Lean Technologies and Tamara Study Exposes ”Data Gap” in Traditional Credit Scoring; Calls for Open Banking Adoption
A joint research paper by Lean Technologies, a leading financial infrastructure provider, and the BNPL giant Tamara, has highlighted a critical flaw in the Middle East’s traditional credit assessment systems. The study identifies a "data gap" caused by an over-reliance on formal salary certificates and historical borrowing records. This legacy approach, the report argues, results in an incomplete view of a customer’s true financial health, leading to conservative credit limits or outright rejections for creditworthy individuals.
The findings reveal that a significant segment of applicants—particularly freelancers, gig workers, and those with commission-based incomes—are being systemically excluded from formal finance. The study advocates for Open Banking as the primary solution, enabling lenders to access real-time cash flow and spending patterns. By shifting from static salary data to dynamic behavioral data, financial institutions can unlock growth opportunities within a rapidly evolving labor market while maintaining robust risk management.