Tamara, the largest buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), has partnered with Lean Technologies to significantly expand access to credit for consumers who fall outside traditional financial scoring models.
According to a newly published case study detailing the results of the multi-year partnership, the collaboration leverages Lean’s Open Banking data to provide Tamara with enhanced visibility into real income and cash flow.
Serving the underserved
Historically, legacy credit models have struggled to accurately assess the financial health of non-traditional workers. By utilizing Open Banking insights, Tamara is now able to reliably serve customers who are typically much harder to evaluate, including:
The integration of real-time financial data has translated into substantial growth for the BNPL provider’s lending capabilities. The partnership has resulted in a 32 per cent overall increase in approval rates. Furthermore, Tamara has seen a massive 60 per cent uplift in credit eligibility specifically for its non-salaried customers.
A broader market shift
According to Lean Technologies, these results point to a much broader shift currently taking place within the regional market. As alternative data becomes more accessible and reliable, access to credit is steadily beginning to expand beyond the restrictive confines of traditional credit models.
Lean Technologies currently operates across the region to facilitate these data connections. The firm is regulated in the UAE by the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority to provide Third Party Services, and is permitted by the Saudi Central Bank to test its innovative services under the local Regulatory Sandbox environment.