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We've been in the lending industry since 2012. We are on a mission to improve financial well-being and productivity by providing ethical lending solutions and financial know-how to UK workers.
Over the years, we've gained invaluable insight into the loans industry and our customers. This has driven change and innovation within our business. What has not changed is our resolve to lend responsibly.
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Dedicated to responsible lending
We have consistently strived to act in our customers' best interests. Every loan application is checked for affordability to ensure the repayments are realistic for that person’s circumstances. Our checks take into account income, expenses, outstanding debt, late payments and more.
Clarity, simplicity and understanding are qualities embedded in our tone of voice. We believe presenting information clearly improves understanding and leads to better financial decisions. We don't hide important information or use fine print on our site. We're upfront about costs and support borrowers who may experience repayment difficulties.
It's always been our resolve to put our customers before profit. We believe in lending responsibly, only approving an application when it's right for our customers. Even when we worked as a short term lender, only 2.5% of the applications we received between January 2015 to March 2021 resulted in a funded loan. During the same period we received more than 900,000 applications, showing that many were struggling financially and willing to take out high-cost loans to find some financial relief.
It was clear that a much cheaper, low-interest short term loan was needed. And, more importantly, a long term solution was needed to address financial fitness and awareness in the UK.
In 2020, we began working on WorkLoan.
Dedicated to change and innovation
Using our lending experience and knowledge of the UK market, it is clear there is still a demand and need for loans that have a short term. The challenge was providing ethical loans with lower interest rates – something uncommon within the short term loan industry. Ideally, it would help customers get past an unexpected cost or emergency and see them through to payday.
We saw an opportunity with Open Banking as a way for us to understand our customer's financial circumstances on an individual basis. Gone are the days of requesting bank statements, manually checking transactions and calculating spend vs income. Open Banking gives us an accurate, up-to-date financial view of customers and their financial situation, allowing us to make better, faster lending decisions that work in the customer's favour.
We realised that by working with employers and offering salary advances in the form of a loan, we could provide fairer, lower interest rates. We were also motivated by some concerning statistics: recent studies show that 25 million UK employees are affected by money worries while at work, and 77% of employees say that money worries impact them while they are doing their job. [1]
This presented another challenge – finding a way to improve the UK's financial wellness.
Dedicated to financial wellness
Over 55% of the UK population are afraid to talk about money worries and are financially vulnerable. We've always believed that helping people gain control of their finances and budget better will mean, in the long run, they’ll be less reliant on high-cost forms of lending and other similar credit sources. [2]
It made sense to us to address money worries using the work environment. Less worrying about money means more focus and improved productivity in the workplace - a win-win for both employers and their staff.
We believe knowledge has the power to make a difference. So we developed a suite of products and services to help employees make better decisions, manage their finances effectively, and be prepared for unexpected events.
Currently, we offer:
• Free guides and advice through our FinFit financial education centre
• Free budgeting tools
• Free £2,500 accident insurance for your employees (coming soon)
• Free FinFit report (find out how our personalised budget reports can help employees)
• Loans for unexpected financial emergencies which are a cheaper alternative to high-interest debt, such as payday loans
Working together, we can help improve productivity and peace of mind within your workplace. Additionally, our employee benefits can make your business more attractive to potential job candidates and improve staff retention.
Most importantly, we can make a real difference in people’s lives and raise financial awareness within the UK. For more information please contact us today.