Yonder

Yonder is a London-based credit card built for young professionals overlooked by traditional credit scoring. Co-founded in 2021 by Tim Chong, Theso Jivajirajah and Harry Jell — three ClearScore alumni — the company targets the roughly five million UK adults classified as "credit invisible" because they lack a thick UK credit file, including expats and recent graduates. Yonder uses Open Banking transaction data instead of conventional credit checks to assess applicants, and secured FCA authorisation within nine months of forming.

The product centres on a rewards programme tied to independent restaurants, bars, gyms and cultural venues rather than airline miles or cashback. Members redeem points across rotating partners that have included Kricket, Lina Stores, BAO and The Gladwin Brothers, and a separate Yonder Flights product launched in mid-2024 lets points be redeemed against any airline. The card carries no FX fees abroad and includes travel insurance.

Backers include Northzone, LocalGlobe, RTP Global, Seedcamp and angels Sharmadean Reid and Rio Ferdinand. After a £20m seed in 2022 and a £62.5m Series A in 2023 — the largest UK consumer fintech round of that quarter — Yonder closed a further £23.4m in late 2024 at a £100m+ valuation.