Lenddo, a startup that has developed an algorithm that pulls and analyzes social media data to determine credit worthiness, has teamed up with consultancy firm FK BCG to tap into the South Korean market.
The two companies officially announced the debut of their collaboration on January 25, during a seminar on the reinvention of consumer finance using non-traditional data for credit scoring and social verification.
The team that made it all happened! #LenddoKorea#ThankYou#Milestonepic.twitter.com/sFlK2XlfIM
— Lenddo (@lenddofriend) January 26, 2016
The partnership with FK BCG, a leading consulting group in credit scoring, will allow the startup to introduce its solution to the South Korean market.
“By partnering with Lenddo, we see a great opportunity to present a cutting-edge technology to financial institutions and help them reach out to new and underserved market segments,” MinJung Kim, CEO of FK BCG, said in a statement.
“South Korea’s financial industry is facing challenging times and traditional credit scores are no longer sufficient in assessing the risk. A new approach is needed.”
Both companies will work together to develop real-time scoring solutions and will explore alternative scoring solutions based on non-financial and unstructured data sources to help financial institutions make better decisions.
Lenddo, which has been perfecting its technology since its inception in 2011, will be working on accelerating its global expansion this year. Headquartered in Hong Kong, Lenddo has offices in Manila, Bogotá, Mexico City and New York.
Lenddo’s technology leverages digital data to allow financial service providers to determine people’s credit worthiness based on their social media data. Its credit score and verification services use over 12,000 data points to manage risk and make better decisions. Lenddo currently provides its API in more than 15 countries.
The company seeks to solve the difficulty of getting a credit score and a first loan, especially in emerging economies, and improve financial inclusion to the billions of people around the world who have no access to basic financial services.
Earlier this week, Lenddo’s CEO Richard Eldridge was named one of the top 100 fintech leaders in Asia by Fintech Finals.
“Social media is transforming banking relationships in very significant ways, from improving customer service to allowing users to send money to others via online platforms,” Eldridge wrote in a recent blog post.
“Social media is changing the way the financial services industry operates; the future is bright for increased financial inclusion, lower costs and better customer service. It remains to be seen who will ultimately emerge as the dominant force in finance, the traditional incumbents or the FinTech challengers.”
Since early 2015, Lenddo has been focused on providing its API to banks, peer-to-peer lenders, financial institutions and any financial service providers to allow them to serve other market segments.
The company, which used to operate a loan service for individuals, sold its loan portfolio to BanKO, the mobile phone-based savings bank of the Philippines’ Ayala group.
Featured image via Twitter.
