*This is an unpaid review.*
It was bound to happen sooner or later a product that merged lending with an app feature would make a splash in the FinTech scene and offer an intriguing way for would be borrowers to connect with borrowers who might be unable to access lending options in traditional settings.
Credit IQ is one such product. Before I get into the meat of this post I should mention that this is not a sponsored post and is the exception to my “Michelle needs to get paid” to review your products for 2016 rule. But, I felt that it was important to talk about this product, products that will follow its lead, the good, and the bad, and the opportunities that these types of products represent.
In general, I am not a lover of borrowing money. I am working through a mountain of debt good, bad, and ugly. However, I will forever be grateful for my student loans and my mortgage. Without them I would not be as educated as I am and I wouldn’t have my tiny home that has appreciated beyond my expectations.
I am also aware that I was able to borrow wisely on my tiny home and purchased wisely. I worked with an amazing realtor and mortgage lender who listened to my concerns and my needs, did not push me into a bad mortgage product, and really advocated on my behalf.
Not all lending situations are like this.
Part of why I love the concept of a lending app is that it opens up lending products to everyone and hopefully eliminates some of the bias that can keep qualified borrowers from receiving funds for the big life events that they are trying to pay for.
Credit IQ
Is an intriguing lending model because you can utilize its app feature to borrow for:
- Cars
- Mortgage
- Education
- Personal
They are working with smaller banks who in theory (I think) probably have a stricter borrowing threshold.
How it works:
- Sign up via the app or online. The site is encrypted for your protection
- Decide on the product.
- Application is reviewed
- You’re told if you’ve been approved or not.
Resources:
- There is a box that pops up where you can type in questions.
- I’m sure you can call to talk to someone who can guide you through the process.
What I Think
I want to love this product, I really do. I love that it will be opening up the opportunity to borrow for important life purchases to some underserved communities/demographics.
But, I’m not quite there yet. I think that they are ahead of the game in terms of offering a way to lend to Millennial borrowers in particular. As this is still a new start up they are still working on all of the components of the website user experience and borrower user experience. I am keeping that in mind as I offer the following thoughts.
Concerns
- Loan Education-With a product like this one I fear that it is a little too hands off. I remember signing 3 inches of paperwork when I purchased my home. That was in 2007. I would love to see a product education arm of CreditIq that provides education on the products, borrower responsibilities, etc.
- Not clear-It’s not clear to me what the entire process would be working with CreditIQ. With online products sometimes you need to spell it out even more than you would think. So, I would like to see: where the initial product roll out was, repayment rates, and borrower experience.
- Elimination of Pain-The pain of borrowing is a very important part of the borrowing process. It helps people understand that what they are about to do is a big deal. Is using an app to borrow eliminating that pain?
Ultimately, I think this is a trend that is here to stay and I hope that CreditIQ receives my post in the way that it is intended with great hopes for its future with a few tweeks. We shall see.
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Michelle, would love to chat more about what we’re building at CreditIQ to help empower the consumer.
Andrew
That would be great Tim!