SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Grow Credit, a financial inclusion platform committed to building credit and improving credit scores, today announced the rollout of its Credit Builder App for Students, initially as an Apple iOS exclusive for 60 days beginning December 9.
The Credit Builder App for Students, working in partnership with Blue Ridge Bank NA, allows student users with limited income to repay their Grow Credit accounts in full via payment from their linked bank account each month. The platform reports a $204 line of credit to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, allowing them to demonstrate a positive repayment history to build credit. Grow Credit also offers a free Build membership plan for those students that meet standard requirements.
According to FICO, making on-time consecutive payments accounts for 35% of the credit score performance. In that context, the student membership plan includes a $17 deposit refunded after 12 months of on-time consecutive payments - a positive incentive for students to make timely payments while optimizing their credit score performances in the process.
“Students have it tough today,” said Joe Bayen, CEO and founder at Grow Credit, “The pandemic has changed the emerging student workforce in a way that makes it practically impossible for them to establish credit while in school. I was a student-athlete, and I experienced first-hand the impact of starting a credit building journey with a poor credit score. As a result, we created the Credit Builder for Students program as a tangible solution for building credit while increasing students’ financial literacy.”
Grow Credit’s customer-focused and inclusive approach allows Americans to build their credit history and increase their financial literacy. The platform combines a small-dollar loan with a virtual Grow Credit Mastercard that’s exclusively designed to be used to pay for 100+ popular subscriptions, including Netflix, Disney+, Spotify, and Amazon Prime. For as little as $1 per month and a security deposit of $17, students can organize and maintain their subscription payments while they establish or build their credit on all three credit bureaus. The security deposit is fully refundable to the student when they graduate to another Grow membership.
By enabling students to establish credit at an early age, the benefits they receive as they get older are exponential:
- More housing options
- Lower security deposits for rent and utilities
- Greater savings on loans
- Lower car payments
- Access to better credit cards with greater reward
Bayen added, “Establishing and having good credit while in school helps set students on the right path into adulthood.”
This comes on the heels of a $106.3 million financing seed round that include key investors Mucker Capital and Commerce Ventures, along with former NBA All-Star Baron Davis, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins, and Matt Higgins, who is vice-chair of the Miami Dolphins, a recurring Shark on ABC’s Shark Tank, co-founder and CEO of RSE Ventures, and co-owner of VaynerMedia.
To learn more about Grow Credit, visit www.growcredit.com.
About Grow Credit Inc.
Grow Credit’s innovative credit building service lowers the barrier of entry for millions of Americans who need to establish and build credit. Combining a small-dollar loan with a virtual Mastercard, the service manages subscription payments, such as Netflix, and reports loan balances to the credit bureaus. The Mastercard is issued through Sutton Bank and is exclusively designed to pay subscription payments. The company is based in Santa Monica and was founded in 2018 by financial industry veterans. For more information, visit GrowCredit.com.
Loans under Grow Credit's premium Loan Programs are made by Blue Ridge Bank, N.A., Member FDIC.
