Raising the profile of Creditspring as a responsible lender
Creditspring has created a new form of lending to support borrowers through a Netflix-style subscription finance model that offers access to no-interest loans with clear repayment terms, fixed total costs and no hidden charges, fees, confusing interest rates or risk of debt spirals.
The lender focuses on unlocking access to affordable borrowing for a significant portion of the UK population which often faces limited options when seeking credit. Research shows that there are up to 15 million ‘near-prime’ borrowers in the UK who may be excluded from mainstream credit and at risk of falling victim to unscrupulous or unregulated lenders.
Seven worked with Creditspring for over three years, supporting them to evolve from a relatively unknown player in the credit market, with limited awareness among both borrowers and media, into being a well-known, trusted voice across national media. As the business continued to grow it became recognised for its pioneering model winning a spot on The Sunday Times 100 Tech list; and being named in the Sifted 100 UK & Ireland, which recognises the fastest growing European start-ups, attests to this.
Through engaging with relevant industry stakeholders, we built advocacy for Creditspring’s solutions – raising its profile as a responsible lender and combatting the negative connotations that are often associated with credit lenders.
Our Brief
Initially, our goal was to introduce Creditspring to a sceptical media landscape, where credit providers are often met with mistrust. PR activity also aimed to raise Creditspring’s profile among potential customers, as member acquisition was a key focus.
Our brief shifted as Creditspring grew. While we continued to support on building and maintaining a profile with borrowers, we also focused increasingly on engaging industry audiences and potential investors, to align with Creditspring’s evolving business objectives and successes.
Our Approach
Tasked with building Creditspring’s presence in the industry, as well as helping to define and raise awareness of a new lending category, Seven took a three-pronged PR approach.
Consumer-focused media outreach
We started by focusing on targeting consumers via media, largely through the launch and development of a flagship piece of research which Seven created: the Financial Stability Tracker. This became the annual centrepiece of PR activity, with national journalists anticipating its release each year.
Taking a snapshot of the nation’s finances and focusing directly on consumer issues to appeal to national, consumer, trade publications and prospective Creditspring members helped to create a bank of owned data that could be used for longer-term content and a number of new angles for media each year, informing timely releases and opinion pieces.
This work was supplemented by further media activity, such as figures from FOIs on the Household Support Fund, as well as continued reactive commentary. Each tracker launch was marked by media breakfasts with key journalists and stakeholders, allowing for in-depth discussion and findings, and providing the opportunity to build stronger relationships with the press.
Advocacy through partnerships
We also developed strategic partnerships to increase brand credibility and build advocacy. By aligning with well-respected organisations, we not only raised Creditspring’s profile among prospective members but also engaged industry stakeholders to ensure that they were advocates of the brand if approached by media.
This included working with policymakers, charities, and think tanks to highlight the need for more short-term credit solutions, resulting in collaborations with debt charity StepChange, for example. Hosting launch events with partners like StepChange and consumer champion Martyn James helped position Creditspring as a brand firmly on the side of the consumer.
Other key stakeholders that are actively engaged with Creditspring’s work include Responsible Finance, Fair4AllFinance, Debt Camel and Money Saving Expert.
Regular media breakfasts and industry roundtables became key platforms for Creditspring’s spokespeople to deepen relationships with journalists, industry experts, and stakeholders and demonstrate the impact of its solution. This investment in relationship-building kept the brand top-of-mind for commentary on credit and lending issues.
Corporate profiling
Another key strand to our strategy was highlighting the widespread demand and market need for more affordable credit solutions alongside demonstrating the lender’s continued growth. As the business scaled, Seven developed a series of tactics to engage industry, fintech and investor audiences.
This included announcing successful fundraising rounds and business milestones whilst also prioritising corporate profile raising activity to highlight the expertise and insights of Creditspring’s senior leadership team, including speaking slots, events and award submissions.
Over time, Creditspring has become one of the most prominent short-term lenders featured in media, with a high share of voice compared to competitors and a trusted source of industry research and insight.
The Results
This multi-layered strategic approach was vital in securing regular coverage in priority and influential media titles including The Telegraph, The Times, This is Money, BBC, Daily Express, Daily Mail, The i, Good Housekeeping, Which?, GB News, Big Issue and Sky News. Coverage highlights include:
Credit card spending research: in May 2022 we launched the first Financial Stability Tracker with a story focused on record reliance on credit card debt. This received a huge amount of coverage including The Express, Mail on Sunday, This is Money, Mirror, Daily Record, Independent – as well as dozens of regional and trade pieces.
Household Support Fund research: we carried out additional research to supplement data from the Financial Stability Tracker, sourcing stats from councils across England to calculate an outstanding figure that remained unclaimed by vulnerable people and showcasing Creditspring as a responsible business, looking to support their members. This was repeated over several years and covered by priority targets including The Sun, Mirror, Daily Express and This is Money numerous times.
Stakeholder roundtables: stakeholder events arranged by Seven were key to helping Creditspring become a more trusted brand. Commissioning the editor of Money Mail to chair one of these discussions was also crucial to securing coverage in the publication. Beyond coverage, these events improved relationships with charities and other stakeholders. This is especially the case for StepChange, who have continued to support Creditspring in other media relations activity e.g. providing quotes for releases and cohosting events, thereby aligning the Creditspring brand with the leading consumer debt charity.
The amount of coverage and reach grew with each year. Overall, we secured 980 pieces of coverage from 2021 – 2025, with a reach of 3.82 billion. The total estimated number of views is 27.6 million, with an online readership of 3.39 billion, a print circulation of 255 million, and 143 million radio listenership.
Maintaining this high level, drumbeat of activity and coverage meant we witnessed a distinct increase in the number of inbound enquiries from Tier One media over time, with spokespeople consistently approached for comment alongside key industry stakeholders and bigger brand names.