Self Financial is a credit building platform that is working to increase economic inclusion and financial resilience through products that make building credit accessible. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Self Financial founder James Garvey to learn more about the company.
(Credit: Brian Fitzsimmons)
Formation Of Self Financial
How did the idea for Self Financial come together? Garvey said:
“The story of Self Financial begins in 2014 after I made a mistake that damaged my credit score. I had a credit card that I thought was enrolled in autopay—and two months into my billing cycle, I realized that autopay wasn’t set up. My credit score dropped from 800 to 590!”
“After doing some research, I learned that the way to “build credit” is to get a loan and then repay it over time. I also learned that there are approximately 100 million U.S. adults who have low or no credit scores. This massive problem, coupled with my personal need, led me to the idea of offering simple and affordable tools to build and access credit. I founded Self in 2015 with the principle that we believe everyone should have the ability to improve their financial future. Self is now here to enable people to build credit and reach their goals.”
Funding
After asking Garvey about the company’s funding news, he revealed:
“We’ve raised $127 million through six funding rounds.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Garvey explained:
“Self offers several products that aim to make access to building credit easier and increase financial resilience.
1.) Self Credit Builder Account: Our flagship product works like a fixed savings plan that builds credit. The credit builder account is financially inclusive to nearly any adult in the U.S. We don’t require a past credit history or perform a hard credit inquiry. Customers can sign up for the credit builder account, which is a CD-secured installment loan where the loan proceeds are placed and held in a CD in the customer’s name. As payments are made, payment history is reported to the three credit bureaus. After the loan is paid off, the customer has established credit history and the money in the account unlocks. Customers have the ability to choose between four different monthly payment options starting at $25/month.
2.) Self Visa Credit Card: Once customers have built at least $100 of savings via on-time payments with the credit builder account, they earn access to the Self Visa Credit Card. It is a secured credit card that uses the credit builder account savings feature as a way to fund and secure the credit line. Like the credit builder account, the Self Visa Credit Card doesn’t require a credit pull or use credit history to determine eligibility. Unlike other secured credit cards, there’s no need to put down an additional deposit. We encourage our customers to focus on building healthy habits like staying under 30% card utilization.
3.) Rent and Bills Payments Reporting: Self’s Rent service helps customers report their rent payments to all three credit bureaus, which is important because it shows the most accurate picture of consumer credit for lending decisions, regardless of which bureau a lender pulls a report from. Additionally, gas, electric, water, and cell phone payments can be reported to TransUnion. For a one-time fee, Self can also report two years of rent and bill payment history to the credit bureaus. No hard credit pull is required and only positive payments are reported for both rent and bills reporting, which are features that are beneficial to consumers.
4.) Free rent reporting: Most recently, Self introduced a free rent reporting service, so any renter can sign up to have their rent payments reported to the three major credit bureaus at no cost. Customers simply link the service to their bank accounts to report verified rent payments each month to Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. There’s no landlord required, no hard credit pull, and only positive payment history is reported.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Garvey assessed:
“About 100 million Americans have low or no credit. We’re laser-focused on making sure that anyone who is new to credit or looking to rebuild has options.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Garvey affirmed:
“It starts with our mission: we believe everyone should have the ability to improve their financial future. Self is here to enable people to build credit, save money, and reach their goals.”
“We’re the first company to offer multiple ways to build credit using a responsible and mission-driven approach. Beyond being the first to scale credit builder loans through technology, our company was also the first to offer direct-to-consumer rent reporting to the three major credit bureaus. And we continue to look for opportunities to open new doors to credit access.”
“Credit touches many aspects of life like qualifying for loans, getting better insurance rates, renting apartments or purchasing a home, and even getting a job. We believe everyone should have access to credit so they can accomplish their goals. That vision shapes our mission and is core to all that we do.”
Evolution Of Self Financial’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Garvey noted:
“Being a software engineer, when I started the company, I assumed launching bank products would be easy. I was wrong. We quickly realized that to make our business model work and to remain financially accessible to our customers, we would have to build our software from scratch instead of integrating with existing banking systems. We were the first fintech to create this type of product, and we had to build a platform for everything from loan origination to compliance management to CRM.”
“We launched the first Credit Builder Account eight years ago and have since evolved from a single product into a full credit building platform with multiple products, an app, and a hub for informative content to support our customers, who we call ‘Builders,’ on their credit journey.”
“The technology is ever-evolving as we continue to introduce new products.”
Customer Success Stories
After asking Garvey about customer success stories, he highlighted:
“I love hearing from our customers about their wins. We frequently invite them to join our company All Hands meetings to share their stories. Recently, I’ve been inspired by one of our Builders who is the mother of two adorable children. After running into some hardships as a young adult and losing her apartment, her credit score dropped, which kept her from getting access to cars and the homes she wanted to live in. She was motivated to turn her situation around and she has been working hard to build her credit to create more opportunities for her family. She’s also sharing the money lessons with her children that she wishes she had learned growing up. You can hear more of her inspiring story on the Self. podcast.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Garvey cited:
“We’ve had many. We’ve gone through six rounds of fundraising from seed to series E for a total of $127 million. We acquired a company in 2022 that enabled us to help our customers build credit with rent and utility payments. Last year, we signed a multi-year sponsorship to be the official credit-building app and jersey patch partner of the San Antonio Spurs. We’ve grown from a small Austin start-up to a company serving more than one million customers nationwide, with approximately 300 employees across 27 states. I’m so proud of what our team has accomplished.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Garvey concluded:
“After an extensive search, we’ve recently welcomed Julie Szudarek to the team as Self’s new CEO. I’ll be supporting Julie and the Self team as a member of our board of directors. Julie has an impressive background and experience growing highly-regulated and mission-driven companies. Most recently, she was the CEO of Atida, one of the largest online pharmacies in Europe. In my short time working on the transition with Julie, I’m even more confident in her ability to lead Self through this next chapter. Since she just started, she is taking some time to meet the team and figure out the opportunity ahead. What I can say is that Self will remain true to its mission while we continue to evolve and introduce new products. I’m excited for what’s next for the company.”
