When I moved to the UK, I have applied the bank account and some credit-related services. When I applied to these services, I would be asked to fill in the application form. When filling in this kind of the application form online, I typically see the following questions in the application form.
| Full Name |
| Date of Birth |
| Employment Status and Income |
| Last 3 years address (including Overseas), including move-in date |
After I filled all of the required field and pressed the submit button, I can typically within 30 seconds to know the applications results. If the application is successful, I can use that service immediately(Apart from my First Bank Account). This experience is totally different from when I was living in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, applying to the similar services is not that efficient. Typically I would hear the response for the applications within 1 to 2 days.
The UK style is smoother. That’s why it gives me a fresh experience. It is because of the best utilization of the technology. In the UK, there are 3 Credit Referencing Agencies(CRAs), all of which stores the Credit Report of every single person. A Credit Report shows the payment history on different credit accounts of every single person. After submission of the online application, the personal information provided would be submitted to the CRAs(Experian, TransUnion, Equifax) via Application Programming Interface(API) to get the credit history immediately of a specific person, and the Automated Decision Making System would analyze the history and decide whether the application is approved or rejected. All of them are done by computer.
Apart from the efficient system, getting a mobile phone plan is also a fresh experience. When getting a pay monthly phone plan in Hong Kong, I haven’t been subjected to any credit check. What I need to do is to approach a staff in a relevant network provider shop to choose a plan, then the staff would verify my identity and give me a contract to sign. However, when I am applying to a Pay Monthly Plan in the UK, the style of the application is very similar to the application of the credit. I am subjected to Hard Credit Check and the plan would appears as the Credit Account in the Credit Report if I get the plan successfully. It is because pay monthly mobile plan is a contract, which also means the money is paid after use, therefore it is a form of a credit.
In a conclusion, this gives me a very good experience when I am applying the credit related services in the UK. The high efficiency of the approval system gives me a very good user experience. I hope that the high efficiency of the application approval not only can be used in the financial services, but also in other sectors. It is very possible because of the AI.
One more thing to add: The credit history in the UK is important than you think. When you have a bad history, you would face a barrier when applying to a new credit-related services. Therefore, please keep a good credit habits. Do not miss any required payments. Keeping good spending habits is also important.