A London-headquartered fintech that provides credit score services has snapped up a smaller Manchester fintech, as it expands into embedded finance.

ClearScore, which has nearly 24 million customers globally, has acquired credit marketplace Aro Finance, which counts Asda and Argos as partners.

Founded in 2015, ClearScore provides credit information and an online financial marketplace and is backed by Blenheim Chalcott, Brightbridge Ventures, Lead Edge Capital, and QED.

The purchase of Aro Finance, which has around 90 staff, marks ClearScore’s second acquisition, following that of Money Dashboard in 2022.

This latest acquisition bolsters ClearScore with a B2B2C channel.

Aro Finance operates a credit marketplace embedded within its digital partners’ infrastructure.

Last year, ClearScore launched a credit repaying service called Clearer, a debt consolidation loan technology that automatically repays existing debts when taking out a new loan.

ClearScore said:

“The Aro Finance acquisition will provide the group with greater choice for prospective borrowers, particularly as it builds and scales its unique debt consolidation loan technology.”

Justin Basini, co-founder and CEO of ClearScore, said:

“This acquisition allows us to continue our growth by expanding into two complementary areas as a credit broker, namely embedded finance and secured second charge lending. 

“Diversifying our channels to market, and the product range we can offer to our 24 million users, as well as our offering to our lenders, is an important step in our strategy.”

ClearScore came close to being acquired by FTSE 25O firm Experian seven years ago but the deal fell through due to antitrust reasons.