There are rumours circulating that Apple has, or is in the process of, purchasing Credit Kudos with an eye to launching its Apple Card in the UK market.
Is Apple set to launch the Apple Card in the UK?
The company offers insights and scores based on loan applications drawn from transaction and loan outcome banking data, sourced by the UK’s Open Banking framework.
Its API offers lenders a way to get faster, automated decision-making about loans with reduced risk and higher rates of acceptance.
It is not clear what Apple has planned for Credit Kudos, but it is plausible that the company’s technology could aid Apple with the launch of Apple Card in the UK.
The UK is among Apple’s most important markets, with the country possessing the largest number of Apple Stores outside the US and China, and new features and services are often first to reach the UK after launching in the US.
Apple’s main credit product, Apple Card, is available exclusively in the US, but Credit Kudos’s technology is based on the UK’s Open Banking framework.
It is possible that Apple could modify Credit Kudos’s technology to work with the US’s growing Open Banking sector to strengthen Apple Card’s credit checker, but Apple could also have UK-exclusive plans for the company.
Credit markets and financial regulation varies massively in countries around the world, so it would not be straightforward for Apple to launch Apple Card internationally.
Apple would likely need to seek specific solutions to make lending decisions in each country, so it seems feasible that Credit Kudos could be the chosen credit checking platform for the UK.
If that is the case, the launch of Apple Card in the UK could still be some time away as the company integrates the Credit Kudos platform with a new, international variant of Apple Card.
Following the success of Apple Card in the US, it could make sense for Apple to expand into overseas markets. While visiting Germany in 2019, Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed his interest in launching Apple Card internationally.
In 2020, Samsung launched Samsung Pay Card in the UK, seemingly in an effort to establish a foothold in the region before Apple does.
Credit Kudos began raising funds in April 2020, obtaining $6.5 million in investment, and the company is reportedly now valued at around $150 million.
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