Our analysis covers 291,050 members who opened a Grow account between 2022 and 2024, each linked to their credit file, providing 1.6 million credit observations in total. Members who opened more than one Grow account are counted once, from the first Grow account they opened. We excluded members who closed Grow within the 14-day cooling-off period, as well as the 0.3% for whom no matching credit file was available.
Each member’s credit file was observed at sign-up and at 6, 12, 18 and 24 months afterwards. All members are observed for at least 12 months. The 172,741 members who joined early enough to be observed for the full 24 months are predominantly 2022 and 2023 sign-ups. Changes in credit scores, risk bands and account holding compare the same members at the start and end of each period. Credit files are updated for all members regardless of whether they remain with Loqbox, so inclusion in the two-year results reflects when a member joined rather than whether they stayed. Where a credit file did not record a value, that value was excluded rather than estimated.
Members were grouped according to their credit profile at sign-up. Thin file, or new to credit, refers to members with two or fewer open credit accounts. Adverse refers to members with a missed credit card payment in the preceding 12 months, a defaulted account, or a current bankruptcy or insolvency. All other members are classed as mainstream. Members who meet both the thin file and adverse criteria are classed as thin file.
Members described as paying Loqbox every month made at least 12 monthly Grow payments, or 24 for the two-year results. Members described as not missing payments elsewhere had no missed payments recorded on any other credit account over the same period. These groups overlap. Members who meet the two-year criteria are also included in the one-year group, and all members are included in the figures reported for the full cohort.
Credit scores are grouped into five risk bands, from sub-prime to super prime. Score changes are the average of each member’s individual change since sign-up. Results are unweighted and no outliers were removed. Given the size of the groups, each headline average is accurate to within 1.6 points at a 95% confidence level. Credit card arrears are measured as the proportion of cardholders whose worst-performing card is behind on payments, where one missed payment corresponds to 30 or more days overdue. Balances and credit limits are reported as averages per card.
Working with our partners, we compared these outcomes with a control group of more than 300,000 comparable individuals who had not used Loqbox.
These findings are based on observational data. They show how outcomes differed between members who behaved differently, but they do not establish that Loqbox caused those outcomes. Members who make every payment may differ from those who do not in ways that credit file data does not capture. As the two-year results are drawn mainly from 2022 and 2023 sign-ups, they may not reflect the experience of members who joined later.
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