FAQs

Open Banking is a government-backed technology that enables you to safely and securely share your financial information with specially regulated providers, like Credit Kudos. Open Banking was introduced to drive innovation in financial services in the UK to help you more easily manage your finances, get customised deals and products, and save money. With Credit Kudos, Open Banking enables you to use your own financial information to help your application – it’s just like sending bank statements, but faster, easier and more secure.

Open Banking technology allows you to share your financial information with your chosen provider, through a specially regulated company, like Credit Kudos. These specially regulated providers are called Account Information Service Providers (AISPs), and are authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. Credit Kudos, as a regulated AISP, provides an online process in which you can consent to share specific financial information from your bank and credit card providers with your chosen financial services company (this could be your lender, mortgage provider, estate agent, or broker, for example). During the process, your bank will ask you to login to your online banking to verify your identity, then ask you to confirm that you’d like them to share information with Credit Kudos. Your bank only shares the specific financial information you request with Credit Kudos, and never your login details. You can connect multiple financial institutions at a time, enabling you to quickly and easily share your financial information - just as you would upload bank statements. Once you have connected your accounts, Credit Kudos consolidates all the information retrieved through Open Banking technology into a usable format for lenders, brokers, and banks. Only authorised companies, like Credit Kudos, can access Open Banking.

Credit Kudos is a challenger Credit Reference Agency that does things a little differently. We use your financial information to better understand your true financial situation to help you get access to fair and affordable credit, using Open Banking. When you’re invited to use Credit Kudos, your bank will ask you to login to your online banking to verify your identity, then ask you to confirm that you’d like them to share your financial information with Credit Kudos using secure Open Banking. Your financial information will only be shared when you have agreed to do so - you are in control. Your bank only shares the specific financial information you request with Credit Kudos, and never your login details.

Using Credit Kudos means you don’t have to. Credit Kudos uses government-backed Open Banking technology that enables you to quickly and securely share your financial information in your application without the need to upload or scan documents.

When you instruct your bank to share information with Credit Kudos, it’s like sharing the information you find on your bank statements, but easier, faster and more secure.

If you’re asked for 90 days of consent, that means your financial services provider has asked Credit Kudos to facilitate your bank securely sharing your financial information via Open Banking with them today, and for up to the next 90 days. You’re in control - if you’d like to stop your bank sharing your account history during that 90 day period, you can revoke consent at any time by clicking the link in your confirmation email, managing your consent via online banking, or by getting in touch with Credit Kudos.

Credit Kudos uses your financial information to understand what you can afford to borrow, and your current financial commitments. Unlike traditional credit assessments, we don’t penalise you for not having taken out credit before, your age, or how long you’ve been at the same address. Instead, we figure out how much debt you can realistically take on given your financial history. We never want you to be turned down for a loan you can afford. Our mission is to get you the best deal possible for your unique financial situation.

No, completing a Credit Kudos check will not affect your traditional credit score. Unlike the traditional credit reference agencies, we don’t mark your credit report when you go through a credit check. If you are taking out a loan, however, your lender might complete a traditional credit check separately, which could impact your credit report or score. It’s best to check with your lending institution if you are unsure.

Only Credit Kudos and the lender or company who has asked you to complete a Credit Kudos check will have access to any information about you. We will always tell you the name of the company you will be sharing data with and exactly what data you are sharing. We only share your Open Banking data with your explicit consent. If using Credit Kudos via a credit broker, the Privacy Notice of the credit broker concerned will confirm which lenders you are giving consent to share your data with.

Credit Kudos never charges individuals (and never will) to use our services.

This will depend on the company that asked you to complete a Credit Kudos check. Once you’ve completed your Credit Kudos check, your chosen provider will contact you directly. If you have successfully completed a check with Credit Kudos, and have not yet heard from your chosen provider, please contact them directly.

You can reach out to our friendly team through our website - just click on the speech bubble at the bottom right on our website. Our team will endeavour to get back to you within 2-3 hours during business hours Monday-Friday.

Once you’ve completed your Credit Kudos check, your chosen provider will contact you directly to tell you if you have been successful in your application. If you have successfully completed a check with Credit Kudos, and have not yet heard from them, please contact your provider directly.

With Credit Kudos, you are in control and can revoke access at any point. Your bank keeps a record of what data you’ve shared and where, and you can revoke access within your online banking at any time. If Credit Kudos has access to your data for longer than a single access period, you will have also been presented with the opportunity to create a password to an online portal where you can manage and revoke your consent for Credit Kudos to access any of your data.

When you ask your bank to share your information with Credit Kudos, we fetch and store the following data from your bank: Your account details (any other name by which you refer to this account, your account name, number and sort-code, your account balance, your card number, your account balance), your account transactions (details of your incoming transactions, details of your incoming transactions), and your contact details (your address, telephone numbers and email address as held by your bank/card issuer).

If you’ve granted 90 day consent as part of your Credit Kudos check, you have the option of choosing to manage your consent and prevent any further information being shared - you’re in control. In order to manage your consent, we will ask that you either create a password while using Credit Kudos in an application, or we will email you a personalised link to access the service. If you are prompted to set a password and do not do so, or are unable to find your consent management link, you can manage your consent by contacting us here. We will need to collect two forms of identification to verify you are the same individual for which we collected consent in the first place.

Credit Kudos does not store your data for any longer than is necessary, or beyond the purpose for which the data is processed. As a regulated financial institution and Credit Reference Agency, data will be stored for a period of 6 years. This is in line with industry guidelines and also to meet any legal and regulatory obligations, such as responding to requests from the Financial Ombudsman Service, any queries you may have and any legal claims.