Self Financial helps individuals build or rebuild their credit scores through online services and a mobile app. Their main products are Credit Builder Loans and the Self Credit Card. A Credit Builder Loan involves a small loan that is secured in a certificate of deposit (CD), where monthly payments are made and reported to credit bureaus, helping to create a positive credit history. Once the loan is paid off, the borrower can access the funds in the CD, turning payments into savings. The Self Credit Card requires an upfront deposit and also reports monthly payments to credit bureaus. Unlike traditional credit unions, Self Financial operates entirely online, catering to tech-savvy users and those who prefer digital financial management. The goal of Self Financial is to assist individuals in improving their credit scores, enabling them to qualify for loans and other financial products while generating revenue through fees associated with their services.

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Financial Services

Self Financial

Most consumers are dealing with some level of debt.Only 17% of U.S. consumers carry no debt, according to “The Credit Accessibility Series: Economic Malaise Exacerbating U.S. Consumer Debt Levels,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and Sezzle collaboration.Among the rest of the population, 50% of consumers have outstanding debt balances of less than $250,000, while 33% have “high debt” of at least $250,000, the report found.Consumers are managing this debt in several ways, and financial services providers can give them a hand.For example, during a panel discussion hosted by PYMNTS’ Karen Webster and posted in October, PSCU President and CEO Chuck Fagan said he has found that some consumers are familiar with and comfortable with gamification.“So, in a lot of the digital mobile banking platforms now, we’re seeing an ability to customize a budgeting system to send you reminders when you hit a certain level of spending during a month, manage based on the balances in your share account,” Fagan said. “Using tools like that, where they’re very comfortable, I think, is providing some support now.”Sezzle is helping consumers with an education platform, a credit builder and an upcoming tool that rewards those who make payments on time, Sezzle CEO Charlie Youakim said during the same panel discussion.“We’re doing things within Sezzle, upcoming launches of products to incentivize on-time payments,” Youakim said. “It’s called ‘Payment Streaks,’ where basically, if you keep hitting payment timing on time, you’re going to get rewards within Sezzle itself — so, teaching that right behavior of making sure that you’re not tripping on payments.”Self Financial also has a strategy that incentivizes consumers to develop good habits and rewards them for doing so, CEO James Garvey said during the panel discussion.The company has a program in which consumers can progress from a secured credit card to a partially secured one, and then to an unsecured one by paying on time for each of the cards they have along that pathway.“Ultimately, for the consumer, these are the kind of habits they need to have: making on-time payments, spending responsibly, showing utilization and keeping that utilization down,” Garvey said

Financial Services Providers Use Gamification To Help Customers Manage Debt

Regions Bank and credit-building platform Self Financial teamed up to help consumers improve their financial standing.The collaboration will assist Region’s Consumer Banking customers in building credit and improving financial health by using Self’s credit-building service, according to a Tuesday (Nov. 7) press release. Customers can have their rent, cellphone and utility payments reported to the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.“We were drawn to work with Regions because of our shared commitment to working toward financial inclusion,” said Self Financial Chief Strategy Officer Chris LaConte in the release. “Working with Regions enables us to support more consumers who either are new to establishing credit, or they’re in need of solutions that reflect how they’re already responsibly managing bills and other payments.”By reporting payment histories to the credit bureaus, Self enables customers to establish credit without going into debt by using credit cards or loans, per the release.“[T]here are millions of Americans who rent their homes, but many aren’t recognized by the credit bureaus for successfully making those payments,” LaConte said in the release. “Self addresses this problem by enabling consumers to have their payment histories taken into account so they can get the credit they deserve.”The news comes exactly three months after Regions Bank introduced new ways for business clients to manage customer billing and communications.Business clients have access to customer communications management software that lets clients create, deliver and track communications to initiate customer payments.“At a time when business clients often need to do more with less, automation and technology provide efficient alternatives to the manual process of billing and receivables,” Bryan Ford, head of treasury management for Regions Bank, said at the time. “This, in turn, helps companies focus more on customer service and product development while we step in and make their cash flow simpler.”Last month, Self Financial CEO James Garvey, along with two others, spoke to PYMNTS about consumers who live paycheck to paycheck.Companies such as Self, said Garvey, are dedicated to helping users build credit as individuals, apply for loans held by bank partners and pay down those loans through customized plans and secured cards

Regions Bank And Self Financial Partner To Improve Consumers’ Financial Health

Julie Szudarek joins the Self Financial team with over two decades of experience in scaling global businesses.

Self Financial Hired A New CEO to Fuel Nationwide Growth

Also, Self said an $800,000 grant from the state awarded to the district is still in the works.

Central Arkansas school districts enhance security measures for upcoming academic year

Self Financial, a leading fintech company that makes building credit and savings more accessible, today announced the acquisition of RentTrack, Inc., a pioneering credit reporting company that was the first to report rent payments to all three major credit bureaus.

Self acquired RentTrack LLC on Feb 17th 22'.

Atlantic Capital Bancshares ( ACBI +0.3% ) has expanded its partnership with Self Financial, a Texas-based fintech company.

Atlantic Capital Bank partners with Self

Regions Bank partnered with Self Financial Inc. to allow its customers to improve their financial health and credit.

Regions Bank partners with Self Financial to deliver better credit building

The U.S. consumer is barely making ends meet and is one emergency expense away from financial dire straits. They’re also in need of financial education and some guidance before things get worse. That’s according to Sezzle CEO Charlie Youakim, PSCU President and CEO Chuck Fagan and Self Financial CEO James Garvey, who spoke to Karen Webster about consumers who live paycheck to paycheck

‘Candid Conversations’ And Credit Building Help Consumers Survive The Paycheck-To-Paycheck Economy

With Tax Day approaching, here’s a sobering thought: The average American pays $524,625 in taxes in their lifetime, according to a new study.The report also ranks states on lifetime tax costs. And if you live in the Northeast, you may want to sit down for this:New Jersey residents pay $987,117 in lifetime taxes, the analysis found, the highest tab in the nation. Washington, D.C., comes second, with a lifetime tax burden of $884,820. Connecticut and Massachusetts are third and fourth, at $855,307 and $816,700.The lowest-tax state is West Virginia, with a lifetime cost of $358,407.The report comes from the personal finance site Self Financial, based on research collected in January and February 2024. It considers taxes on income, homes, cars, clothing, food, drink, entertainment and personal care, drawing from tax data and several research sources, including the American Community Survey, the federal Consumer Expenditure Survey and Zillow.The lifetime tax figure, $524,625, works out to about one-third of the average American's lifetime earnings, which add up to roughly $1.5 million.Taxation is on many people’s minds, given the looming April 15 federal tax deadline.“Around this time of year, everybody has this come-to-Jesus moment: ‘Omigod, does it make sense to stay in the state of California, or the state of Connecticut, or the state of New Jersey?’” said Katy Song, chief financial planner at Domain Money.A train station in New Jersey, the state with the highest lifetime tax burden in the nation, according to a new report.Many Americans are moving from high-tax to low-tax statesThe COVID-19 pandemic allowed many workers to live far from employers. Millions of Americans have migrated from state to state in the pandemic years, untethered from the office by the remote-work boom.The number of people who moved between states rose from roughly 7.4 million in 2019 to 8.2 million in 2022, according to census data.New Jersey, the state with the highest taxes in the Self Financial report, lost the most residents to other states in 2023, according to the annual National Movers Study from United Van Lines.Story continuesFive other high-tax states − California, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts and New York − rank in the top eight for outbound migration in the 2023 study.Americans moved to several low-tax states in 2023, including Alabama, Arkansas, New Mexico, North and South Carolina, South Dakota and West Virginia.The quest for lower taxes “has clearly factored into the migration,” said Chester Spatt, professor of finance at Carnegie Mellon University.“You look at the outflow from California, for example,” a state ranked ninth for lifetime taxes in the Self Financial report

Residents Of This State Pay $987,117 In Lifetime Taxes. Guess Which One?

Regions Bank is launching education programs to coincide with Financial Literacy Month in April.The effort, announced in a Monday (March 25) press release, will include online seminars, events at branches and chances for consumers to get free personalized advice for creating and monitoring financial goals through the Regions Greenprint experience.“For Regions, it’s a back-to-basics approach that blends personalized service with practical technology, meaning individualized plans, sound advice, and convenient access to tools and resources — something also highlighted in new advertisements that display Regions’ commitment to helping people through building financial confidence,” the release said.The offerings include webinars that are part of Regions Next Step, the bank’s year-round, no-cost financial wellness platform, and will feature Investopedia Editor-in-Chief Caleb Silver alongside Hilarey Gould, editorial director of The Balance.Meanwhile, Greenprint offers free, personalized plans to consumers to help them plan their financial goals.“Working with a Regions banker, customers build a plan focused on the goals they set, supported along the way by personalized data and guidance, digital and in-person touchpoints, smart product solutions, and more,” the release said.PYMNTS examined the need for proper financial literacy last year through the lens of buy now, pay later (BNPL) programs, noting that “the fact that only 23% of consumers with low credit scores reported using BNPL and less than 20% used it specifically to improve their credit scores underscores a knowledge gap.”Closing that gap, the report said, will require better education and increased awareness among consumers with low credit scores about the potential advantages of using credit products to improve their credit status.“FinTechs and financial product vendors must lead the charge, exploring effective ways to connect with consumers having low credit scores with user-friendly materials and education on credit building to ease their path to financial stability,” PYMNTS wrote.Additional research by PYMNTS shows that nearly 50% of high-debt consumers facing credit score issues have already embraced credit building tools in the past year, compared to only 7% of consumers without such issues.Last year, Regions Bank teamed with credit-building platform Self Financial to help Region’s consumer banking customers in building credit and improving their financial health. The collaboration lets consumers have their rent, cellphone and utility payments reported to the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.“We were drawn to work with Regions because of our shared commitment to working toward financial inclusion,” Self Financial Chief Strategy Officer Chris LaConte said in a news release. “Working with Regions enables us to support more consumers who either are new to establishing credit, or they’re in need of solutions that reflect how they’re already responsibly managing bills and other payments.”

Regions Bank Launches Programs To Promote Financial Literacy

Online platform for credit score improvement

Self Financial

Online platform for credit score improvement

Self Financial

Online platform for credit score improvement

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