In today’s economic climate, a strong financial reputation is essential. This reputation, built on creditworthiness and responsible financial management, significantly impacts access to loans, interest rates, and overall financial opportunities. It can ultimately shape the course of an individual’s financial journey and future prospects.

That’s where Skor steps in. This Indonesian startup empowers people to take control of their financial well-being by improving and managing their credit health. It leverages analytics to enhance the customer experience of using credit cards.

Building credit confidence: How Skor empowers Indonesians

On a mission to bridge the trust gap, the fintech company, co-founded by Ongki Kurniawan and Karan Khetan in 2022, brings transparency to the lending process, fostering a smoother journey between consumers and financial institutions.

“Skor wasn’t an idea; it was a discovery. It all started with gold lending. The idea was to digitise gold lending in Indonesia. We spent months validating this idea only to realise that that idea was not viable. We managed to interview 100+ customers, and it was in those conversations we realised that digitisation was not a business, but this led us to the idea of SkorLife. We found that almost all the people in Indonesia were uncertain about their ‘creditworthiness’. As human beings, we hate uncertainty. This was a problem worth solving. With our background as operators, we have navigated many challenges to conceive and launch Skor, starting with Skorlife,” said Kurniawan.

Skor currently operates two distinct business units:

• SkorLife
• Skorcard

SkorLife

A credit builder, SkorLife offers users guidance to manage and strengthen their creditworthiness, facilitating access to ‘fair’ credit. Its mission is to enhance financial literacy and inclusion across the nation. The app has clocked over one million downloads.

Also Read: SkorLife secures US$4M to allow Indonesians access their credit scores, reports instantly

Skorcard

Skorcard assists banks in developing credit card offerings. The recently introduced Mayapada Skorcard, is designed for Indonesia’s experience-seeking, mass-affluent segment. This co-branded credit card targets an estimated 25 million individuals in a country where credit card penetration remains below three per cent in a population exceeding 270 million.

The Mayapada Skorcard addresses the need for credit access and an enhanced card experience for prospecting cardholders. It offers users control over their spending, including categorisation of spending and management of personal budgets. It also introduces a hyper-personalised reward engine with gamification elements, making financial management both rewarding and engaging.

“SkorLife allows people to manage their creditworthiness. This entailed accessing and understanding their credit information and analysing it to provide advice for improving their creditworthiness. This helps boost financial literacy and enables fair credit access by educating the market on responsible borrowing practices. Skorcard is an extension of that mission. Users who show good credit standing and work to improve their creditworthiness can access Skorcard. The Mayapada Skorcard is a state-of-the-art credit card made for the country’s ‘experience’ generation,” added Kurniawan.

Skor’s investor base includes prominent institutions such as QED, Hummingbird, Saison Capital, and AC Ventures.

The company noted that Southeast Asia’s burgeoning technological landscape presents a significant opportunity to educate consumers on responsible borrowing practices. While it remains selective in the technologies it integrates into the products, it is enthusiastic about emerging trends such as digital banking, AI-driven personal finance management tools, and the potential of blockchain to create secure and transparent credit scoring systems.

Looking ahead, Skor aspires to empower all Indonesians with the knowledge and tools to build a strong credit history, ultimately enabling them to access fair and transparent credit opportunities.

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Image credit: Skor

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