UK in 2021, his credit history did not transfer with him, making it difficult for him to access financial services. “I had to borrow a card from one of my friends just to be able to spend,” he told Tech Cabal.
This is a common experience for immigrants who struggle to access credit cards and other services that rely on credit history. Bleyt was created to help credit histories travel across borders. Several fintechs have solved the issue of remittances and cross-border payments, but they have not been able to pull in financial history from local countries.
How Bleyt works
Bleyt asks users for permission to access financial data from credit providers or credit bureaus, then arranges it into a transparent credit score. It also predicts what the score would mean for migrants in their new countries. It works with credit providers in its coverage markets to translate the score into their local systems and extend credit to customers.
“We have lending partners and credit providers in the new countries that we can port your credit history or score to, and they are happy to take it on and then profile you within their own system and give you a good rate and good limits almost as you are,” Akanbi said.
Bleyt’s Know-Your-Customer (KYC) inspections involve filling out personal and ID information and being passed through fraud-detection models. The company also gives customers control over their data, including the option to request deletion while obeying data-protection laws in its coverage markets.
The model, which is 98% complete, has closed its beta testing. It will launch in October and support 20 countries, it believes, that have high migration flows in North America, including the US and Canada, the UK, and some in Europe, while also planning to scale to other countries in the future.
Image: Bleyt
