Check the people behind the business
Lending to a small company is, in large part, lending to its directors. Before you decide on the business, check the personal credit and identity of the people who run and guarantee it, and screen them where you must.
The job
For most SMEs the company's own file is thin, and the directors are on the hook personally through guarantees. The real credit risk sits with the people, not the limited company, so a decision that looks only at the business is half-blind.
You also need to know the directors are who they say they are, and, for some lending, that they carry no sanctions or PEP markers. A fraudulent or disqualified director behind an otherwise plausible application is exactly what these checks are for.
The job is to build a view of the individuals behind the company: their personal credit, their confirmed identity, and their screening status, alongside whatever you already know about the business.
The product mix
The business plus the people behind it.
A personal credit view of each director, soft at pre-qualification and full at application.
Confirm each director is who they say they are.
Screen the directors against sanctions and PEP lists where the lending requires it.
Footprint and permissible purpose
Use a soft (quotation) search on the directors at pre-qualification so you do not mark their personal files for a facility the business may not take; move to a full search at application. Identity and screening are not credit searches.
Checking an individual's personal credit needs their awareness and a permissible purpose, even when the borrower is the company. The onboarding sets this up.
What it looks like through Credit Canary
You identify the directors and guarantors. A soft CallReport gives each a personal credit view for pre-qualification, CallValidate confirms their identity, and PEPs and Sanctions screens them where required. At application, the same integration runs the full search. The personal picture sits alongside your business checks and feeds one decision.
Pair it with SME payment rails where you also collect and pay out on the facility.
Getting access
The credit and identity data behind this job is available for a permissible purpose, and you need to be approved for the purpose that fits this use. We set the onboarding up once, so one approval covers the checks here and the rest of Credit Canary.
Credit and identity data is only available for a permissible purpose, and you need to be approved for that purpose before you can use it. We handle the integration and the onboarding once, so a single approval covers credit, identity, affordability and open banking together.
- 1Due diligenceWe run due diligence on you and submit the application to TransUnion.
- 2ApprovalTransUnion approve it and give the authority to contract.
- 3ContractWe issue your contract and pass it to TransUnion.
- 4KeysTransUnion issue your unique keys.
- 5LiveYou go live, and billing starts.
The reason to take TransUnion data through Credit Canary is a better rate, on one integration that also gives you open banking, decisioning and payments.
Related
Director checks: FAQs
For most SMEs the company file is thin and directors guarantee the borrowing, so the real credit risk sits with the individuals.
Not at pre-qualification, if you use a soft search. Move to a full search at application once the facility proceeds.
Yes. PEPs and Sanctions screening can be run on each director where the lending requires it.
Yes. Checking an individual's personal credit needs a permissible purpose and their awareness, which the onboarding covers.
See the people, not just the company
Tell us how you lend to SMEs, and we will quote director credit, identity and screening on one integration, at a better rate.