London, UK – February 27th, 2024
Custom Credit, a customer-centric consumer lender, is transforming the lending landscape through its collaboration with fintech innovator, Ordo, to improve financial literacy and make credit accessible, with flexible repayment options. This pioneering collaboration leverages Ordo’s disruptive Variable Recurring Payments (VRP) solution, powered by Open Banking, and offers a lifeline to those typically overlooked by traditional lending institutions.
As the first lender to launch with VRP from day 1, Custom Credit today marks a significant milestone, evidencing its mission to improve financial literacy and become the most customer-centric Fintech: Since launching with Ordo’s VRP solution, Custom Credit has disbursed several hundred thousand pounds via Ordo, streamlining both loan payouts and repayments and has around 20% of its current portfolio using VRP each month.
With banks tightening their credit policy and restricting access to credit, it has never been more important to have a loan product which really considers customer’s individual circumstances. This includes customers with irregular income, for example, those who receive bonuses as part of their total salary. Credit is an important tool in helping individuals achieve their financial goals, so there is a need for a more inclusive and adaptable approach, Custom Credit has played a key role in addressing the issue head-on.
VRP, a dynamic alternative to traditional direct debit methods, offers unparalleled advantages, including enhanced repayment rates and a fivefold increase in smart payments. Leveraging Open Banking, Custom Credit ensures a customer-centric borrowing experience with swift, secure, and tailored repayment schedules, empowering borrowers to manage their finances effectively and transparently.
One of Custom Credit’s borrowers, who is using VRP, shared, “I chose Custom Credit because I really liked the idea of Flex Low® and Flex Max®. I get paid overtime most months, so being able to pay a little more when I do and a little less when I don’t is a real help. VRP has completely changed my loan repayment experience, offering unparalleled convenience and flexibility. I can now manage my payments effortlessly, reduce how much interest I pay, and maintain better control over my finances.”
Since the integration of Ordo’s VRP solution, Custom Credit has been able to tailor repayments more efficiently and react more quickly to individual needs, ensuring affordability and inclusivity for all borrowers. This approach allows borrowers to manage their repayments, reducing the risk of defaults and fostering financial responsibility and literacy. Additionally, the flexibility of VRP enables repayment plans to adapt to changes in income, thereby alleviating unnecessary financial stress. Eliminating the risk of both defaults and mistakenly plunging into unarranged overdrafts, VRP is set to revolutionise credit and lending and money management, leading to lower costs and greater ease and efficiency for both lenders and borrowers.
Damien Burke, CEO of Custom Credit said:
“Ordo has been a very supportive partner in our mission to be the most customer-centric Fintech in the UK. Their VRP solution reflects this as we are able to adapt to customers’ specific needs and adapt the timing and the amount of repayment to suit their individual needs much more quickly, efficiently and cheaply than with direct debit. We already have lots of customers utilising this great solution as part of our mission to improve financial literacy; we hope more customers will adapt VRP over time.”
Craig Tillotson, CEO of Ordo said: “Custom Credit’s expertise in consumer lending and Ordo’s in VRP service delivery could not be better matched. It’s exciting to see an innovator like Custom Credit making the most of Ordo’s market leading fully hosted VRP service to deliver a truly customer centric experience for its clients. As regulators open up Ordo’s VRP service to the broader finance industry later this year it will be great to see how other firms follow Custom Credit’s lead and take advantage of the superior consumer control, real time delivery and reduced costs of our VRP service to deliver their consumer duty obligations.”
Custom Credit and Ordo are committed to continuing their collaborative efforts to drive positive change in the financial services industry, improving financial literacy and empowering individuals and families across the UK to achieve their financial goals.
About Ordo
Ordo’s cloud-native ‘Payments-as-a-Service’ offering, delivers fully managed, white-labelled, turn-key solutions for Open Banking payments including Request to Pay, E-Commerce and QR Code payments; the very latest Open Banking solution, Variable Recurring Payments (“VRP”), is backed by the Financial Conduct Authority, the Payment Systems Regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority, and HM Treasury, as well as the Opposition party to Government.
Ordo’s highly secure service, designed and built by payments experts, provides an array of frictionless payments solutions, which can be deployed at Point of Sale, for invoice collection, from contact centres, and for paper and digital billing; it makes paying and getting paid easier than ever and is more cost-effective than traditional payment methods.
Businesses can access the Ordo platform in several ways: through an Ordo Merchant Acquirer/PSP payments partner, via Ordo’s modern APIs, for smaller businesses through our integrations with QuickBooks, Sage, and Xero accounting software, and directly via Ordo’s web/app interfaces.
Ordo’s white label fully managed and hosted services, deliver a business’s brand look and feel to their paying customers, without the need to build bespoke payment journeys or customer management services.
Ordo Solutions can also manage refunds and secure customer payouts and disbursements, as well as account validation.
Ordo was founded by the former management team of the UK’s Faster Payments Scheme in 2018 to use Open Banking payments to provide businesses with a much-needed alternative to slow, high-cost card payments and insecure direct bank payments. Ordo is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority as a Payments Institution for Account Information Services and Payment Initiation Services (FRN 836070).
Learn more about Ordo: https://ordopay.com
Try Ordo for free: www.myordo.com
About Custom Credit
Custom Credit is on a mission to be the customer centric FinTech in the UK. It will achieve this through the launch of its brand-new type of loan, and other innovative products that follow and by ensuring customers are represented in the development process. It has a strong focus on financial literacy and wants to help customers achieve their financial goals. Learn more about Custom Credit: https://www.customcredit.co.uk