Toronto-based Financeit offers a point-of-sale customer financing and recently doubled its lending muscle to $75 million, having processed over $1 billion in loans since the company’s launch in 2011. This past Thursday, Financeit CEO Michael Garrity appeared on BNN’s The Disruptors to speak about his company’s future and the current state of financial technology (FinTech) in Canada.
Garrity notes on the show that Financeit is trying to move beyond typical retailers, having recently entered the United States to expand its offering. “Crossing the border is a very difficult challenge for a financial services company, and even for a technology company, so we raised additional capital,” said Garrity. “We are in the early stages but are seeing tremendous growth.”
In regards to disruption in the financial technology industry, Garrity believes that it’s ripe for a shift, mainly for these three reasons:
1. The financial crisis in 2008. The “once in a lifetime thing that occurred in our industry… it really shook up the regulatory environment, who the major players were, and the rules,” Garrity said.
2. A shift in the regulatory regimes.
3. The impact of technology. The “new consumer wants to be treated differently,” Garrity stated, arguing that cloud and mobile tech are helping this happen.