MoneyLion is an online lending company that specializes in consumer personal loans. It also provides free credit monitoring, personal financial management tools, and a unique rewards program that encourages good financial actions that can be used to redeem gift cards. In a piece in TechCrunch, the value in this startup is explained.
In a financial context, people are really bad at anticipating future frustration. If I buy an Apple Watch with my credit card now, my brain doesn’t want me to be able to imagine the bill in my mailbox. Customers check their credit score on MoneyLion an average of 3.9 times a month. This degree of transparency makes people sweat in the short-run but reduces the likelihood of bad decision making that induces long-term elevated stress.
The platform also leverages data to recommend loans when they are most needed. If spending patterns appear incongruent with prior months, MoneyLion can suggest a small loan to smooth things over. A user can receive overdraft warnings within the app and take a $200 advance in about 15 minutes. Tim Hong, one of the key behavioral architects of the platform, wants MoneyLion to dream big.
This product can save one stress in Nigeria if it can be built. But of course, the first is having the ability to track the expenses by linking all to BVN (bank verification number).