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Today on deBanked news,
new financial regulations are

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coming to California, we gabbed
with the cabs and we talked one

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on one with us business funding
CEO Peter Ribeiro. First, let's

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go over to Johny Fernandez.

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Hey Sean, so today I'm going to
do something that millions of

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New Yorkers usually do, but
probably have not thought about

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since the pandemic started, ride
a New York taxi cab, but before

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I get in, you, of course have to
mask up.

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If you want to drive a taxicab,
here in New York City, you have

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to obtain an official medallion
which can be quite expensive.

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And we know that many drivers
turned to special forms of

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financing to obtain that
medallion. So we spoke with

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different drivers here in New
York City to see if it's even

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worth it now,

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Before it was good, we could
make $100 - $150 a day. Now.

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It's very hard to survive, we
work very hard to make 60, 70 or

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$80 a day, but what can I do? I
have to make a living. We have

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no other choice. Open the
restaurants as it used to be,

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open the party halls, we can
make a living.

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So I just finished my ride from
Brooklyn into Manhattan and it's

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felt quite normal. But on the
other hand, one rider like me is

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not going to change the reality
that these drivers are facing.

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So they're hoping for a major
change during this time. I'm

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Johnny Fernandez with deBanked
news. Sean, back over to you.

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Thanks, Johnny. Wow, it's really
enlightening to hear how

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everything is truly
interconnected in New York, you

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have the restaurants who are
looking to open back up to full

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capacity, but you also have the
taxis who take people to the

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restaurants who are hoping that
the restaurants open back up as

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well. So very insightful
information. Now moving on to

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California, we have the
Department of Business

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Oversight, which is now going to
become known as the Department

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of Financial Protection and
innovation. The rebrand is part

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of a recently passed bill that's
going to expand the regulator's

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oversight. For example, it may
have been possible to skirt

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certain lender licensing
requirements in the state if you

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weren't a lender. But under this
new regulatory framework,

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FinTech firms and merchant cash
advance providers are expected

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to be subject to the new rules
regardless, but don't take my

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word for it. Your best bet is to
contact an attorney who is very

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knowledgeable about California
state law to find out how this

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law will apply to you. Our guest
today is Peter Ribeiro, CEO of

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US Business Funding. Despite the
challenges of 2020 Ribeiro and

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his company have experienced a
lot of success.

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The great thing about a downturn
is that you see a lot of holes

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in your company. You see, I look
for opportunity during a

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downturn. So I would say that
we're a stronger company and

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more well positioned today than
we were prior to COVID.

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Obviously numbers are down
because their real book of

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business there's a lot of
defaults. A lot of the clients

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are these banks. A lot of our
lenders offered restructuring of

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loans. So, if renewals which in
the working cap side of our

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business is 35 to 40% of your
business and you lose 70% of it,

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the numbers are going to be
down. So our numbers are way

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down on the working cap side,
but they're up about 280% on the

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equipment side, so we've shifted
a good portion of the business

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on to the equipment space, which
is still very lucrative and it

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was what we've really done since
2008. 2008 to 2012 we did

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equipment, then the working cap
came in and we were 90% working

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cap and 10% equipment. Last
month, we're almost 50-50 so

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it's been a big shift over into
the equipment space for us. I

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think that if all you offer is a
job where there's opportunity in

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sales, you have good months and
bad months, you have good runs

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and bad runs just like baseball
players just like basketball

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players with their hitting of
their shooting percentages. So

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if all you offer is money, if
that money disappears, there's

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nothing left. If you offer a
great environment and the money

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goes away and they're still
having fun, that might sugarcoat

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it and cover it where the the
reps actually stay. So sales

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guys are very emotional, they're
I don't know, to me they're like

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wide receivers in the NFL they
always want their leads, they

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always want the ball, right. And
so if all you offer is money

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that will go away in some type
of downturn like we have now and

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everyone leaves. If you have a
good culture and a good family

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environment, people will stay
and so I think that it's fun to

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make money. But I always tell
everyone, it's more important to

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have fun, then the money will
come. If you put the money

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before everything else and the
money doesn't come, you're gone.

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Thanks, Peter. And thank you for
watching deBanked News. I'm Sean

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Murray.