Westlake partners with Nova Credit to attract new borrowers

Hancock Park-based Westlake Financial Services is stepping up its push into the auto loan market. The financial services company, which hit the one million auto loan accounts milestone in early August, now works with Nova Credit Inc., a San Francisco-based fintech that helps immigrants build credit to buy a car.

“Constant innovation is one of Westlake’s core values, so opening up another avenue for potential clients through a one-of-a-kind partnership with Nova Credit aligns with our strategy for the future,” said Ian Anderson, Chairman of Westlake Technology Holdings Group. , which operates Westlake Financial Services. It is one of seven companies in the automotive, finance, technology, real estate and insurance industries operated by Hankey Group.

Westlake’s partnership with Nova Credit will help his auto loan business make lending decisions.

Nova Credit uses a unique model to solve a stubborn problem: Without proof of credit building, immigrants to the United States are routinely denied loans.
“Every year a few million people move to the United States, and when those people apply for financial services, these companies check with the US credit bureaus, and the US credit bureaus say they don’t know who (they) are, ”said Misha Esipov, Founder and Managing Director of Nova Credit.

The major credit rating bureaus – Atlanta-based Equifax Inc., Costa Mesa-based Experian, and Chicago-based TransUnion – do not rely on financial information from other countries.

“It’s called ‘invisible credit’, which means there is no information about you,” Esipov said. “As a result, you end up being rejected from traditional financial services. “

Nova Credit works with credit bureaus in 16 other countries, including Brazil, Mexico, and India, to access financial information that allows them to translate international credit data into an equivalent score in the United States.

Nova Credit also works with New York-based financial services giant American Express Co. and Washington, DC-based international student loan company MPower Financing.

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