Credit Sesame acquires fintech software company Zingo as it expands capabilities

Credit Sesame, a credit monitoring and personal finance management platform, announced that it acquired Zingo, a software firm whose toolset allows its customers to boost their credit scores by adding rent payments. The news comes as Credit Sesame raised $51M to support the rollout of AI-driven services that it says will expand access to credit and free banking services.

Why should we care?
Credit Sesame’s data-driven personal finance toolset and financial product recommendation engine will likely add new capabilities as it incorporates Zingo’s tech stack. Credit Sesame, in recent years, has expanded beyond credit monitoring and product recommendations to a product ecosystem of its own, amplified by Sesame Cash, a digital banking service it launched last year. Sesame Cash aims to minimize customer fees and help customers build credit. In June of last year, the company acquired Canadian challenger bank Stack to boost its digital banking chops. The company also uses data to connect customers to loans. Credit Sesame says it will use Zingo’s technology to enhance access to financial services for renters who are either thin-credit-file consumers or don’t have good credit scores. “Leveraging Zingo's intelligent data platform, Credit Sesame will collect, verify, and report rental payments to the credit bureaus to help consumers establish credit and improve their credit profiles based on their consistent payment history,” the company said in a statement.