| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Business Services Credit Services |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Headquarters | Leeds, United Kingdom |
| Key people | Michael J Green, Chairman John McAndrew, Chief Executive Graham Lund, MD Grant Johnston, CallValidate Owen Roberts, Callcredit Check Geraldine McEvoy, Callcredit Direct |
| Products | Credit Risk Solutions Fraud Solutions Marketing Solutions Collections & Recoveries Solutions Consumer Services |
| Website | www.callcredit.co.uk |
Callcredit Limited is a credit reference agency. Credit reference agencies collect and store details about consumers and their personal credit history. There are five credit reference agencies in the UK; Callcredit, Dun & Bradstreet, Equifax, Experian and National Hunter.
Callcredit was created by Skipton Building Society and supplies information to lenders and other organisations to enable them to establish an individual's credit history, confirm application addresses and monitor significant events which may be indicators of credit risk. In 2009, Skipton sold its interest in the company to Vitruvian Partners, a UK-based private equity firm.
Callcredit's areas of expertise are Credit Risk, ID Verification/Fraud & Anti-money laundering, Collections & Recoveries and Credit Marketing.
The company's client base includes legal firms, banks, building societies, finance houses, mail order, telecoms and utility companies. These typically use Callcredit’s services to support applications for consumer credit, however shared financial data from consumers' credit accounts is used to underpin a variety of services including Fraud and Identification products, debtor tracing and over-indebtedness tracking.
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2001 saw the launch of Callcredit's first credit referencing service, “CallReport”, an online service that allows subscribers to check the identity and creditworthiness of potential customers.
In 2002 Callcredit launched its “SHARE” database of consumer credit account information. Created by monthly contributions from a closed user group of lenders, SHARE includes records from banks, building societies, and telecom companies.
In 2003 Callcredit introduced a range of products for credit risk, Anti-Money Laundering and marketing.
In 2004 the Skipton Information Group (SIG) was formed, bringing Callcredit together with EuroDirect and GMAP.
In 2005 Callcredit launched MyCallcredit, its online credit file monitoring and identity theft alert service for consumers. Also during the year Callcredit introduced a new range of debt management tools, credit monitoring and tracing solutions to aid responsible lending.
In 2006 Callcredit launched its consumer indebtedness initiative in association with the UK’s leading high street banks: HBOS, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Barclays and RBS. The initiative uses income data along with consolidated debt data to give an understanding of customer indebtedness and ability to pay. Throughout 2007, Callcredit further developed its Over-Indebtedness Initiative (OII) and continued to roll it out across the major UK banks, building societies and credit card companies. It has also created the Callcredit Consultancy team, which supplies expertise throughout the customer lifecycle, from customer acquisition to collection and recoveries.
In 2007, Skipton Information Group acquired two additional businesses which directly complement Callcredit’s activities. Legatio build complex online systems that present data for government, blue chip and SME's. Legatio have also developed an online fraud detection service called CallValidate that verifes a bank accounts or credit / debit cards owners name and address. Legatio was started by Entrepreneurs Grant Johnston and Dave Barter in 2002 with a PDF based tax return service for individuals and agents (ftax.co.uk). The second acquisition in 2007 was Decision Metrics, who undertake advanced analytical projects for the credit risk market, covering credit scoring, affordability assessment, Basel II modelling and ongoing performance monitoring.
In January 2008, Skipton Information Group announced its third acquisition in six months. Broadsystem are specialists in both database and marketing services, with additional skills in communications management.
In May 2008 the Skipton Information Group rebranded to the Callcredit Information Group (CIG). By consolidating Callcredit, EuroDirect, GMAP Consulting, Legatio, Decision Metrics and Broadsystem, a stronger platform has been created which satisfies the increasingly sophisticated information needs of its international client base right across the customer lifecycle.
Callcredit Check is the consumer arm of Callcredit, providing consumers with personal credit reports. Callcredit, Equifax and Experian gain information about consumers’ credit records from various sources including banks, building societies and lenders that have granted the consumer credit.
This information is used to generate a personal credit report. All three credit reference agencies allow consumers to access their credit report. This can be done in one of two ways.
Under the Data Protection Act of 1998, Callcredit, Equifax and Experian are required by law to offer a statutory credit file, which is sent out in the post and takes around seven working days. All three credit reference agencies however also offer an online credit report online which can be accessed instantly.
Callcredit Direct was established in 2004 to serve small to medium enterprises and has expanded from a team of four to employ over thirty staff [1]. The Direct division is mainly made up of telemarketing staff supported by a field sales team who maintain face-to-face contact with clients nationwide at seminars and conferences[2]. The team specialise in promoting Callcredit’s anti-money laundering product CallML [3], as well as advising, where necessary, on Callcredit’s complete product portfolio[4]. Direct’s current subscribers mainly operate within the legal and accountancy sectors however the business’s client base covers most industries with a financial bias and a need to comply with the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
In 2009, Callcredit Direct won 'Best of Breed System of the Year' for CallML at the Legal Technology Awards.
In 2007 Callcredit Direct won online system of the year at the legal technology awards.