Embedded financial solutions provider Cross River has announced a partnership with US-based fintech platform Current to launch a new credit-building product. Together, the two companies are set to provide access to building a credit history for previously unserved and underserved communities, seeking to empower individuals to improve their financial well-being through a new secured charge card.

Cross River – Current partnership details Based on the information in the press release, the credit-building card offers a simple way for Current’s more than four million members to build their credit histories through a single spending balance viewed and managed on Current’s platform. Issued by Cross River on the Visa network, the secured charge card connects to members’ available spending balance to build a credit history, while simultaneously helping minimise the risks associated with debt. As over 26 million Americans are ‘credit invisible’ and an additional 19 million are ‘un-scorable’, a 2020-issued report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) found that a credit builder loan could help increase the likelihood of establishing a credit record for consumers without one and could also help better the credit scores of those with no existing outstanding debt.

Commenting on the announcement, Anthony Peculic, Head of Cards, and BaaS at Cross River said that the company is looking forward to partnering with Current to create a custom solution and bring the credit-building product to market. Having been and continuing to be committed to expanding access to financial services and empowering underserved communities, the spokesperson believes that together, they can help make a meaningful contribution by providing individuals with the tools required to either establish or rebuild their credit profiles. Adding on this, Stuart Sopp, Current CEO and co-founder advised that there is nothing that matters more to one’s financial life than their credit’s quality, further saying that they are proud to be partnering with Cross River and being able to leverage their own core technology to solve the complexity associated with multiple accounts and launch a secured charge card.

What is more, the company official believes that together with Cross River, they can provide a multitude of Americans with a simple way to build their credit histories and better their financial futures. The press release further highlights that partnering earlier this year, the credit-building card leverages Cross River’s proprietary, API-based operating system and banking infrastructure, and the company’s card and account expertise, alongside Current’s core technology, to facilitate financial inclusion together with economic empowerment for underserved communities. Cross River's recent developments Summer 2023 saw Cross River further its development strategy, with the company having made public multiple announcements.

In July, it partnered with Plaid to offer multi-rail payment solutions to US businesses, becoming one of the first financial institutions to support the latter’s real-time solutions. The collaboration followed the June one with B2B fintech Fintainium, where Cross River was set to better the company’s payment offerings for business customers by offering services of the likes of check processing, access to the automated clearing house (ACH) network, and push-to-card capabilities. In the same month, it made public an additional partnership with US-based financial services provider Momnt.

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