Mojo Mortgages announces partnership with Credit Kudos

Online mortgage broker, Mojo Mortgages, has partnered with Credit Kudos to announce the launch of MortgageScore™, a market-first service for thousands of first time buyers who want to get on the property ladder.

Bringing transparency and openness to a secret market

For first time buyers, purchasing a home has never been harder, with barriers such as raising a deposit, poor credit ratings and house prices that have risen faster than incomes, making it nearly impossible for some people.  At Mojo Mortgages, one in four of the site’s first time buyers weren’t eligible for a mortgage, and in the UK, around 35% of people who are looking to purchase a property are declined a mortgage due to the affordability criteria from lenders.

There are several things a broker and lender must consider when determining if someone can get a mortgage, but those who are applying often don’t have access to this information and are kept in the dark. If they are declined the mortgage, they may get a vague reason as to why, but there’s very little guidance on what to do next.

MortgageScore™, powered by open banking data from credit bureau Credit Kudos, will bring transparency and openness to a secret market. It will provide future customers with all the insight they need to get mortgage ready. It’s an evolution of the typical ‘credit score’ and combines credit and employment history, spending habits, deposit saved and income to provide users with an individual score for them. It will clearly show how your score is calculated, where it’s good and where it’s not, and will then give guidance on how to improve the score.

Getting mortgage ready with personalised coaching

Most buyers have no idea why they were declined and have no idea what the lenders eligibility criteria is. MortgageScore’s coaching module will solve this issue as it will empower users with tailored coaching advice, based on their financial behaviour through open banking data, to tell them exactly what they need to do to get mortgage ready.

Richard Hayes, CEO and Co-Founder of Mojo Mortgages, said: “We’re really excited to be able to work with Credit Kudos for MortgageScore™. When launched, it’ll help thousands of first-time buyers get on the property ladder by simply giving them personalised advice on getting mortgage ready. Interestingly. One in four first-time buyers who came to us weren’t eligible for a mortgage, so we want to change this and help as many people as possible to buy their first home.

“When it comes to integrating open banking, this is an industry first. We’ll be the first online broker to successfully integrate open banking data, and this will allow for more streamlined and accurate methods of calculating affordability, making real time decisions a reality and meaning less delays for the customer when it comes to getting a mortgage offer, and ultimately, reducing lender cost of service.  It also takes the onus off the customer to provide all these details which can be laborious and time consuming.”

Freddy Kelly, CEO and Co-Founder of Credit Kudos, said: “Millions of people across the UK struggle to get a mortgage because they can’t meet the affordability criteria, yet often this is because lenders are using outdated, inaccurate information to assess affordability and credit risk. Credit Kudos exists to make it easier and fairer for people to access credit, whether that is a mortgage or a car loan, by providing lenders with accurate, real-time information on someone’s credit worthiness. We’re delighted to be partnering with Mojo Mortgages to help its mortgage lenders make better, fairer credit decisions and provide borrowers with actionable insights to improve their chances of being approved.”

The partnership will be officially launched at an event in London this week which will bring high profile lenders together to discuss the opportunities new data brings to the mortgage industry: enabling instant income and expenditure verification, automated affordability assessments and advanced credit risk insights.

To be the first to access MortgageScore™, please visit www.mojomortgages.com/mortgagescore to sign-up ahead of its official launch in early 2020. Those who sign-up will also be entered into a prize draw to win £1,000 towards their first home.