This is the story of a firm that started as a lender and evolved into a tech company helping businesses and finance companies evaluate both the character and identity of customers using alternative data.

For decades credit has been based on credit history, but how do you lend to those without credit history? Social credit scoring rises as an answer.

In this report Celent analyzes Lenddo, which is one of the world's first online platforms helping the emerging middle class use their social connections to build their creditworthiness. Lenddo also moved on to help businesses and finance companies evaluate both the character and identity of customers using alternative data.

“In times where financial inclusion has become the objective of public and private sectors worldwide, nontraditional data scoring becomes a powerful tool while addressing some of the risks of lending,” says Juan Mazzini, a senior analyst with Celent’s Banking practice and author of the report. “Furthermore, it constitutes a new assessment tool in a digital world, beyond banking and into any other business where trustworthiness is a variable to consider.”