CALIFORNIA - The National Asian American Coalition (NAAC), a US Department of Treasury-certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), has partnered with global venture studio Talino Venture Labs’ portfolio startup Asenso to build NAAC Finance, a digital lending service designed to facilitate loans for Low- to Moderate-Income (LMI) communities who have historically been left out of traditional banking services.
This partnership was born out of NAAC and Talino Venture Labs’ Market Readiness category win in the tech sprint organized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) entitled, Breaking Down Barriers: Reaching the Last Mile of the Unbanked. The tech sprint aimed to explore new technologies and techniques to help banks meet the needs of unbanked consumers.
“NAAC has always championed collaboration with industry experts who share our same vision in finding the most effective ways for supporting growth and capacity for the underserved; often these paths are the more unbeaten ones that require a proven spirit for innovation,” said Faith Bautista, NAAC President and CEO. “We found these qualities in the forward-thinking leadership of Talino Venture Labs and Asenso.”
“We are honored to collaborate with an organization whose mission is aligned with ours: to give financial access to minority and underserved communities and bring them closer to credit-worthiness,” Talino Venture Labs CEO and Asenso Chairman Winston Damarillo said.
The SPRING Small Dollar Loan
NAAC Finance’s initial offering is the SPRING Small Dollar Loan, which aims to provide borrowers immediate financial relief even if they have a limited credit score. Loan applications are reviewed and approved within 2 business days, while funds are disbursed within 2 weeks. Borrowers can apply for $1,000, $2,000 and $2,500 loans, payable in 12 months.
“We plan to process a monthly pipeline of about 6,000 loan applications per month, which we forecast to yield 2,000 approved and performing loans with an average loan amount of $2,000,” said Mel Dimacali, NAAC’s CDFI Director.
Going through the loan application is an exercise in becoming a more responsible borrower. Paying the loan on time and in full opens borrowers to more credit opportunities.
What sets the SPRING Small Dollar Loan apart is it requires borrowers to complete FDIC-developed financial literacy training, which equips them with essential money management skills.
“The future of lending has long been touted to be inevitably digital, but by infusing this immutable fact with accessible financial management education we are confident that these early initiatives shall be the catalyst for the eradication of predatory lending institutions, which continue to victimize our historically disadvantaged communities by enabling chronic systems of cyclical debt,” Dimacali said.
Using Asenso’s digital solution, NAAC Finance will also provide Small Business Loans, designed to give small businesses—the backbone of the American economy—access to the capital they need to bounce back after the onslaught of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is our mission to serve the needs of the LMI communities. The pandemic dealt a huge blow on the socio-economic well-being of these communities, especially the homeowners and small businesses. We saw digital lending service as a way to respond quickly and effectively to the financial challenges experienced by those we serve,” Bautista said.
The National Asian American Coalition (NAAC) is a US Dept. of Treasury Certified CDFI and a HUD-Approved 501(c)(3) nonprofit Housing Counseling Agency providing its services to over 10,000 minority families in diverse communities throughout California by preparing clients for mortgages and becoming sustainable homeowners. As an approved SBA Microloan Intermediary Lender and IBank-guaranteed lender, NAAC is a resource by qualified small businesses & non-traditional borrowers for access to capital and other financing options to assist underserved communities.
Talino Venture Labs is a global venture studio for inclusive fintech that is on a mission to bridge financial inclusion for over 1.7 billion people around the world. It uses the successful venture studio model to build repeatable, scalable, and profitable fintechs that empower underserved, underrepresented groups around the world with financial access and mobility. Visit www.talinolabs.com for more information.
Asenso is a lending-as-a-service firm that provides the technology and the operations to help community banks scale digitally. Asenso offers a highly scalable and secure digital solution that enables banks to administer low interest loans to help small businesses—the backbone of the American economy—rebuild, recover, and dream even bigger. Visit www.asenso.io for more information.
