TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) announced today a partnership with Nova Credit that will help new Canadians transfer their credit scores from other countries. The partnership will serve creditworthy newcomers to Canada who may otherwise miss out on credit opportunities due to a lack of Canadian credit history.
The new product—TransUnion Global Credit Connect powered by Nova Credit—provides newcomers to Canada with a platform to import their historical credit information and have their international credit reports delivered to end-users such as banks, in a streamlined, standardized format. The foreign credit score is mapped to a Canadian equivalent score so that it can be consistently applied.
“As hundreds of thousands of new immigrants come to Canada each year to begin their next life chapter, TransUnion has partnered with Nova Credit to ensure newcomers to Canada are given the opportunities they deserve to open new credit accounts,” said Todd Skinner, president of TransUnion Canada. “Many newcomers have amassed a robust credit history in their country of origin, but this history previously hasn’t followed them to Canada, making them essentially credit-invisible. With this partnership, many immigrants will benefit immediately with new opportunities to access credit.”
The new partnership is especially beneficial for Canada, which has the highest percentage of immigrants in the G8, at over 20 percent. Cities like Toronto and Vancouver are now nearly 50 percent foreign-born. While the absolute number of immigrants is increasing, the composition is also increasingly tilted towards skilled workers and entrepreneurs, with larger allocations granted to these segments.