20 percent and 30 percent of the U.S. population.
Zebit uses technology that combines big and complex streams of data from multiple sources—including social media—to provide loans and other financial services for the underbanked on a per-transaction basis. The company says its analytics software does a better job of assessing a borrower’s ability to pay, willingness to pay, and stability.
Workpays.me, founded in 2012 by Josh Verne, Jon Dorfman, and Paul Dumas, says it already has a growing base of several million customers throughout the United States. The company offers zero-percent financing through payments that can be arranged as installments over 2, 4, 8 or 12 months—but the installments must be arranged directly from the customer’s bank account or through payroll deductions. No other forms of payment are accepted.
Workpays.me says it promotes the financial wellness of its customers by providing borrowers a full-range of high-quality products at a fair and reasonable price, without imposing unfair interest rates or hidden fees.
Thiemann said he views Workpays.me as a perfect fit for the analytics software that Global Analytics developed for its Zebit platform in England. “I certainly wouldn’t have pursued it if the cultural fit wasn’t right,” he said. “I went out there to meet with them, and it felt like I was in a staff meeting back home.”
WorkPays currently has 19 employees, and will remain in the Philadelphia area. Global Analytics has hundreds of employees throughout India and the United Kingdom, but only 17 employees at its San Diego headquarters.
Thiemann says Global Analytics is operating profitably, and the company has raised a total of $95 million, including the $30 million term credit facility that was secured last summer as well as $65 million in equity and debt financing since 2009.
In today’s statement, Global Analytics advisor and Capital One Financial Services co-founder Nigel Morris says: “Workpays.me’s expertise in procurement, logistics, and merchandising, together with Global Analytics’ experience in lending, payments, and underwriting, makes for a powerful combination. Providing a way for consumers with poor access to credit to buy products at standard market prices with zero percent over 12 months is a true breakthrough. A win-win for both the employee and employer.”
Krishna Gopinathan, Global Analytics president and chief analytics officer, added: “When I founded this company, I was looking for ways to use analytics to have a positive impact on people’s lives. This is a perfect application for our Zebit platform—using our deep learning analytic capabilities to ensure we can provide zero-cost financing to as many customers as possible.”
