The relationship will help small businesses establish an Experian credit file and explore adding real-time transaction and cash-flow data into traditional business credit scores
Small business credit platform Tillful, backed by ING Ventures, Experian Ventures, Bitrock Capital, and Katalyst Ventures, announced today that it’s partnering with Experian® to help establish credit profiles for businesses that are new to credit or otherwise credit invisible, and thereby potentially expand the range of credit options that can be made available to them.
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According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the creation of new businesses is booming with over 5.4 million new business applications filed in 2021. Yet, without an existing business credit report, financial institutions can’t authenticate a business and owners can have a hard time accessing fair and affordable credit options. The relationship will allow cash-flow data to be used to verify and establish an Experian business credit file for new-to-credit businesses. It puts control in the hands of business owners to begin building credit on their own terms instead of relying on third-party reporting.
Business owners can visit Tillful’s website to see if their company has a credit profile with Experian and, if available, access their existing Experian business credit score through Tillful at no additional cost. If a credit profile is not present, owners will have the option to request that their Tillful profile be shared with Experian so that a business credit profile can be established.
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Combining traditional business credit data with owner-permissioned data has the potential to provide lenders with the insights needed to help increase financial access for businesses. The long-term focus of the Experian and Tillful partnership is to help provide a more complete picture of a business’ financial health by integrating real-time transaction and cash-flow data with Experian’s traditional business credit data.
“There are over 32 million small businesses in the U.S.[1]Â They’re the lifeline of many local communities, but many are new to credit, unable to qualify for the loans they need or simply don’t want to apply for credit out of fear of being declined,” said Hiq Lee, president of Business Information Services at Experian. “Our work with Tillful will allow more small businesses to establish their financial footprint and ultimately help them get credit.”
“We’re excited to work with Experian to empower small business owners to have greater control and access to their business credit,” said Ken So, founder and CEO of Tillful. “We’re proud to continue to bring innovations to the table that increase financial inclusion to new borrowers.”
Earlier this month Tillful launched Tillful Card, a secured business credit card designed to help no-file/thin-file businesses build credit. Tillful Card, through strategic partnerships with Mastercard and Sutton Bank, was designed exclusively for underserved small businesses and rewards cardholders on everyday business purchases. It also has the benefit of reporting directly to Experian. The Tillful product suite now includes the Tillful Business Credit Score, Tillful Funding and Tillful Card. Plans for an unsecured business credit card are already underway, and set to launch later this year.
Tillful was tapped as a Featured Startup for this year’s Collision Conference, taking place June 20-23 in Toronto, Canada. The Experian announcement comes just ahead of this leading global tech event taking place in person for the first time since 2019.
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