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ClearScore hits 7m users and announces a revolutionary new service giving people ‘complete picture’ of their financial health

ClearScore today marked its third anniversary by announcing it has exceeded 7m users globally and unveiling ‘OneScore’ – a world-first service that will transform the way consumers view, and take control of, their financial health.
OneScore uses multiple datasets to give people the clearest, most accurate and most complete view of their financial wellbeing ever. It is the first time that people will be able to combine their historical credit report data with the rich data revealed by their current accounts.
Through the UK’s largest Open Banking1 integration (up to 7 million people), a user will be able to see an analysis of their current account spending patterns and behaviour. OneScore also factors in data relating to debt, assets, savings and protection.
This is used to build a complete picture of their financial situation and behaviour, which is presented back to the user through a beautiful interface, based around a flower, with petals representing different aspects of their financial life. Users are given a brand-new, unique financial health score (between 0 and 1000), so they can better understand their complete financial position.
Users can then choose to follow simple recommendations to ensure they enhance their financial wellbeing and hit their financial goals. For example, taking a free personalised financial Coaching programme through ClearScore, or switching to a better mortgage, loan or credit card deal.
The announcement of OneScore follows FCA data2 which showed 24% of UK adults have little or no confidence in managing their money and 26 million people currently show one or more characteristics of potential financial vulnerability.
Justin Basini, CEO and Co-founder of ClearScore, said, “Credit scores are really useful but only reflect a small part of your financial life. Our ambition has always been to go so much further. OneScore brings together your financial past and present in one place to give you the opportunity to create a better financial future. This will be transformative for millions of people, helping them gain control of their money and access credit products more cost effectively.
“People like tracking, but don’t like most trackers. That’s why we’ve applied our fanatical focus on design and user experience to create the most engaging view of your finances ever. Months of testing, with hundreds of users, has produced an easier, calmer, more beautiful experience unlike anything anyone has ever used before. This matters: the more engaged users are, the more likely they are to learn more about their finances, the more in control they feel, the better the decisions they can make.”
Imran Gulamhuseinwala, Trustee of the government’s Open Banking Implementation Entity, said, “I applaud all applications of Open Banking which put the user in control of their data, making it easier to make more of your money. I very much hope the excellent work on OneScore will inspire other FinTechs to also innovate and make Open Banking an industry success.”
OneScore will be available to everyone, for free, from Spring 2019.
ClearScore also announced today:
- 2.4 million ClearScore users have improved their credit score in the first half of 2018 alone.
- 1.5 million users have participated in a ClearScore Coaching programme since its 2017 launch
- ClearScore is launching in India in August, and will launch in Australia later this year, following the success of its South Africa launch, where ClearScore already has more than 500,000 users
- It will hire 150 new staff across the next 12 months, adding to its existing 170-strong team
Basini concludes, “Our vision has always been to help everyone, no matter what their circumstances, achieve greater financial wellbeing. We’re well on our way to achieving that vision and the work we’ve presented today will accelerate our progress still further.”
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Bitcoin, ether hit fresh highs

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Bitcoin hit a fresh high in Asian trading on Saturday, extending a two-month rally that saw its market capitalisation cross $1 trillion a day earlier.
The world’s most popular cryptocurrency rose to an record $56,620, taking its weekly gain to 18%. It has surged more than 92% this year.
Bitcoin’s gains have been fuelled by evidence it is gaining acceptance among mainstream investors and companies, such as Tesla Inc, Mastercard Inc and BNY Mellon.
Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and daily volume, hit a record $2,040.62, for a weekly gain of about 12%.
Ether is the digital currency or token that facilitates transactions on the ethereum blockchain. In the crypto world, the terms ether and ethereum have become interchangeable.
Ether futures contracts launched on derivatives exchange CME earlier this month.
(Reporting by Vidya Ranganathan; Editing by William Mallard)
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World Bank pushing for standard vaccine contracts, more disclosure from makers

By Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The World Bank is working to standardize COVID-19 vaccine contracts that countries are signing with drug makers, and is pushing manufacturers to be more open about where doses are headed, as it races to get more vaccines to poor countries, the bank’s president said on Friday.
World Bank President David Malpass told Reuters he expected the bank’s board to have approved $1.6 billion in vaccine funding for 12 countries, including the Philippines, Bangladesh, Tunisia and Ethiopia, by the end of March, with 30 more to follow shortly thereafter.
The bank is working with local governments to identify and fill gaps in distribution capacity, after they purchase vaccines under a $12 billion World Bank program, and also to standardize the contracts they are signing with manufacturers, he said.
The bank’s International Finance Corp, its private financing arm, has $4 billion to invest in expanding existing production plants or building new ones, including in developed countries, but needs more data on where current production is headed, he said.
“We are eager to be investing in new capacity, but it’s hard to do because you don’t know how much of the existing capacity is already committed to the various off-takers,” Malpass said in an interview with Reuters. New or expanded plants could be used to produce other types of vaccinations in the future, he said.
The bank’s funds could be used to expand plants in advanced economies, if the production was earmarked for developing nations, he said.
Malpass welcomed Friday’s pledge by the Group of Seven rich countries to intensify cooperation on the pandemic, saying it could help jump-start deliveries of vaccines to poorer countries, which are lagging far behind rich countries in getting shots in arms.
Data compiled by Our World In Data, a scientific online publication, showed Israel was leading the world in COVID-19 vaccinations, with nearly 82 of 100 people vaccinated, while India and Bangladesh reported less than one person per 100, Many African countries have not started at all.
Malpass said he was heartened by news about new vaccines coming down the road, and about Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE seeking permission to store their vaccine at higher temperatures, which would ease another obstacle to deliveries in lower-income countries.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Heather Timmons and Leslie Adler)
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Google to evaluate executive performance on diversity, inclusion

By Paresh Dave
(Reuters) – Alphabet Inc’s Google will evaluate the performance of its vice presidents and above on team diversity and inclusion starting this year, the company said on Friday in one of several responses to concerns about its treatment of a Black scientist.
Timnit Gebru, co-leader of Google’s ethical artificial intelligence research team, said in December that Google abruptly fired her after she criticized its diversity efforts and threatened to resign.
Alphabet and Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai ordered a review of the situation. While Google declined to share specific findings, the company announced on Friday it will engage human resources specialists during sensitive employee departures.
Pichai in June said that by 2025, Google aims to have 30% more of its leaders come from underrepresented groups, with a focus on Black, Latinx and Native American leaders in the United States and female technical leaders globally. About 96% of Google’s U.S. leaders at the time were white or Asian, and 73% globally were men.
As a result of the investigation, the company also expanded a commitment announced in June to devote more resources to retaining and promoting existing employees, including by expanding a team addressing disputes among workers and their managers.
The diversity component of executive performance reviews was not previously announced, and the company did not immediately share details about what would be measured and how pay would be affected.
Alphabet for years had rejected proposals from shareholders and employees to set diversity goals and tie executive pay to them.
Irene Knapp, a former Google employee who advocated for one such proposal at a 2018 shareholder meeting, said on Friday, “I am pleased that they met our demand from 2018, which was a bare minimum that should have been easy to do immediately.”
Evaluating managers on diversity goals is becoming more commonplace. McDonald’s Corp on Thursday tied executive bonuses to diversity.
(Reporting by Paresh Dave; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)