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June 1st 2020

#CelebrateImmigrants with Nova Credit this June and beyond

As the United States celebrates Immigrant Heritage Month this June, we’re recognizing the many ways immigrants contribute to America’s economy and society and re-affirming our commitment to advocate on behalf of our immigrant employees and customers;

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Nicky Goulimis

Nova Credit’s mission is to inspire and facilitate the flow of human diversity. Since our founding in 2016, we have embraced diversity in all its forms from people to product to thought. As the United States celebrates Immigrant Heritage Month this June, we’re recognizing the many ways immigrants contribute to America’s economy and society while re-affirming our commitment to advocate on behalf of our immigrant employees and customers. Personally, as a British-Greek immigrant to the United States, I am proud to live and work in such a dynamic, diverse country. 

How Nova Credit builds a word beyond borders 

As we build products, Nova Credit approaches our engineering and design with inclusion in mind. Lack of a domestic credit history keeps millions of immigrants in the United States from realizing their dreams. Nova Credit’s core product—the Credit Passport®—enables newcomers to apply for products and services in the U.S. using their foreign credit history. This not only helps lenders make more informed decisions but also improves the financial inclusion for a population that is critical to the future of the United States. 

From a credit risk perspective, people’s behaviors don’t fundamentally change when they move. If a newcomer was likely to pay on time in their prior country of residence, they are likely to pay on time in the U.S. We’re proud to have built a product that brings us one step closer to improving the integration of the millions of people who come to this country each year to contribute to our vibrant economy and society. 

A team of global citizens 

Beyond our product, this month we’re also celebrating our diverse team. Seventy-one percent of our workforce is composed of immigrants to the U.S., with 41% identifying as first-generation, nearly all of whom speak English as a second language. Whether from the Dominican Republic or Kazakhstan, the Philippines or Guatemala, the new knowledge, traditions, perspective (and great cuisine!) that each of these Novans brings to our company makes us stronger each day.  We recently launched a new employee resource group, Immigrants@Nova, to give Novans a space to connect over their shared experiences. 

Supporting our community 

This year, Nova Credit has taken a stand to protect all immigrants at a time when many across the country face visa uncertainty in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. We believe that people shouldn’t be scared about their safety, health, livelihoods, or whether they are even welcome in the United States at a time when we need their support to rebuild our economy. We held a webinar in partnership with Bridge Immigration, ImmiPartner, and Clark Hill in March and heard the struggles of many immigrants facing uncertainty during COVID firsthand, and decided to take action.

With the support of 220+ business leaders, we asked Congress to intercede on their behalf and extend looming deadlines to use these burdens. And they heard us and the other similar advocacy initiatives echoing our ask in the HEROES Act that passed the House of Representatives in May. We continue to press forward on this campaign as the vote now goes to the Senate.

Beyond that, we have actively advocated on behalf of DACA recipients by signing the Home is Here Statement and pledging to support the Coalition for the American Dream. We care deeply about the Dreamers who work at Nova Credit and fully support them. These young people represent the future of the United States as well as the diversity at the core of this country’s DNA. 

This Immigrant Heritage Month, we pledge to continue all of these initiatives and more. Please follow us on social media to learn more about how immigrants contribute to the fabric of the United States and find out how you can support our continued advocacy efforts to support fair, commonsense immigration. And if you're moving to the U.S., check out our Newcomer's Guide to Arrive and Thrive.

Check out our programming at Money20/20: meet with our executives, attend our session on "Open Banking and the Future of the Credit Card", and join our Breakfast & Learn.