American Express and Nova Credit are joining forces to make establishing credit in the United States just that much easier. Using Nova’s Credit Passport program, Amex hopes to ease the transition from foreign credit to U.S. credit for citizens of nine countries.
Amex and Nova Partner to Expand Credit Reach for Recent Immigrants
Establishing credit in the United States can be daunting for recent arrivals. The American credit system’s typical requirements (a valid Social Security Number or EIN tax ID number) make qualifying for traditional credit cards difficult.
Now, thanks to a new partnership with Nova Credit and its Credit Passport program, American Express is looking to make it easier to establish U.S. credit for the first time. The new program will see Amex make getting approved for credit cards through Amex made easier for citizens of select countries.
How Nova’s Credit Passport Works
Nova’s Credit Passport works by ‘translating’ foreign credit reports into an equivalent U.S. credit report and score. Nova created its system in 2019 to help recent arrivals from Australia, Canada, India, Mexico, and the U.K. establish credit in the United States for the first time.
The new partnership will see the list of eligible countries expand to include Brazil, Nigeria, the Dominican Republic, and Kenya. Amex expects to add even more names in 2022, though the company did not list any potential additions.
“When deciding whether to approve or decline an applicant for an American Express Card product, we consider many factors, such as the applicant’s credit score, delinquencies and defaults on their credit report, their debts with other lenders, our experience with them as a former/current American Express customer, fraud review, and other eligibility requirements,” said Sara Milsten, Senior Vice President of New Member Acquisition, U.S. Customer Service at American Express told ZDNet in an interview.
Immigrants and Credit in the United States
Numerous fintech firms have sought to make access to credit easier for recent immigrants, but Amex and Nova’s partnership will see this goal taken to the next level. Deserve is one such fintech, offering its Deserve EDU and Deserve PRO credit cards to a wider selection of applicants – including recent immigrants to the United States. Other options include the OpenSky Secured Visa Credit Card, Jasper Mastercard, and the Tomo Card.
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