Kevin Travers was a Reporter at deBanked.
Articles by Kevin Travers
States and DC Sue OCC Over True Lender Rule
January 5, 2021
A coalition of eight Attorneys General sued the Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) over its recently finalized “True Lender Rule.” The group, including representatives from New York, California, and New Jersey, filed a complaint that alleges that the OCC’s rule is an attempt to unlawfully circumvent state lending laws.
“Rent-a-bank schemes undermine the civil and criminal usury laws New Jersey has put in place to protect our residents,” said New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs Director Paul R. Rodríguez. “Our laws have kept unscrupulous lenders from gaining a foothold in our state, but this new rule undermines those protections and will make it easier for predatory payday and vehicle title lenders to profit at the expense of New Jersey consumers.”
Under the National Bank Act, banks licensed by the OCC function under extensive oversight but can charge interest rates at the maximum allowed in their “home” state anywhere in the country. The complaint alleges alternative lenders partner with national banks, “renting” their name.
This has been happening for years, but NJ Attorney General Grewal argues that these “Trump-era” policies must be reversed because “many families are struggling economically.”
The final rule from the OCC went into effect on Dec 29. Similar court battles have occurred at the state level, as in Colorado vs. alternative lenders Avant and Marlette and their banking partners. The case was settled.
Lendio Starts Funding Engines, PPP is On The Way
December 30, 2020
President Trump officially signed the economic relief package Sunday night. While the House, President, and Senate can’t agree on the checks individual Americans will get from Uncle Sam, $284 billion for PPP is on the way.
In preparation, Lendio, an online loan marketplace that facilitated $8 billion in PPP funds over the summer, has already opened the application floodgates. But when is the bill landing?
“The SBA has ten days from the time it was signed into law, January sixth, when they have to give guidance,” Lendio CEO Brock Blake said. “Then, they have some time after that they’ll open it up, my guess is that it will likely go live somewhere between the 10th to 15th.”
Firms, start your funding engines; the money is coming in about two weeks. And Blake said that with the demand for capital this high—the funds would go quick.
“My guess is that it will be two to three weeks, maybe a little longer,” Blake said. “One of the reasons it will last a little bit longer is because they reduced the loan maximum size from ten million to two million. As a result, two to three weeks or more like, you know, three or four.”
Lawmakers initiated limits to the high end this time around to halt concerns that “small business” bailout money was going to larger sized firms. That isn’t the only change for what some say could be the final round of government stimulus.
“I like what they’ve done this time around, addressing some of the key issues, first of which allowing borrowers to have a second turn on PPP loans,” Blake said. “This pandemic has lasted longer than anyone expected, and there’s a lot of restrictions on these business owners.”
The first time around, the Fed handed out forgivable funds based on two and a half months of payroll, and that went real quick, Blake said. For a firm to meet the criteria for a second loan, they have to prove they have a 25% reduction in revenue from 2019 to 2020.
Blake said he was excited that the new aid is granting industries especially hard hit, like restaurants and hotels, to get larger loans “three and a half time instead of two and a half times.” Blake’s favorite part of the new program is incentivizing lenders to serve genuine smaller businesses, where last time they were not.
“Last time, so many of the smallest small businesses were at a disadvantage because we all know lenders prioritize the largest loan sizes first,” Blake said. “They left the smallest of small business out.”
Lendio and fintech lenders focused on this underserved market of small businesses last time, Blake said. After advocating on behalf of small borrowers, Blake said there are incentives for lenders to give to the underserved and actually make money.
“Thankfully, in this new PPP program, they created a new incentive package for loans smaller than $50,000,” Blake said. “That makes these smaller loans a priority, instead of put toward the back of the list.”
Here Comes More PPP and Stimulus
December 23, 2020
Congress finally passed a new stimulus bill.
The aid package calls for $600 payments to American adults and $284 billion for the second round of PPP, with some amended rules.
Following its passage, President Trump called the bill “a disgrace” and voiced that individuals should be receiving much more, as much as $2,000 in stimulus. He is refusing to sign it unless changes are made.
“It’s called the Covid relief bill but it has almost nothing to do with Covid,” Trump said.
And yet the passed deal was considered a watershed moment for congressional leaders. After standing in the way of a stimulus of more than $500 billion and refusing to sign a House-passed $3 trillion aid package this summer, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke Monday with a message: help is finally on the way.
“Moments ago, the four leaders of the senate and the house finalized an agreement,” McConnell said. “A package of nearly $900 billion, it is packed with target policies to help struggling Americans who have already waited entirely too long.”
McConnell said that around $500 billion of the package was reused money from stimulus spending allocated earlier this year, that was never used.
The stimulus also extends unemployment benefits for another 11 weeks and adds a $300/week unemployment bonus. .
“It is a strong shot in the arm to help American families weather the storm,” Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said. “For the 20 million people that would lose unemployment benefits the day after Christmas, help is on the way.”
This round of PPP will allow a second forgiven loan to some firms and attempt to curb larger companies’ ability to take more than $2 million. Firms will be eligible for a second share of loans if they can prove a 25% reduction in business from the same quarter in 2019 and other stipulations.
Lawmakers plan to make it easier for nonprofits and local media companies to get funding and are allocating $15 billion for performance venues hit by lockdown restrictions. The stimulus will also give billions toward school aid, protecting renters from evictions, protecting gig workers, internet broadband, funding food access.
“Our purpose has always been to crush the virus,” House majority leader Nancy Policy said. “Put money in the pockets of the American people, which we do in this legislation.”
“Till pandemic do us part” Divorce on rise, Weddings Furloughed
December 22, 2020
For couples who live together, forced “quality time” due to a pandemic has been considered an exciting change in the household’s dynamic, to say the least.
Trouble in paradise? Possibly, as one firm found, the amount of people inquiring about divorce loans has risen 62% in 2020, compared to last year.
If you didn’t know divorce loans were an option in the first place, Loanry, an online loan lead generator, said divorces could cost upwards of $12,000 in states like Delaware and New York, and in California up to $14,236.
Loanry looked through their loan transactions and found that not only were divorce loans higher by 68% in New York and 71% in Florida, but the wedding loan business was in trouble.
2020 has been a record year for marriages ending – and hundreds of thousands of couples being unable to hold a wedding in the first place.
According to Statista, over 2 million weddings occur every year in the US, at an average cost of $30,000. Wedding site The Knot found 93% of planned marriages were rescheduled. Loanry found 11% of planned weddings took out loans.
For those of you at home (most of you), couples are paying back $3.7 billion without even saying, “I do.”
Answering the question no one asked: what is the worst way to start a lifelong journey together?
Loanry has sets of advice to deal with the costs of both weddings and divorces, but the simplest seems to be “don’t do either.”
“Financing a wedding using a loan should be taken very seriously, and we don’t recommend it,” Ethan Taub, founder of Loanry.com, said. “Finding ways to cut costs on your wedding expenses is a far more effective alternative to avoid unnecessary debt yet still enjoy your big day.”
He went on to comment that while divorce in this stressful year is sad, make sure to research the best, most affordable option.
Love of Sales Turned Shy Student into LA Real-Estate YouTube Powerhouse
December 18, 2020
“When the Pandemic first started, a lot of the classes we worked with just canceled, everything went downhill,” Loida Velasquez, an LA-based real estate broker, said. “But starting in June until now— everything turned around. Inventory is so low, and there are so many buyers, most houses are selling in 24 hours. I’ve never seen a market like this before.”
It’s a seller’s market like you can’t believe right now, said Velasquez, and that’s what she specializes in: running a cold-calling, door-knocking real estate firm that jumps on expired listings, revamps properties, and sells them on the open market.
After five years of rapid success, Velasquez has taken her charisma to social media, creating a series of Youtube videos to help other brokers find the success she has in the real estate world.
“When I started my real estate career, I remember trying to find videos of people sharing their experience, but most of them were men: I didn’t find many women,” Velasquez said. “So I told myself, ‘you know what, I’m going to start creating videos to put out my journey so people can see what it’s like not only as a real estate agent but as a younger woman in this business.’ And that’s how my channel started.”
Velasquez has also begun teaching online courses for brokers who need help developing their skills. She offers an all-encompassing approach, including cold calling and knocking on doors, that she said many modern brokers don’t use anymore, even though they never became any less viable.
“I knew that the old school approach of cold calling and door knocking was something that a lot of agents don’t like to do,” she said. “So if I became very good at it, I knew that I was going to become successful a little faster than someone who doesn’t incorporate that type of prospecting.”
It has set her apart, and part of why she launched online classes: her videos on real estate were so successful other agencies were telling their trainees to watch her work. Many agencies don’t offer adequate training, Velasquez said, some give out unethical advice. When newly licensed brokers find Velasquez, she said she stands out as an agent with standards and knowledge of the industry.
That knowledge comes in the form of hard-earned experience, one that includes making slip-ups along the way, something she said ocassionally still happens. It’s all part of the game, she explains. Many of her leads come in from her online networking now, but her techniques are still honed to reach out to sellers looking for a knowledgeable agent who knows the market.
“A lot of my business comes from social media, whether it’s from agents that watch me and send me referrals, or just consumers that are trying to learn what it takes to buy or sell a house,” Velasquez said. “But aside from that, I still cold call a lot of ‘for sale by owners’ and expired. Many of them still want to sell, but they had to pull their home off the market. Many of them didn’t have a good relationship with the last agent and want to find someone else who can do a better job.”
And that relationship comes in the form of Velasquez calling out of the blue, flipping the house successfully in a matter of weeks, sometimes two or three sales every month.
Things were not this easy for what outwardly looks like a charismatic, polished agent; Velasquez attests that she was quiet and anxious even to present a school project before she found her love of sales.
“I was the shyest person ever, and I was terrified of talking in group projects,” Velasquez said. “If people from my past saw me, they would never guess I would be doing public speaking events and would have never known this is what I would become.”
Velasquez was a sociology major before getting a side job as a brand ambassador, traveling to conventions and selling face to face to customers. Everything changed.
“Telling people about the product, getting paid to talk to people, helped me get myself out of my shell and comfort zone,” She said. “I don’t know why I was scared of talking to strangers, but it helped me get out there, and I switched my major to marketing.”
After she went back to get an MBA in 2015, she started making Youtube videos and found her passion. She said that with determination, anyone could get over hurdles and find success. Selling real estate is not what it looks like on TV, but Velasquez noted the hard work is worth it for the payoff.
“After the turning point, I started to see people responding ‘because of this video, I got my first listing.’ I said, if I need to get myself out of my comfort zone to help people, this is something I know I need to do,” Velasquez said. “If you stay focused and surround yourself with the right people, you’ll make it. There will be many times you will doubt yourself, and it is not like what you see on TV.”
Immigrating From Cuba With “Nothing in my pockets,” to a CEO Funding $12 Million a Month
December 15, 2020
“Work hard, don’t ask questions, and good things will happen to you,” Frank Ebanks described his keys to success in the MCA world. “Being Positive, working hard, and keeping my eyes open: If I hadn’t been looking for opportunities at 2 am in the morning on Craigslist, I would have never known about this industry, but it’s huge, it’s such a big industry.”
Ebanks started what would become Spartan Capital shortly after seeing an ad calling for startup investors in an industry Ebanks had never heard of, called Merchant Cash Advance.
It was around 2016. Ebanks was up late in the NYU university library, putting himself through an MBA while working as a reactor operator at the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Westchester.
Despite the job security Ebanks enjoyed, he said he wasn’t happy with his career, wasn’t getting the satisfaction he wanted. He had already made it a long way— starting before the millennium as a Cuban immigrant, immigrating to the Dominican Republic in 1998 and then Florida in 2002 with empty pockets. Shortly after arriving, Ebanks enlisted.
“I spent some time in the army; I wanted to put in some time,” Ebanks said. “I said: ‘I’m a new immigrant, what’s the best thing that I could do to reward these opportunities?’ To serve in the army, give the country a couple years, and payback in advance for this opportunity that I knew I was going to have.”
Ebanks said he learned early on to take every opportunity seriously. He served for two years and then became an engineer and contractor for the army, working on the Patriot Missile defense system. He went through college at NJIT, graduating in 2009, and following in his father’s footsteps to become an electrical engineer.
After working with South Jerseys PSE&G, Ebanks took the opportunity to work full time shifts at the the nuclear power plant, and by 2016 he was pursuing an MBA and looking for ways to grow what he called “my empire.” Used to investing in small businesses already, discovering MCA fit right within his world.
“I’ve always been active, throughout my professional career I had businesses in real estate, I owned several businesses such as laundromats, a lot of retail cell phone stores and things like that,” Ebanks said. “So at one or two am in the morning, I’m working on how to build my empire. I was on Craigslist looking for opportunities, seeing what’s out there, and somebody wanted an investment, to partner up and start a company in a new industry.”
He took a meeting and learned a ton. Although he did not end up going into business with that person, he was hooked on the concept.
“I looked at that ad, and $10,000 later, we had a company,” Ebanks said.
He learned what he needed and ended up opening his own MCA business shortly after in New Jersey, finding he loved setting up syndicated MCA deals.
“I did some research, opened an office in New Jersey, secured a manager to run the operation, and we started brokering deals and learning about syndication.”
He worked with SFS Capital, now called Kapitus. He fell in love with the immediate gratification feedback of making deals, seeing returns on account receivables, and watching renewals come in. The business grew, but things were not always a straight climb to success.
“There was a point where things were not going well and I had to start a new company, find new parters and investors with a funding direct-only focus, and moved into my basement- my wife was unhappy with that. I started hiring people, processors, underwriters, and ISO managers in my basement,” Ebanks said. “At one point, she said, ‘Okay, this is enough. Ten strangers are coming into my house every day, you’ve got to get an office,’ so we secured an office in New York. And that’s when things took off in 2017.”
At that point, Ebanks had shifted his business model from securing deals to funding them all his own, using capital he raised. Ebanks said that being a broker partnered with Kapitus was great, but he wanted to grow and run his business entirely. The best way to do that was through ISO management, Ebanks said. Ebanks let the direct sales team phase out and he hired ISO managers, learning the ISO business as he went.
“So fast forward now: We have over five ISO managers, and we’re funding about $12 million a month,” Ebanks said. “It’s been a phenomenal journey and the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done in my life; I’m not shy to share how exciting every day is to me, and how other than my family and my kids and God, this is the most important thing my life.”
For brokers looking to get started in the industry, Ebanks has this advice to share: Don’t settle.
“Don’t settle, look for growth, and invest your money,” Ebanks said. “I always invested everything I could, 95%, every penny on the business. It matters especially at the beginning, the more you invest, don’t let it sit.”
That investment should go toward your business, your staff, and hiring. Ebanks said the more you invest, the bigger the bag, the more your firm would grow, and your employees will grow with you. Helping employees will mean they will eventually leave, but in Ebanks’ experience treating employees right creates partners.
“Some of them now are partners, and the employee-employer relationship is always more partnership,” Ebanks said. “Some of them own their own companies now, and we help each other out. If they have a big deal, they say: ‘Frank do you want to take $50,000 out of this deal?’ I say yea I trust you. I’ve known you for years.”
Now that he’s on track to grow with recurring customers, seeing some merchants come back to renew twenty times since 2016, Ebanks sees a possible bright future for Spartan Capital: becoming a chartered online bank.
“It is an alternative lending space but to offer the best products to people,” Ebanks said. “I think at the end of the day, and we need all the resources we can get, the next chapter is to apply and secure an online bank charter, it’s the future of the fintech industry.
“Why do people like doing business with us versus a bank? Some of them can do business with banks, but they choose to use us because they have direct access to us after 6 pm, they could call us Saturday, they can call us on a Sunday,” Ebanks said. “A great relationship that they can never get from a bank. I want to bring what we do in MCA to the banking industry to serve people that want banking products, but I want to give them that MCA experience.”
Shopify Releases 3 Years of Shopping Trends: 1 Million Merchants Say Pandemic Purchases New Normal
December 14, 2020
Shopify released a treasure trove of data from customer surveys collected in the past three years. The firm reached a milestone of 1 million businesses using their platforms this year. The data Shopify gathered paints an accurate portrait of a dramatically going-digital world.
“2020 has accelerated the industry by a decade, permanently altering the way entrepreneurs start, run, and grow businesses, as well as how consumers choose to shop and pay,” President of Shopify, Harley Finkelstein, said in an introduction. “Consider this report your crystal ball into the future of this industry.”
Finkelstein put forth five key predictions based on the trends Shopify found in the data. Be prepared, Finkelstein warns, for a new generation of retailers and consumers to forever change the world of commerce.
Key prediction one: Young consumers will change the business landscape as eCommerce charges ahead. Shopify predicts that younger shoppers changing their habits due to the pandemic will likely shop this way from now on. 67% of shoppers under 35 shifted to shopping online, compared to 57% of the 35-55 bracket.
Overall, 84% shopped online this year, compared to 65% in person. 53% of those that shopped online did so because they wanted to avoid crowds, 46% of consumers felt uncomfortable shopping in person.
Key two: Physical retail is transforming, giving local businesses new advantages. Consumer reports showed 62% of people prefer contactless purchases for in-store purchasing in 2020, an increase of 122% during the pandemic. Go figure. 94% of the point-of-sale retail lost in the first six weeks of shutdowns was replaced with online sales.
Key three: Consumers want to shop independently but are not. Businesses will adapt to make it easier to buy from a small business. Half of the consumers look for independent business owners, while 65% say they support small businesses. It turns out that only 29% of consumers shopped at a small business during the pandemic, giving ground to findings that small business is having trouble adapting to online-only commerce compared to larger chains.
Independent retailers need to make customers put their money where their mouth is. Shopify said that fast and free shipping could help. 59% of online shoppers say free delivery would improve their online shopping. 75% of merchants who generated sales in March through September did so with free shipping options on their site.
Key Four: Consumers will vote with their wallets. 53% prefer environmentally sustainable products, and 49% want the retailer to donate proceeds to charity when they make a purchase. The fourth of consumers that did buy local this year did so to support their community and local economy and create jobs.
Finally, our favorite, Key Five: Modern financial solutions will disrupt business and consumer banking finance and lending. Shopify found evidence for growth in their merchant financial platforms. 24% that applied for financing agreed with the 36% that faced problems from COVID-19 by stating: “My bank or financial institution does understand the needs of my business.”
The quality of user experience plays a massive factor for merchants; accordingly, 48% say “a good online bank or mobile app experience” is a top-three feature, while 62% of marketplace sellers say the same.
The findings conclude that explaining the trends was shared to encourage businesses to use the info to adapt and change, as they have been the past year.
Aspiria Co-Founder On Successful Funding in Mexican SME Space: Still Lots of Room to Grow
December 5, 2020
After 38 years, Guillermo Hernandez has seen the boom and busts of the Mexican financial markets, weathering seven recessions in all, he said. But until 2020, he had never led a company through a pandemic.
Aspria, Hernandez’s online lending firm, had planned on completing a Series A from international investor Oikocredit, but the deal went into the icebox as the cases came.
“In the beginning of the year, things were doing very well in Mexico, the whole economy was booming,” Hernandez said. “Out of nowhere, we got hit by the pandemic. And the transaction that we were supposed to be closing in March 2020, our investor said, ‘you guys are fantastic, but there are too many unknowns.'”
But due to Aspiria’s resilience and the fact that they went into 2020 with a rock-solid business, Hernandez said Oikocredit decided to complete the investment deal. Aspiria was growing and profitable, and though it was unclear if the markets were going to fall apart, Hernandez said he and his team put the nose to the grindstone and worked through it.
Oikocredit is a worldwide cooperative that provides loans and investments to promote financial inclusion while empowering people by improving livelihoods. That vision is what Aspiria aims to accomplish as an SME lender, Hernandez said, helping businesses access funds to grow.
The Mexican financial space has ample room for growth, and Hernandez said Aspiria is one of the first alternative business lending firms to capture the market.
Hernandez said the banking world in Mexico is twenty years or more behind the US, and he founded Aspiria to bring some change to the financing space.
“The whole financial services industry, I mean it’s light-years behind the US,” Hernandez said. “I saw that the way that people would do the underwriting, the way that people provided financing for small businesses was just so outdated; it was more of an old school market here. I decided there was this huge opportunity for the market.”
For example, Mexico has a third of the US population, but only 30 banks to the 7,000-10,000 the US has. That population is also a younger demographic than up north. In Mexico, the average age is 27 (It’s 38 in the US); Hernandez said: the Average Mexican is trying to establish themselves and reach the middle class, young, educated, and ready to start a business.
Hernandez has been working in finance all his life, starting in Mexico as a banker and consultant for new financial companies before leaving to get his MBA on an HSBC scholarship in Manchester, England. He worked for a time in financial services there before joining a payment startup in the US, where he found his love of startup tech culture.
“It was my first exposure to technology, and I was completely amazed. I fell in love with it,” Hernandez said. “At that moment, I was actually thinking about changing careers. I was completely fed up with financial services because it’s boring sometimes. I thought it was not sexy anymore.”
Co-founding Aspiria, Hernandez went on to become the major funder in the space. He said there is so much demand for capital in a standard year that his firm can see 100% year-over-year growth. Even in a pandemic, his firm received a confident investment that will go directly toward building the shop, scaling up funding, hiring, and aiming toward a firm that will one day put it on par with the rest of North America’s leading alternative finance firms.
