Since its founding in 2004, QCash Financial has been at the leading edge of fintech solutions that enable credit unions to serve their members and deepen their relationships. In 2017, that led to the Financial Times awarding QCash Financial with its Future of Fintech Innovation Award. As digital financial services become more prevalent, QCash Financial strives to find new ways to stay at the forefront of fintech solutions. In this video, CEO Ben Morales shares his thoughts on forging new partnerships with other credit union service organizations (CUSO) and fintech providers to lead the way into the future.
The Golden Age Of Fintech
According to SoFi CEO and Director Anthony Noto, we’re entering “a golden era for digital financial services.” Businesses in the financial services space that recognize this opportunity, like SoFi and Wells Fargo, are sure to cement their places among industry leaders, while those that don’t are likely to go the way of brick-and-mortar retailers slow to adapt to online shopping (e.g., former retail giant Sears). Morales recognizes this as a growth opportunity for CUSOs and other fintech service providers like QCash Financial. Morales explains:
“It’s something that we are continuing to work on, because what we’re finding in the marketplace is the synergy that multiple…CUSOs and other types of fintechs come up with is the ability to work together and create…products to be able to enter the marketplace, perhaps even together, to [create] different solutions.”
With the work QCash Financial does with our credit union customers, building successful business-to-business (B2B) partnerships is nothing new. In fact, QCash Financial has collaborated with other fintech organizations in the past. One silver lining to the global pandemic recession has been the realization across industries just how much can be done through technology. Whether it’s employees working from home or families gathering virtually during the holidays, technology is playing an increasingly important role in all our lives. Fintechs who can partner successfully see this as a promising opportunity to develop new ways to serve banking customers and credit union members.
As the Credit Union Times points out, migration to digital banking and lending services went from “gradual” to near-immediate under COVID-19 restrictions. Simply put, members and borrowers couldn’t simply go to their neighborhood credit union branch anymore. That sudden rush to online banking could cause problems for financial institutions whose technology isn’t up to snuff. Rapid-response fintech solutions, like QCash Financial’s six-click, 60-second decisioning capabilities, have become crucial to meeting member and customer needs. When Americans are faced with sudden, unexpected financial emergencies resulting from layoffs, pay reductions or family illness, they need help quickly.
Relationship-Based Lending
Another change we’ve seen during the coronavirus pandemic is the increasing emphasis we put on our relationships. Throughout their proud history, credit unions have placed their members’ financial well-being above shareholder profit. Small dollar lending decisions, based on member relationships rather than credit scores like those enabled by QCash Financial’s digital small dollar lending platform, fit that need for interpersonal connection as well.
These evolving approaches to lending decisions present another opportunity for fintech service providers. Fast and efficient decisioning makes for increased responsiveness to members’ emergent needs, basing those decisions on human factors rather than traditional credit scores improves relationships and engages with borrowers on a more personal level.
According to Morales, QCash Financial is pursuing that opportunity as well. “We have often talked with alternative data providers that are emerging in the marketplace as new ways to underwrite small dollar loans for brand new members.”
The Shrinking World Of Fintech
Because the COVID-19 outbreak has truly been a global pandemic, the world now feels more interconnected. Thanks to the internet and our growing reliance on e-commerce, the economy was already evolving into a global one. The recession that has resulted from the pandemic has been global, showing just how connected we all are. This is revealing emerging markets that require new working relationships and technological solutions. It is becoming vital for financial institutions and other businesses to form international partnerships as a response.
Along with the other benefits of working together with fintechs, Morales explains, QCash Financial is looking at how new international partnerships can improve responsiveness.
“We’re… exploring a Canadian partnership with a fintech company up there to see how we might partner with them to deliver small dollar loans to the Canadian market.”
Working Together With Fintech Partners
The past year has presented challenges very few could foresee. They call for new ways of responding that may be hard to foresee as well. With the right vision, though, and the right partnerships, fintech service providers like QCash Financial can lead the way to a brighter future. Now is the time to move beyond simply bridging the financial gaps caused by a global pandemic recession and into creating new solutions for the world to come.
In addition to being an industry leader in technological innovation, QCash Financial has long partnered with credit unions and other fintechs to provide B2B solutions that meet members’ growing financial needs. As those needs continue to evolve, so will our working relationships. QCash Financial will find new partnerships to respond to your members’ needs, forge new relationships for a new world and expand our services into new and emerging markets.
As Morales summarizes, “These partnerships of fintechs – multiple fintechs – working together is a way to really expand [our] capability and get quickly to market with new and innovative ideas.
QCash Financial provides innovative fintech solutions that enable financial institutions to create new products and services for a changing world. Our blog regularly features articles about the various ways we help you respond to the financial needs of our community during the recession and beyond. For more information on QCash Financial’s small dollar lending or financial wellness services, please contact us.
