Mastercard and Equifax launch Open Score to bridge credit gap for small business

A new financial health tool called Open Score, developed by Equifax in partnership with Mastercard, aims to expand access to credit for the 2.5 million Australians currently considered “credit invisible”. This includes small business owners and sole traders, as well as renters, migrants and other individuals with limited or no credit history.

The partnership is one of the first major consumer products to launch under Australia’s Consumer Data Right (CDR) framework. It uses real-time bank transaction data, with consumer consent, to generate a score designed to complement traditional credit checks.

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Open Score uses real-time bank data to assess financial health

Unlike credit scores, which draw on credit card use, mortgages and existing loan repayments, Open Score assesses bank transaction data such as income, expenses, spending patterns and rental history.

It also includes a ‘confidence metric’ to show how representative the score is, and uses AI to flag out-of-pattern activity that may indicate fraud or financial stress.

“For example, if someone doesn’t have a mortgage… rental payment data is not being used today to assess their creditworthiness,” Equifax ANZ CEO Melanie Cochrane told SmartCompany.

Equifax and Mastercard argue that banking transactions should be able to be used to assess the likes of rental and on-time bill payments to assess creditworthiness.

Open Score’s system will range from zero to 10, accompanied by key contributing factors that explain what’s influencing the result.

According to Cochrane, this level of transparency supports financial awareness and education, particularly for consumers preparing to apply for credit or improve their long-term financial standing.

Equifax says Open Score is designed to “help consumers get access to credit” in cases where they may have strong financial behaviours but lack a traditional credit file.

“There are two and a half million Australians today that either have no credit file or they have a thin credit file and lenders are not able to make an assessment to determine if they are a good credit risk,” Cochrane told SmartCompany.

For small businesses and sole traders, Open Score could help overcome a longstanding structural issue: the reliance on personal financial history to secure business loans, with little regard for alternative income sources or positive financial behaviours.

“The financial lives of small business owners are so intertwined,” Mastercard’s vice president and head of open finance for Australasia Brenton Charnley told SmartCompany.

“Their ability to access credit is directly impacted by their own business. However, they’re still living, they’re paying bills, they’re still good at financial credit risk.”

Cochrane agreed, pointing to the intersection of personal and professional lives for small business owners in Australia, especially those who rely on credit cards or bank accounts under their personal name.

“If a sole trader was using their personal credit card to support their business growth … and they’re being assessed as a consumer under their personal liability… then the same assessment would be taking place by the lender,” Cochrane said

“[But] if they’re actually making all their payments on time, [Open Score] would be really helpful.”

A new path to credit for sole traders and small business owners

While Open Score is being positioned as a significant tool for credit inclusion, both Mastercard and Equifax were clear it is not designed to replace traditional credit reporting.

“It doesn’t have to be either or. It actually can.

Charnley agreed, telling SmartCompany that Open Score is meant to sit alongside existing systems, not fragment the market.

“It’s going to be a world whereby both of those things will exist in parallel, but collectively that will help financial inclusion,” he said.

For now, the two systems remain regulated separately, although Cochrane noted Equifax supports future policy changes to incorporate additional “positive data” — such as rental and utility payments — into formal credit reporting structures.

A first for CDR as open banking matures

The launch also marks a milestone for CDR, with Charnley describing Open Score as a signal that the framework is entering a more mature phase.

“We’re at a point now where it is the tipping point for open banking,” he said. “There’s certainly been a slow uptake … but it’s incumbent on businesses like Mastercard and Equifax to now give consumers the choice.”

As an accredited data recipient under CDR, Mastercard supplies the infrastructure and consent management platform, while Equifax handles the AI-driven analytics and score generation.

Charnley said the product “brings together the secure, trusted consent framework of open banking … with Equifax’s abilities in credit risk and data analysis”.

Currently, no lenders have been publicly announced, but Equifax is in active conversations. Cochrane said she expects integration will begin with banking apps, fintech tools and lender portals over the coming months.

“There’s definitely a lot of interest, because it’s solving a problem,” she said.