Open banking helps finance providers verify the income and employment of loan applicants, including those who lack a detailed credit history, or who may have had trouble accessing credit in the past. It’s also an alternative to the more manual and often resource-intensive affordability processes many lenders rely on today. TransUnion’s interest in open banking and investment in Bud will help drive better lending outcomes for banks, fintechs and their customers.
"Bud exists to make financial decisions simple by turning transactional data into rich customer insight," said our CEO, Edward Maslaveckas. "By partnering with TransUnion, we're able to combine our advanced data intelligence capability with TransUnion's expertise in financial services to drive improved return on investment for both of our customers."
This investment follows our $80m series B investment in 2022, which saw investors including Bellis Phantom Holdco ltd, an indirect affiliate of investment funds managed by TDR Capital LLP, and Outward VC fund the further development of our data intelligence models and facilitate internal expansion.
To help maximize the partnership, Satrajit "Satty" Saha, CEO of TransUnion in the UK, will join the Bud board of directors and work closely with the Bud executive team to support future growth objectives.
"This strategic investment marks the start of an exciting new partnership with Bud, combining our global infrastructure and insights expertise with Bud's end-to-end open banking platform," said Saha. "This will allow us to grow our open banking offering and jointly develop the next generation of credit, affordability, and fraud solutions."