LoanMe, Liberty Tax Merger to Take on Intuit, Enova

NextPoint Financial will combine LoanMe’s business, consumer, and mortgage lending with Liberty Tax’s tax preparation business, according to merger announced on Monday. Liberty’s “2,700+ locations in the US and Canada” will become consumer and SMB loan shops.

The new firm will also offer Merchant Cash Advances; LoanMe launched MCA funding in January and expects to fund $15 million in MCAs in 2021. Based on the acquisition prospectus, NextPoint will be a tax readiness firm, with the added suite of financial products as a value and growth builder.

Ramping up consumer, installment, and MCA lending, paired with the third-largest tax-prep business in the U.S, NextPoint expects to compete directly with Intuit, H&R Block, Enova, and Elevate.

Fintech firms are setting themselves apart from the competition as one-stop shops for everything a business needs, including MCA products. Why branch into financial services now? NextPoint found that this year alt lenders have outperformed the S&P500 three times over.

“We are a one-stop financial services destination empowering hardworking and credit-challenged consumers and small businesses,” the investor presentation reads. “To get to the next point in their financial futures.”

Intuit offers a variety of financial products, like business loans through Quickbooks Capital, alongside their popular, 60%+ market share of tax prep software. H&R began offering small $1,000 lines of credit this year, but not much more.

The team leading the new company, NextPoint Financial, will feature execs like Brent Turner as CEO, Mike Piper CFO, both keeping their previous Liberty Tax positions. Jonathan Williams, former president and founding shareholder of LoanMe, will become president of lending.

Kevin Travers was a Reporter at deBanked.