Archive for 2018
Ingo Money QuickConnect Allows for Push-to-Card Payments
December 14, 2018Yesterday, Ingo Money announced the launch of Ingo Money QuickConnect, a new solution that allows companies that issue payments – including loans – to disperse funds directly to a merchant’s debit card. Ingo Money has partnered with Visa Direct to facilitate these direct payments.
This is the official announcement for a product that has been in the works for over a year. OnDeck announced its partnership with Ingo Money last October, but didn’t start using it until it was ready earlier this year, according to an OnDeck spokesperson. So far, OnDeck only uses the Ingo Money QuickConnect service to provide same-day disbursements to their line of credit customers. The spokesperson said they have seen great demand among customers for receiving money instantly.
“Ingo Money QuickConnect allowed us to get to market faster than we ever believed possible and with minimal time, cost and hassle,” said Sam Verrill, OnDeck’s Director of Product Management. “The solution has thoughtfully solved for all the pain points and hurdles to deploying a new payment solution, making it quick and easy to begin delighting customers and cutting costs with digital real time disbursements.”
Chief Product Officer for Ingo Money Lisa McFarland told deBanked that OnDeck was their first client in the lending category, and that they now have a few other lending clients, but declined to mentioned which.
“What’s exciting about Ingo Money QuickConnect is that customers can access money the minute they need it,” McFarland said. “At night, on weekends and holidays.”
The Ingo Money QuickConnect solution is also being used in other ways, including insurance companies paying claims and child support payments where the government is an intermediary. Use in payment of airlines vouchers to customers and by the IRS to people who are owed money are also being considered, according to McFarland.
“We’ve heard time and again from customers that they need to deploy a push-to-card payment solution but are intimidated by the time and effort required,” said Ingo Money CEO Drew Edwards. “Ingo Money QuickConnect removes the burden and allows a company to almost immediately begin offering real-time payments through Visa Direct, while retaining the ability to easily expand the solution later to include payments to online wallets like PayPal and Amazon or even cash out Moneygram locations.”
The Funder: From Office of One to Eighteen in Under a Year
December 13, 2018Not even a full year in business, Velocity Capital Group announced that it has secured $15 million in financing; $5 million in a series A, plus a $10 million line of credit. The entire investment comes from a family hedge fund in California, according to Jay Avigdor, Velocity’s President and CEO. Twenty-six year old Avigdor started the company out of his home in February and now employs 18 people in an office in Cedarhurst, Long Island.
Avigdor told deBanked that he started Velocity earlier this year with $50,000 of his savings, having spent nearly five years working for Pearl Capital. Already, he said that Velocity, which finances MCA deals, has funded over $20 million. Avigdor said he started at Pearl shortly after finishing college when he was about 19. (He said he graduated early thanks to credits he used from studying abroad and because he started college at 16). At Pearl, Avigdor said he wanted to get on the phones immediately. But with only two days of training, they wouldn’t let him.
“I thought ‘screw it,’” he recalled. “I only had $16.25 to my name and I wanted [the opportunity] to make money.”
So he said he found an old yellow pages phone book, brought it to the office with his phone charger and just started making calls from his own phone. Shortly thereafter, from his own cold calling, he said he closed a $250,000 MCA deal with an auto dealer in California.
“When I went back to the office the following day, they had two computers set up for me,” Avigdor said.
While Velocity funds a variety of businesses, Avigdor said they most commonly fund medical, technology and construction companies.
Avigdor said that while Velocity uses technology for efficiency, they also have a personal touch. For instance, he said they use an automated onboarding process for brokers, yet the actual underwriting and funding calls with merchants are done on the phone. At least that’s the way it works now.
“We crawl before we walk before we run,” Avigdor said.
He said that they give 10% of the net of proceeds on each file to a charity, which changes each month. Currently, it’s The Wounded Warriors.
Avigdor said tries to follow the advice of a rich, wise man he knows, who told him: “You won’t be remembered for how much gold you had, but for how many gold bars you’ve given away.”
Defunct MCA Company Tried to Escape Signed Confession of Judgment
December 13, 2018When a Florida-based merchant cash advance company, World Global Financing (WGF), declared bankruptcy this past May, it entered into a binding settlement agreement with its largest creditor, a hedge fund known as Eaglewood.
There was a caveat.
Eaglewood required that WGF sign a Confession of Judgment (COJ) as part of the agreement that would afford Eaglewood the right to file and obtain a judgment without further litigation if WGF breached the settlement. On August 3, that’s exactly what happened. After WGF failed to make the stipulated payments to Eaglewood, the COJ was filed in the New York Supreme Court so as to obtain a nearly $6 million judgment against WGF and company founder Cyril Eskenazi.
While it can be virtually impossible to invalidate a COJ, the courthouse Clerk nonetheless refused to enter it because of alleged technical defects, one of which involved WGF’s use of an out-of-state notary to witness a New York State affidavit.
“The alleged Affidavit of Confession of Judgment upon which Eaglewood’s request for a Judgment by Confession stands like a house of cards is no affidavit at all under New York law, and cannot be used in a New York litigation,” WGF’s attorney argued.
The absurdity of the argument was not lost on Eaglewood because the notary WGF challenged on technical grounds was the notary that WGF and its counsel had themselves chosen and approved. Eaglewood called the charade of contesting the validity of one’s own affidavit signed in the presence of counsel, utterly frivolous and a fraud upon the Court.
Defects or not, the judge concurred with Eaglewood because WGF had irrevocably and unconditionally agreed to the entry of judgment if they breached the settlement agreement in the first place, which they did, rendering the alleged technical errors with the COJ itself a moot point.
The COJ was therefore deemed valid and the judge ordered the Clerk to enter the judgment.
On Nov 29, a judgment for $5,866,477 was entered against WGF and Eskenazi. The index # is 651489/2018 in the New York Supreme Court.
Subprime Lending to Increase in 2019
December 12, 2018Subprime loans are expected to increase in 2019, according to data from TransUnion. The data from a November 2018 report shows that Outstanding Unsecured US Personal Loan Balances have been increasing since 2013, and the increase was most dramatic from 2017 to 2018, jumping 18% from Q3 2017 to $132.4 billion in Q3 2018. The TransUnion data was also presented in a graph in a Quartz story today. According to a TransUnion projection, the total of unsecured personal US loan debt will grow by 20% next year, to roughly $156 billion in Q3 2019.
The last three months of 2018 will be one of the biggest quarters ever for consumer loan origination, according to Jason Laky, TransUnion’s consumer-lending business lead.
“A lot of it is being driven by non-prime and subprime originations,” Laky said.
At the Money 20/20 Conference in October, David Kimball and Ken Rees, the respective CEOs of Prosper and Elevate, were asked if they were concerned about a potential recession. Kimball said that Prosper, which provides loans to prime customers, has begun underwriting more conservatively. Meanwhile, Rees said that Elevate, which serves subprime customers, isn’t very concerned.
“Our customers are always living in a recession, so they know how to work with it,” Rees said.
The Quartz story predicts that payday lending, which competes with online subprime lenders, will also increase given that the CFPB has stopped aggressively trying to curtail these storefront businesses.
“The CFPB leadership changed and made very clear statements to the market that they’re going to have a lighter touch on regulations, especially subprime regulation,” Laky said.
Velocity Capital Group (VCG) Secures $15 Million Series A Financing
December 11, 2018CEDARHURST, NEW YORK—DECEMBER 10,2018–Velocity Capital Group recently secured another $15 million in financing. This will strengthen their ability to provide assistance to more small businesses and organizations. While the name might be new to some, Velocity Capital Group is no stranger to the business world. Servicing small businesses for over 7 years, there have been more than 15,000 clients who’ve received the financial boost they needed due to the available funding from VCG.
CEO/Principle Jay Avigdor couldn’t be happier to reach this point. Jay started the business in a small room of his home with only a laptop, and in just a short period of time has transformed VCG into a large and highly respected financial group that services organizations with speed and dedication. With an aim to merge the finance industry with technology, VCG aims to leave funding at your fingertips. To date, VCG is making strides as one of the fastest growing finance companies in the industry.
When businesses have financial demands, their situation is urgent and must be addressed immediately. Going through a lengthy process that could end up in a loss would be a waste of time, but with Velocity Capital Group, the relationship is taken seriously from the onset. With a staff of over 20 employees, VCG strives to get you what you need when you need it. A few of the industries that Velocity takes pride in assisting include:
- Accounting & Collection Agencies
- Construction, Machinery, Mechanics, & Manufacturing
- Electronic & Media/Entertainment
- Healthcare Services & Rehab Center
- Religious Organizations
- Restaurants & Retail
- Technology & Wireless
- AND MORE!
The $15 million funding access will help VCG build solid foundations and partnerships. With Velocity’s breakdown of available funding ($5mil in series A round & a $10 million line of credit), they’re able to provide more funding for more businesses. In fact, many customers have already stated that the VCG team is “resourceful” and “always available.” Others have even said that they “love the charity aspect” of Velocity, because they give back to aiding organizations monthly. Their attention and consistency prove that they are more than just the average financial group; they’re family! Winston Churchill said it best: “From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.” Velocity Capital Group takes pride in giving to others so they can ultimately help others make a life.
Companies and small businesses are urged to contact Velocity Capital Group today and see what financial options are available. With urgency and compassion, the knowledgeable staff of Velocity is ready to build your business or brand. The funding is there, the foundation is there; all it takes is one step. That one step can be the greatest decision for success in business.
Velocity Capital Group is ready and able to serve you. For additional information, visit our website at www.velocitycg.com, send an email to info@velocitycg.com, or call 833-VCG-FUND (833-824-3863). We’re also available on social media outlets.
Cross River Bank Raises $100 Million
December 11, 2018Cross River Bank, which provides banking services to fintech companies, announced last week the completion of a funding round of roughly $100 million. This was comprised of a $75 million equity investment from KKR, along with capital from Andreessen Horowitz, Battery Ventures, Rabbit Capital, and funding from new investors CredEase and Lion Tree. This adds to a $28 million raise a little over two years ago.
Cross River, which originated more than $5 billion in loans as of the end of August 2018, has developed partnerships with fintech leaders to build fully compliant and integrated products within the lending marketplace and payment processing spaces. They have about 15 lending platform partners, including fintech clients Affirm, Best Egg, RocketLoans, Coinbase and TransferWise.
According to the announcement, this new capital will be used to allow Cross River to continue building a complete banking platform where fintech companies can leverage best-in-class banking technology coupled with compliance.
“Cross River offers solutions to fintech companies by giving them access to a full suite of banking solutions and services in a single, fully compliant and innovative platform, making it an increasingly attractive and valuable franchise in a dynamic marketplace,” said Dan Pietrzak, Member and Co-Head of Private Credit at KKR, Cross River’s leading investor.
According to its website, Cross River was named “most innovative bank” by LendIt in 2017 and 2018. Founded in 2008, the Fort Lee, NJ, business-oriented bank has more than 180 employees.
Commercial Finance Coalition to Host Open House in NYC
December 11, 2018The Commercial Finance Coalition, an industry trade group, is hosting an open house for current and prospective members on December 18 in New York City. It’s at the Park Avenue Tavern from 6pm to 8pm. If you are interested in attending, please contact Mary Donohue at mdonohue@polariswdc.com.