Fronted, 11:FS and Credit Kudos create 'Covid Credit' for self-employed

Fronted, 11:FS and Credit Kudos create ‘Covid Credit’ for self-employed

Written by Ruby Hinchliffe
24th March 2020

Fronted, a rental services fintech, along with fellow UK-based consultancy 11:FS and credit decisioning platform Credit Kudos, have created a platform called ‘Covid Credit’ to help the self-employed get access to further income relief amid the coronavirus.

Covid Credit uses open banking data to help the self-employed get income relief

Currently the five million self-employed workers in Britain can only claim Universal Credit or statutory sick pay at a rate of £94 per week, whilst the rest of the country’s workers will benefit from 80% of their salary being paid by the government with a cap of £2,500 per month.

Various MPs and industry groups have called for UK’s Chancellor Rushi Sunak to do more to help the self-employed. It is understood Sunak is working on a fresh coronavirus economic bailout to address these concerns, set to be released sometime this week.

In the meantime, as uncertainty continues for this portion of the UK’s population amid a worsening virus outbreak, Fronted’s co-founder, Jamie Campbell, spearheaded a fast turnaround project which began on Friday and went live with a sign-up list on Sunday.

Covid Credit uses open banking data to help the self-employed prove that their incomes have been impacted by the coronavirus. The platform can generate a self-certification of income loss which can be sent to HM Revenue & Customs.

A total of 300 self-employed workers have now registered for Covid Credit according to Campbell who posted an update on the contributors’ progress on Monday.

Campbell also revealed that the team were attempting to speak with the government on Monday afternoon, in a bid to legitimise the platform so self-employed workers can start using it.

Depending on Sunak’s planned package for sole traders, the platform could change or adapt to fit in with new income relief options for this bracket of the population.

Whatever the outcome, Covid Credit is one of the first examples of UK fintechs coming together and developing a new service in a matter of days to immediately tackle the ripple effects that the virus is leaving behind in country’s economy.