Q&A with surya Pochareddy, EVP and GM of CreditBuilderIQ at IDIQ. Surya Pochareddy, IDIQ executive vice president, strategy and general manager, credit services products, is responsible for spearheading company mergers and acquisitions, strategy, and overseeing credit products growth with a focus on the credit management platform CreditBuilderIQ. Pochareddy was previously a member of the financials investment banking team at UBS, executing on M&A and capital raising projects for leading financial technology, insurance, and bank clients. Prior to IDIQ, he was a private equity investor with Corsair, an investment firm focused on financial and business services companies across North America and Europe. What inspired IDIQ to develop CreditBuilderIQ, and how did your experience in strategy and M&A inform the vision for this product? We had served millions of consumers, thousands of partners and saw two things. Consumers needed more than credit information. They needed clear tools and action plans. And lenders needed deeper engagement with credit-challenged applicants. With our data, infrastructure, and partnerships, we were uniquely positioned to bridge both needs. The strategy and M&A background helped size the market, spot gaps, and shape a unified, easy-to-use credit-building product. With rising consumer debt and tightening credit availability, how do you see CreditBuilderIQ filling a gap in the existing credit-building market? We're at peak importance for credit vigilance. Subprime consumers pay thousands more a year in fees and interest, and lenders are missing out on serving great consumers. CreditBuilderIQ gives everyone a structured way to optimize credit profiles and unlock better loans. What makes CreditBuilderIQ unique compared to other credit-building or credit-monitoring platforms? How do its AI-driven tools give consumers an advantage? We go beyond monitoring by giving consumers real, actionable credit-building steps. Our platform is comprehensive - action plans, inaccuracy reviews, rent and utility payment reporting, all-in-one - tied together with AI-driven analysis that guides users at every stage. Evp & gm. Rent and utility payment reporting seem to be major features of CreditBuilderIQ. How does this work in practice, and how do you see it helping individuals with thin credit files? Less than 10% of consumers get credit for on-time rent and utility payments. We fix that. Users link their accounts, we verify the data, and report up to two years of history to the bureaus. Within about 45 days, these payments appear as new tradelines, up to five, giving thin-file consumers meaningful credit depth without new loans. Looking ahead, what innovations or new features are on the roadmap for CreditBuilderIQ, and where do you see the product expanding in the future? A lot's coming that we're excited about. We're adding scenario-specific tools, from installment tradelines to better tackling of collections. We're also simplifying access to features and expanding partner-focused capabilities that keep consumers engaged with lenders and financial institutions. What guiding principles shape your leadership style when overseeing fast-growing product lines? Stay deeply in-tune with consumer and partner goals, communicate clearly, and ensure each team member has strong ownership. From your vantage point in fintech and financial services, what major consumer credit trends are you watching most closely, and how do they influence your strategy? Alternative data is accelerating, from rent, utilities, cash-flow, to BNPL. We're focused on data that feeds core credit files today, and we'll evolve as scoring models adopt new data types, so consumers stay credit-ready under any system. What motivates you about developing tools that help consumers improve their financial health and credit standing? The impact. Hearing from consumers who rebuilt credit after a divorce or secured life-changing business funding makes the work meaningful. Knowing that the hours we spent pairing strong analytics with intuitive UX, and seeing it change lives, is incredibly rewarding. Having worked across global financial markets, how does your experience shape your perspective on the future of credit access in the U.S.? What role do you see IDIQ and CreditBuilderIQ playing in that future? The U.S. credit system is a backbone of economic opportunity, unlike any in the world. By giving consumers clearer insight, adding richer data like rent and utilities, and supporting lenders with better-prepared applicants, we help keep that system accessible and efficient. As long as credit enables Americans to buy homes, start businesses, and bridge financial gaps, we'll be there to strengthen that path.

IDIQ partners with NCRA to transform rent payments into credit building for millions of renters.