Today on deBanked news, new financial regulations are
coming to California, we gabbed with the cabs and we talked one
on one with us business funding CEO Peter Ribeiro. First, let's
go over to Johny Fernandez.
Hey Sean, so today I'm going to do something that millions of
New Yorkers usually do, but probably have not thought about
since the pandemic started, ride a New York taxi cab, but before
I get in, you, of course have to mask up.
If you want to drive a taxicab, here in New York City, you have
to obtain an official medallion which can be quite expensive.
And we know that many drivers turned to special forms of
financing to obtain that medallion. So we spoke with
different drivers here in New York City to see if it's even
worth it now,
Before it was good, we could make $100 - $150 a day. Now.
It's very hard to survive, we work very hard to make 60, 70 or
$80 a day, but what can I do? I have to make a living. We have
no other choice. Open the restaurants as it used to be,
open the party halls, we can make a living.
So I just finished my ride from Brooklyn into Manhattan and it's
felt quite normal. But on the other hand, one rider like me is
not going to change the reality that these drivers are facing.
So they're hoping for a major change during this time. I'm
Johnny Fernandez with deBanked news. Sean, back over to you.
Thanks, Johnny. Wow, it's really enlightening to hear how
everything is truly interconnected in New York, you
have the restaurants who are looking to open back up to full
capacity, but you also have the taxis who take people to the
restaurants who are hoping that the restaurants open back up as
well. So very insightful information. Now moving on to
California, we have the Department of Business
Oversight, which is now going to become known as the Department
of Financial Protection and innovation. The rebrand is part
of a recently passed bill that's going to expand the regulator's
oversight. For example, it may have been possible to skirt
certain lender licensing requirements in the state if you
weren't a lender. But under this new regulatory framework,
FinTech firms and merchant cash advance providers are expected
to be subject to the new rules regardless, but don't take my
word for it. Your best bet is to contact an attorney who is very
knowledgeable about California state law to find out how this
law will apply to you. Our guest today is Peter Ribeiro, CEO of
US Business Funding. Despite the challenges of 2020 Ribeiro and
his company have experienced a lot of success.
The great thing about a downturn is that you see a lot of holes
in your company. You see, I look for opportunity during a
downturn. So I would say that we're a stronger company and
more well positioned today than we were prior to COVID.
Obviously numbers are down because their real book of
business there's a lot of defaults. A lot of the clients
are these banks. A lot of our lenders offered restructuring of
loans. So, if renewals which in the working cap side of our
business is 35 to 40% of your business and you lose 70% of it,
the numbers are going to be down. So our numbers are way
down on the working cap side, but they're up about 280% on the
equipment side, so we've shifted a good portion of the business
on to the equipment space, which is still very lucrative and it
was what we've really done since 2008. 2008 to 2012 we did
equipment, then the working cap came in and we were 90% working
cap and 10% equipment. Last month, we're almost 50-50 so
it's been a big shift over into the equipment space for us. I
think that if all you offer is a job where there's opportunity in
sales, you have good months and bad months, you have good runs
and bad runs just like baseball players just like basketball
players with their hitting of their shooting percentages. So
if all you offer is money, if that money disappears, there's
nothing left. If you offer a great environment and the money
goes away and they're still having fun, that might sugarcoat
it and cover it where the the reps actually stay. So sales
guys are very emotional, they're I don't know, to me they're like
wide receivers in the NFL they always want their leads, they
always want the ball, right. And so if all you offer is money
that will go away in some type of downturn like we have now and
everyone leaves. If you have a good culture and a good family
environment, people will stay and so I think that it's fun to
make money. But I always tell everyone, it's more important to
have fun, then the money will come. If you put the money
before everything else and the money doesn't come, you're gone.
Thanks, Peter. And thank you for watching deBanked News. I'm Sean
Murray.