Cignifi is revolutionizing the way financial service companies meet the needs of an estimated 2.7 billion people worldwide with a mobile phone but no access to formal financial services. Cignifi has the first proven credit scoring solution capable of closing this gap.
The company’s patent pending behavior-based score engine delivers a suite of credit risk and response scores for anyone with a mobile phone. Cignifi’s scores provide the underwriting and marketing efficiency needed to profitably serve and reach the world’s growing middle class. A team of world-class behavioral mathematicians in Oxford, England developed the company’s technology.
In Brazil, the company is focused on the 100m people - three-quarters of the adult population – that are now characterized as middle class but have limited access to financial services. With less than one half of adults possessing a credit card, and less than one third with access to insurance the company seeks to bridge this gap using the mobile phone networks that provide efficient access to 90% of the population.
Cignifi is headquartered in Cambridge, MA with offices in São Paulo and Oxford.
Boston Globe, January 20, 2012 -
By Scott Kirsner, Globe Columnist
What does your mobile phone usage say about your credit-worthiness?
Does the number of text messages you send, or the time of day you make your first phone call, say something important about how credit-worthy you are?
Cignifi, a small Cambridge start-up with roots in the UK, believes it does. The company is out raising $2 million in funding to commercialize its technology this year, after a pilot test in Brazil in 2011.
Building the Bridge to New Consumers in Brazil
Cignifi recently partnered with Oi Telecom and the Inter-American Development Bank to demonstrate Cignifi credit scoring technology in Brazil. Key results included: