Match The Cash
How Match the Cash used Consumer Duty compliance as a jumping-off point for commercial growth, with improved lending decisions helping to launch a new credit product.
Under the brands Guarantor My Loan and Share My Loan, Match The Cash provides affordable guarantor loans to UK borrowers. Founded in Norwich in 2014, Guarantor My Loan is one of the more innovative and popular guarantor loan providers in the market. The firm typically enables people to borrow between £1,000 and £12,000 over five years.
Regulatory pressure and lost business
Like many firms, Match The Cash faced increased regulatory pressure under Consumer Duty. It needed to identify its vulnerable customers, evidence compliance across the FCA’s four outcomes, avoid potentially suitable applicants being ‘auto declined’ – without adding unnecessary friction to the onboarding journey.
“Adopting MARS has been a big win. We’re helping people we couldn’t previously loan to, gaining strategic advantage through enhanced insight, and using the data to design new products. The service and system are working well, and capturing evidence such as this that we are accounting for the needs of our customers is fantastic!”
Adopting MARS
In 2024, Match The Cash engaged with MorganAsh, to integrate MARS into its onboarding and lending processes. Match The Cash already used lending data and open banking information, but found these sources were limited, as they could only identify financial vulnerabilities. Like many firms, they had difficulty identifying many other characteristics of vulnerability, and were aware that reliance on financial data sources meant that they likely declined many applicants who may well have been suitable.
Controlled pilot programme
Match The Cash introduced MARS using a controlled pilot programme, which exceed expectations. Assessments were completed quickly and completion rates were high, onboarding speed was not affected and customers were positive about the process.
Most importantly, MARS provided vulnerability data – including health and lifestyle – which was previously unavailable to Match The Cash. The pay-off from this was significant, resulting in fewer applicants being declined and higher approvals from people who were previously borderline applicants. By leveraging more nuanced learning criteria, Match The Cash could offer loans to more people, with better managed risk.
More data leads to new business, products and support
This also acted as a springboard for Match The Cash to launch a new demographic-specific loan product, benefitting customers and the lender alike.
For those who did not qualify for a loan, Match The Cash could offer support, as referrals and next steps – such as using Policy In Practice’s Better Off Calculator, to help people to identify any unclaimed benefits – helping people to address short-term financial issues without borrowing. By definition, most customers approaching Match The Cash are in some way vulnerable or at risk, and the firm was keen to ensure that not only did they make things worse, they could strive to always make things better.
Virtuous feedback cycle
During the pilot, Match The Cash provided extensive feedback to MorganAsh, enabling MARS to be customised to better suit the firm’s needs. Some of this feedback went into MorganAsh’s product review cycles, and was added into the core product.
“Match The Cash was amazing throughout the entire process. He took my medical and mental health needs into account when talking to me – and made a stressful situation beyond easy!”
Full adopted solution
MARS is now an integrated part of the customer journey, with assessments embedded into every case. To make things even more efficient, Match The Cash now uses MARS as an embedded part of its own systems, using the MARS API (application programming interface). This has enabled Match The Cash to further customise reporting, to match the firm’s specific needs.
Chris Markland, compliance manager at Match The Cash, says that aligning with Consumer Duty isn’t all about compliance. “Compliance is important,” says Chris, “but it’s more about being a better business. We have significantly more data and can make better decisions. Yes, we’re now highly compliant, and our compliance hasn’t created extra friction, but we’ve also opened up commercial opportunities. We invited the FCA to undertake a detailed inspection – not just of our systems, but the whole business. The visit was successful – and the inspectors seemed to like what we are doing with system and data, including MARS.”
“You are really giving a helping hand. Keep it up.”
