Match the Cash launches new product using MorganAsh customer vulnerability data
29 April 2025
Match the Cash Limited t/a Guarantor My Loan & Share My Loan – a peer-to-peer lender of loans to consumers, has launched a new product after adopting the MorganAsh customer vulnerability software, MARS (MorganAsh Resilience System).
In mid-2024, Match the Cash began a trial of MARS, to improve the identification of those customers who have characteristics of vulnerabilities and meet the FCA’s Consumer Duty regulations. As well as identifying good information on consumers’ vulnerabilities, the additional information gathered enabled the firm to make better lending decisions. As a result, Match the Cash launched a new credit product – aimed at a specific demographic, using this extra information.
The company had undertaken a trial of MARS, introducing a vulnerability assessment at various stages of its onboarding journey. There was a high rate of completion of assessments, with the vast majority completed within minutes. This initial trial was to ensure that there was no detrimental disruption to the onboarding journey.
The trial focused on meeting the FCA's vulnerability regulatory requirements; however, the additional information enabled the firm to provide loans to more people than previous data sources had indicated. The firm introduced the vulnerability assessment to those people where the lending criteria would normally indicate that the firm would decline. Like a lot of lending firms, Match the Cash has developed extensive lending algorithms based on credit data and open banking data. In a good proportion of cases, the additional information – typically on health and lifestyle – allowed a significant proportion of those people who would be potentially declined to be lent to – giving a compelling commercial reason for using MARS, on top of meeting the FCA’s vulnerability regulations.
As well as committing to roll-out MARS company-wide, the firm now uses the additional information to improve its lending criteria, as well as launching a new lending product.
Feedback from consumers has been positive, with comments like, “You are really giving a helping hand. Keep it up.”
The additional information gathered enabled Match the Cash to help those consumers, particularly who did not qualify for a loan - notably by referring to the Policy in Practice Better Off Calculator. Through referrals, many consumers have applied for and received additional benefits of which they were not aware. Those who qualify for additional benefits are receiving around £800 per person, per month – which, as the average loan amount is £4,000, this will hopefully go a long way to overcome short-term financial needs.
Chris Markland, compliance manager of Guarantor My Loan & Share My Loan said:
“Adopting MARS has been a big win in several areas: for those people we couldn’t previously loan to, we are helping them with their financial difficulties, while the extra information we gain is giving us a strategic advantage over our competitors by being more flexible with our standard lending criteria. We have also used MARS data within our product design framework, which helped launch a new loan product at the start of the year.”
“With the ongoing cost of living challenges, and impending changes to the benefit system the demand for credit is not diminishing. Understanding the personal circumstances is becoming even more important to manage credit risk.”
Andrew Gething, managing director of MorganAsh, adds:
“We have always believed that the more information you have on a consumer, the more you understand them – and therefore then the better the chances of matching financial products to their needs. This more accurate matching then leads to happier customers and, over time, increased trust, loyalty and commercial benefits. It is great to see Match the Cash Limited experience these commercial benefits so quickly, as well as helping those who they could not previously loan to.”
Rob Johnson, senior business development manager of Policy in Practice, said:
“Due to a lack of awareness there are a huge number of consumers who are not claiming the benefits to which they are entitled; the consumer vulnerability assessment is a great way to trigger a check on their benefits entitlement. Using software such as MARS makes incorporating an income maximisation check into a customer vulnerability assessment easy for firms to adopt.”
To find out more about MARS or access a free trial, visit: morganash.com/mars or phone: 0330 159 8162.
