On the TechTO stage ×1
First seen on the TechTO stage in 2020. Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about Misha ↗
In their words
Half of the people we were speaking with were foreign students, and 100% of them were like, this sucks — I can't get a credit card, I can't get an auto loan, I can't get a student loan.
We wanted to actually build the infrastructure, build the pipelines, to allow people to move their financial identity with them as they move around the world.
We were just naive and optimistic, and I think you need a healthy dose of both to get started.
Around the web ×1
Quick answers
What does Nova Credit do?
It is a cross-border credit bureau. Its Credit Passport translates a person's credit history from their home country into something a US lender can underwrite, so newcomers are not treated as having no history.
How did Nova Credit start?
As user research at Stanford. Esipov and his co-founders interviewed classmates about how they made financial decisions and found that every international student they spoke to could not get a credit card, a loan or a phone plan.
Why did they build infrastructure instead of lending directly?
Esipov told TechTO they considered issuing credit cards or student loans to immigrants directly, but chose to solve it systemically — building the pipelines that let a financial identity move with a person.