Dun & Bradstreet brings alternative data to small business credit profiles, powered by Plaid

The introduction of alternative data in personal lending has helped increase credit access for millions of Americans, including the “credit invisible” and those with “thin credit profiles.” It is estimated that nearly three-quarters of lenders use alternative data for at least part of their credit decision making today. 

For businesses, credit profiles play a role similar to consumer credit scores in lending decisioning, but many small businesses are unaware they have a profile and may lack the historical trade data necessary to improve it. These profiles are not only used by banks and lenders, but also by prospective partners, customers, and vendors to evaluate a company’s financial health before entering into a business relationship. Having a strong business credit profile can potentially help small businesses access more favorable business credit and lending terms, as well as win and maintain valuable customer, partner, and vendor contracts.

Plaid is working with Dun & Bradstreet to bring alternative data to business credit profiles and help unlock growth opportunities for small businesses across the country. Today, Dun & Bradstreet announced an integration with Plaid that allows small businesses to securely share financial account information to create and potentially improve their Dun & Bradstreet credit profile. It represents the first service to incorporate permissioned bank data to potentially create business credit scores and new analytics.

The emergence of alternative data in personal lending helped increase access to credit for millions of Americans. Today’s announcement with Dun & Bradstreet marks the beginning of business-permissioned alternative data in small business credit profiles. At a time when small businesses need all the help they can get, this gives small business owners more control over their ability to grow their business based on their own well-earned financial reputation. 

To learn more about Dun & Bradstreet Small Business and how to create your business credit profile, visit the Dun & Bradstreet small business resource hub.

Read more about the opportunities for data and private sector innovation to support small businesses in our new whitepaper: