Credit Kudos, a UK open banking firm that helps lenders to make better judgments, has been bought by Apple, the world’s largest technology company.
According to the source, the business was valued at around $150 million, a huge increase in valuation. On the Credit Kudos website, a link titled ‘Website Terms of Use’ now goes to a page describing Apple’s terms of service. Credit Kudos and Apple were both contacted for comment, but neither responded by press time.
Credit Kudos last raised funds in April 2020, amid the height of the Covid-19 outbreak, raising £5 million (about $6.5 million) in a round managed by Albion. Investors included TriplePoint Capital, Plug and Play Ventures, Ascension Ventures’ Fair by Design fund, Entrepreneur First, and a number of angels.
The firm provides insights and ratings on loan applicants based on bank data acquired through the UK’s open banking environment, specifically transaction and loan outcome data. According to the source, its API can provide lenders with speedier decision-making, lower risk, and higher acceptance rates.
Credit Kudos, founded in 2015 by Freddy Kelly and Matt Schofield, is the latest in a spate of large European open banking acquisitions in the last year – albeit the first by a tech behemoth.
It is unclear what Apple has planned for Credit Kudos. The Silicon Valley-based company now provides financial goods largely through its mobile wallet Apple Pay, as well as a credit card, which it began rolling out in August 2019.
