Nav, Clover Pair To Bring Small Firms Their Credit Scores

Credit score and business solutions provider Nav is pairing up with First Data subsidiary Clover to expand small businesses’ access to their credit scores, the firms revealed Wednesday (Oct. 24).

Nav will link small businesses that use the Clover POS system to business credit score information, as well as access to business financing and credit card tools. Clover can display businesses’ credit scores in the POS dashboard, including the Experian Intelliscore Plus v2 and Dun & Bradstreet PAYDEX credit scores. Businesses will also be linked to continual credit monitoring and business insights.

Further, Nav will provide small business Clover users with access to an array of financing options, including Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, long-term financing, invoicing and other loan products.

“This partnership is an industry first, and instrumental to closing the knowledge gap related to business credit and financing,” said Nav CEO and Co-founder Levi King in a statement. “When small business owners have easier access to their data and finance options, they are more likely to succeed, making this a mutually beneficial partnership for our companies and merchants.”

In their announcement, the companies pointed to research from the Federal Reserve that found 70 percent of small businesses are denied a bank loan; according to the firms, business credit scores are an important part of lenders’ underwriting process, so small businesses having access to that information is key to successful access to financing.

Its collaboration with Clover follows last year’s $13 million venture capital raise for Nav, provided by Goldman Sachs Principal Strategic Investments. CreditEase FinTech Investment Fund, Point72 Ventures and Clocktower Technology Ventures also participated in the Series B funding round, reports at the time said.

“Our model is solving the access to capital problem in a modern way,” King said in a statement released in July. “We’re using data to help business owners understand their financial health and dramatically simplify the process of borrowing money and getting credit.”