Fintech Impact

In this 28th episode of the Fintech Impact podcast, Jason Pereira interviews Eva Wong, the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Borrowwell. As a Canadian credit score and lending recommendation engine, Borrowwell helps people manage their credit score and gives them advice on how to apply for credit cards and other solutions to improve their credit.

●     01:14 – Borrowwell was the first company to give Canadians their credit scores for free.

●     02:07 – Eva Wong doesn’t come from financial or business background.

●     04:20 – When you carry a balance on a credit card you are actually borrowing money on their previous purchases but on every purchase after that—at over 20%.

●     04:50 – Borrowwell offers loans from ($1,000-35,000) online that can be customized interest rate (under 6% into the mid-20%) based on their credit score.

●     07:00 – They are funded by Equitable Bank, a few angel investors, and VCs that include White Star Capital and Portage.

●     09:21 – Many people are unfamiliar with their credit file and advice.

●     13:11 – They currently have 45 teams members in Toronto after starting 3 years ago and have over 500,000 members that they serve.

●     14:47 – They work with about 40 partners and most of the largest banks.

●     18:09 – Factors for determining interest rates for their loans include: credit scores, debt service ratio, credit utilization, and the loan amount.

●     20:56 – Information is updated once a month.

●     22:54 – Diversity is slowing improving.

●     26:00 – Eva is excited about the impact that Borrowwell is having.

3 Key Points:

1. Borrowwell helps consumers by giving them a free credit score, offering a loan product, along with credit advice.

2. Borrowwell offers a loan product online that can be customized interest rate (under 6% into the mid-20%) based on their credit score.

3. There are currently 45 teams members in Toronto working for Borrowwell and over 500,000 members that they serve.

Tweetable Quotes:

-     “At Borrowwell, our mission is to help Canadians make great decisions and credit.” – Eva Wong.

-     “If you look at bank profits by country…if you look after China Japan, and the U.S., all of which have much, much larger populations than Canada, Canada is the next.” – Eva Wong.

-     “We just crossed 500,000 members, which we think makes us one of the largest Fintech companies in Canada. ”– Eva Wong. 

Resources Mentioned:

● LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn

● Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook

● Woodgate Financial – Website for Woodgate Financial

● Eva Wong – LinkedIn for Eva Wong

● @eva_toronto – Twitter for Eva Wong

● Borrowwell – Website for Borrowwell