Kevin Mobolade With Swipe Credit

Intro: [00:00:04] Welcome back to the start of Showdown podcast where we discuss pitching, funding and scaling startups. Join us as we interview winners, mentors and judges of the monthly $120,000 pitch competition powered by Panoramic Ventures. We also discuss the latest updates in software web3, health care, tech, fintech and more. Now sit tight as we interview this week’s guest and their journey through entrepreneurship.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:38] Lee Kantor here. Another episode of Startup Showdown, and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor Panoramic Ventures. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on the show, we have Kevin Mobolade with Swipe Credit. Welcome, Kevin.

Kevin Mobolade: [00:00:56] Thank you so much for having me, Lee.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:57] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about swipe credit. How you serving folks?

Kevin Mobolade: [00:01:03] Thank you. So Swipe Credit is a platform that helps lenders grow their cash flow and reduce their risk. And it’s done in a way that also empowers them to boost the social impact opportunities that they’re providing in their local communities. So we’re a Techstars back company. We’ve got investors such as Western Union and Panoramic Ventures, and our mission is to help grow these organizations, bottom line. But as we’re doing it, helping them to be more inclusive in their lending practices.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:39] So what was the genesis of the idea? What inspired you to go on this adventure?

Kevin Mobolade: [00:01:46] And it’s definitely been an adventure, I’d say that. So my personal background, my personal origin story is I’m a first generation American. So my parents immigrated to the US in the early 1990s and really seeing them navigate the financial industry as being under the category of two things and filed because of the immigrant status and a lot of the struggles that they dealt with in terms of getting access to loans and other financial resources as as immigrants in the country. So my background is in data engineering. I’ve worked in the subprime lending and lending industry in Atlanta for many years. And even seeing from my own personal story and then seeing that same pattern repeat itself in the data with prospective borrowers working for these organizations, I realized that there was an issue, and I think that was really what galvanized myself and my team to do something about it, not only to help kind of grow these organizations bottom line, but also to help fix a lot of the social fabric issues that we’re seeing kind of play out in the news recently in the US.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:02] So now can you educate the listener a little bit about what is kind of this maybe inherent bias that’s going on in the industry that they’re not offering? Financial solutions to certain groups of people where it sounds like your solution does that.

Kevin Mobolade: [00:03:20] Yes. So there’s actually a study that was produced by Citibank in the fall of 2020 where they were able to actually quantify the the size of this issue. It’s around $800 billion in lost lending opportunities per year, just due to be a conscious or unconscious bias in the loan vetting process. So typically, lenders leverage the traditional FICO score TransUnion, Equifax, Experian, and they use that as an indicator of whether or not a person has the ability to pay for a loan. But what we’re actually finding is that there’s a large portion of the population that can’t be scored by those methodologies just due to the antiquated nature of our credit scoring system. However, with these individuals, the top 1% of them actually are fantastic payers. They pay their bills on time, their rental payments on time, utility payments on time, they’ve got mortgages, they’re making these payments. But the traditional credit scoring system is not able to see that. And due to that, these individuals are rejected in the application process.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:35] So now because of your history, I guess in the industry and then your personal history, you were able to kind of connect some dots that maybe other people that are more seasoned in the industry weren’t seeing or they were afraid to maybe go out into this space and say, okay, there’s people we’re missing here. They either dismiss it as not a lot of people or because I would think that their it’s in their best interest to, you know, give credit to as many people as possible. That’s their business, right?

Kevin Mobolade: [00:05:05] Yes. So we’re helping them to reach new markets. This is definitely stemming from my own personal lived experience, not only working as an engineer in the industry, but also just being an immigrant, being a first generation American and just seeing just my own parents. Like little examples. Like both of my parents have owned their own small businesses for over 20 years. They’ve made their easily two or $3,000 a month payments, rental payments on their physical locations. And none of that none of none of those payments have ever been reported to the credit bureaus. They’ve never gotten credit for those types of transactions. And if a lender were able to see that and see their reliability over the course of time, historically, it creates a strong, compelling case for giving these these types of individuals that typically, if they’re just too thin, filed a second look. So we look at it like we’re the tool gives these these lenders a new pair of glasses to view this population and also provides them with recommendations as to why they should take a give this borrower prospective borrower another opportunity even though they might have been too thin file to be scored via the traditional methods.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:24] Now, is this a situation where these traditional methods, these incumbents have been around for so long? It’s it’s something that’s just kind of taken for granted, like this is how we do this and we don’t look elsewhere. This is just.

Kevin Mobolade: [00:06:39] And exactly.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:39] And I don’t want to I don’t want to be the one that gets fired for suggesting the new thing when we know this whole thing maybe doesn’t work well, but it’s what we’ve been doing for forever.

Kevin Mobolade: [00:06:50] Yeah. So it’s, you know, people are we’re creatures of habit and we’re not trying to replace in any way, shape or form, you know, the unions or experience of the world. What we’re doing is saying that due to these new mechanisms, machine learning, neural networks that are available to us and we’re seeing this in the data that we’re producing out of the platform, that if you look at women or minorities or people that are too thin file, the top 1% of them perform just as well as the highest of the riskiest white male borrowers that were accepted. So the proposition is that, you know, and this is backed up by data coming out of Citibank, that there are hundreds of billions of dollars a year that are just left on the table just due to just doing things the old way. So we’re not saying replace the old way, we’re just saying to evolve the old way with additional tools that can help you make more money at the end of the day.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:48] So, so having this idea conceptually and then having tools to actually bubble up, who are the right people to give credit to? That’s that’s a leap unto itself. How did you kind of build the machine that allows you to bubble up these appropriate folks for the lenders to choose that they know they’re the the right people that are going to, you know, pay back. The money.

Kevin Mobolade: [00:08:15] Gotcha. So from the lender’s perspective, the implementation of it is very seamless. It’s just one line of JavaScript that’s added to their website and it’s just a pop up on their website, their loan page, where an applicant can opt in there, their banking transaction, their cash accounts, or their banking transaction history. So we’ve built an algorithm that looks at certain parameters such as cash on hand last day of the month, rental payments, utility payments, mobile phone payments, subscription payments. And then based upon those parameters, matches that to an ideal borrower model to keep the standard high. Obviously, we only want to surface up those top 1% of applicants because we want them we want the lenders to realize increased revenue growth from these these candidates. And those are surfaced up in the dashboard, along with recommendations as to certain things that they weren’t able to see via FICO. As I mentioned before, some of those certain parameters they weren’t able to see. That’s the first portion of it. We also do additional fraud monitoring. So looking at the transaction accounts and providing the lender with a report of any type of suspicious activity on the borrower’s account, once they create a relationship with this borrower in terms of lending to them, and then we also help them with collections as well. So setting up specific say it’s the first of the month or the 15th of the month where a bill is due helping the borrower to pay that that bill directly to the lender. And they’re reporting that to the credit bureau to also help boost the credit score of the borrower. So it’s a it’s a situation where everyone who’s a part of the platform wins.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:04] Now, as you, you know, conceptualize this and started rolling it out, when did you start feeling like, hey, we have something here, this is something that can work. This can help a lot of people because this is something that goes beyond like it sounds like you’re your startup is kind of more mission focused as well as, you know, you want to be financially successful. But this is kind of a has a bigger why behind it.

Kevin Mobolade: [00:10:29] Yeah. So I think the pandemic really illuminated many of the I like to call them like kind of cracks in the pipe in the way that money flows in the US. We saw this with the distribution of loans from federal government. Many small businesses went under during the pandemic simply because they didn’t have a relationship with these financial organizations. There was no trust for a lender to provide a loan to an unknown entity where they can just give it to the the LA Lakers or other known established entities. So seeing that those stories come out of the pandemic, that was the first light bulb moment. The second light bulb moment after we’ve already onboarded a handful of customers is being scouted by large Fortune 500 top 50 banks and sitting down with their teams and seeing their own internal initiatives specifically focused on tackling this issue. So we definitely know we’re moving in the right direction. We’ve had a very large wealth management firm out of New York reach out to us in terms of becoming basically that go two to solution to help them to reach this population group a large payment network. So these these are all things that have happened in the last few months of this this the top of this year. And having sitting down with decision makers at the VP level and above and them telling us specifically out of their own mouths that we’re definitely hitting the nail on the head. This is the right time in history for us to be deploying this solution, and we’re looking to be that end to end solution that becomes industry standard across the board in the next 3 to 5 years.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:08] So how did you go about building your team?

Kevin Mobolade: [00:12:12] Also, my team, my team, my team. So we’re all we’re all good friends. So our CTO, Dr. Charles Lively, we actually met in undergrad. So I’ve known Charles for well over a decade now. Great human being, lethal, lethal engineer and just fantastic all around. Good guy. And then Chris, our chief product officer, and I actually worked in the subprime lending industry for many, many years together in terms of our careers and we’re all so I’m a Liverpool soccer fan. I’m a big English Premier League fan and unfortunately Chris is an Arsenal fan. We all talk about that. So yeah, we’re just we’re just family, honestly. And we come from this community. We understand the problems intimately, and we’ve built a solution that we believe will help to grow the economy, grow the country that’s given us so much value and opportunity. Many of us being immigrants at the same time, help these organizations safely. And. Lively reach this underserved population group. First and foremost, grow their cash flow, grow their organizations, but ultimately create those create create a better harmony within the communities that they serve by being able to be more inclusive in their practices.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:31] Now, was it a difficult decision for you to take the leap from leaving this steady job and then going into this unknown?

Kevin Mobolade: [00:13:44] I am definitely a man of faith, and I feel like this is my purpose in life. So both of my parents are entrepreneurs, as I mentioned earlier on the call. So I always had that desire to build something of value and not just work within someone else’s system, but to build something that can provide value to people. I already had that itch from a young age and when the opportunity presented itself and it was just a light bulb moment, I had experienced my own lives, my own lived experiences. I felt this pain. I’ve seen it in my own communities. And then to see it really illuminated by the pandemic and to have the hard, quantifiable data backing it up, it was like all systems are go green light to move to move forward with this. And as I mentioned before, I move in full faith and whatever, whatever, whatever it is I’m doing. So God gives me that confidence to just just to just to follow the journey. And it’s been it’s been an amazing journey, and it’s something I’m very grateful for and thankful for.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:48] Did your partners kind of like together? You all said, okay, let’s make this leap, or did you make the leap first? And they came along.

Kevin Mobolade: [00:14:57] Yeah. As the CEO, you are the tip of the spear. So I did make the initial leap, but once I had enough proof points, you know, my both of my co-founders also jumped ship as well. And we’ve been we’ve been growing ever since. We’re actually looking to expand our team in the next quarter or so. And yeah, a lot of people are really excited about it, a lot of interest from investors and we’re just grateful to be able to ultimately serve the country that’s given us so much value to be able to get to this point.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:30] So now talk a little bit about the fundraising element of this. You mentioned, you know, kind of a who’s who of people that are backing this now. Was that difficult? Because that’s that’s another challenge. That isn’t the same challenge, right? Because that’s a business unto itself, is attracting people that want to support financially, kind of invest in your vision. How did that go? Like, for example, how did you hear about the startup showdown in Panoramic Ventures? Let’s talk about them specifically.

Kevin Mobolade: [00:16:02] Gotcha. So in terms of the first portion of your question, fundraising for any founders is a challenge regardless of your background. And it is its it’s its own it’s its own sales funnel and its own sales funnel. You have to be able to address the needs of the investor who is your client because they’re looking to grow their portfolio, the investment that they give you, they’re looking to grow that and return great returns to the LPs that believed in them. So ultimately you have to de-risk your value proposition as much as possible so that you have the team that is strong enough and has enough domain expertize to be able to kind of operate this this machine. And also, you have a big vision that can return the returns they’re looking for that makes sense for their business. So it’s its own game in itself. Discovering Panoramic Ventures Startup Showdown. I think I was on Twitter, I believe it was like early 20, 21. I want to say I was on Twitter and I saw them promoting it. And obviously I’m a big fan of Paul Judge. You know, he’s a hero in my eyes in terms of the venture community and all the things he’s done. He definitely deserves his roses now, not later. He’s done so much for the venture community. So just being a follower of of him and what he’s doing, I just kind of discovered the the ad for it and I just applied. I just put my best foot out there and it ended up working out for us. So very grateful for that.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:37] Is there an obstacle or a hurdle that you overcame that you can share? Maybe you don’t have to talk about the exact hurdle, but how you addressed it and go, okay, this is one of those moments where we have to get through this or we’re going to be in trouble and then share how you together as a team overcame.

Kevin Mobolade: [00:17:59] Only one. There are a couple of them on this journey. I don’t know if you know, but I think I’ve heard that called Smooth Seas Don’t Make for Good Sailors or. Right. So there’s definitely a couple of them, I would say for just an overarching theme is the mental. This game is really more so mental than it is physical. Having that conviction, as you mentioned earlier on the call to leave a steady paycheck and to go months and months and months without knowing when your next your next paycheck is coming from or how are you going to pay your rent or your bills? I think the entire journey is really a journey of self development, self belief and also just being able to control your mind. I think your mind is the biggest obstacle you have to overcome eliminating self doubt, limiting beliefs. And as long as you obviously you’re you’re you’re making sure that you’re doing the proper research, asking the right questions. But if your intuition is telling me that you’re correct, you’re most likely correct. So just trust that and have full faith in yourself as you move forward. And then typically what ends up happening is the right opportunities and the right people come to you at the time when they’re supposed to arrive. And it’s just a matter of you having faith to be able to get to those points in the times when it’s quiet or whatnot. So I would think that your mental the mental obstacle of the game is the hardest to overcome. But when you can overcome that, nobody can stop you.

Lee Kantor: [00:19:33] Has there been a mentor or somebody that was advising you that has helped you get here or is there?

Kevin Mobolade: [00:19:40] Yeah, quite a few. Quite a few dimension. But my main mentor, his name is Joseph, so he actually owned and he he built and sold an IT company and back in 2011, 2012 out of Toronto and he’s been my main coach. If you think about this as a sport, he’s been my main coach in terms of first and foremost the mental aspect of the game. So as I mentioned before, know little, little hacks that I’ll just give freely on this call is having gratitude is critical. You have to be a person that has a grateful heart and grateful for everything, just even the little things like you woke up today, you had breakfast this morning, right? If you can keep your mind focused on the present moment, exactly where you are, you set your goals in the future of what you want to achieve and work relentlessly to achieve those goals, but still be appreciative of the baby steps that it takes to get there. You’ll fare. You have a much better time as you go through this process. So Joseph has been instrumental in helping me to reprogram my mind, to focus on abundance, to focus on opportunities. And when I do have those moments of fear and doubt, giving me tools to help to combat that and just to be present in the moment and grateful for where I am in the journey. So yeah, shout out to Joseph up in Toronto.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:13] Yeah, I agree. I think one of the biggest mindset shifts for me is the reframing of I have to do something to I get to do something that it’s a gift, that this is a gift here and that people would love to have this opportunity no matter how stressful and challenging it is. But it is a gift and to have gratitude along the way really helps you through those tough times.

Kevin Mobolade: [00:21:38] Definitely. We all have that ability. We all have the ability to control our minds and not fall into despair as soon as the wind blows or anything like that. So I think it’s something that many people are just learning more so about mindfulness and being and practicing that muscle that we all have hardwired into us, right? So it’s definitely a critical piece of, be it entrepreneurship, winning an NBA championship, it’s the mind that you have to control and then everything else in your world will follow suit.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:10] Yeah, one of my favorite books is The Obstacle is the Way.

Kevin Mobolade: [00:22:14] I love that one.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:15] Great read. Right? So it’s, it’s not there to sabotage me. It’s just part of the journey. Just get over it, get through it, get under it. Whatever you got to do. That’s just part of how it’s it’s not a bug. It’s a feature.

Kevin Mobolade: [00:22:26] Yes. Yes. It’s there to help you. Is there to make you not break you right. Mindset.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:32] So now any advice for the startup founders out there that are contemplating going on the journey of a mission based startup?

Kevin Mobolade: [00:22:40] Hmm, I would say so. My advice, and this is what I’ve learned for myself too, it’s like you start off wanting to be an entrepreneur like most people, because you want to make money. Let’s just be real, you know? You want to make money. You want to you want to drive the Lambo. Da da da da da. But what you discover is that there are many, many people in our country and countries around the world that really suffer every single day. They have real problems. So I would say as an entrepreneur, start off with don’t try and create a widget. Start off with the problem. What is the problem that speaks to you that you’ve experienced in your own lived experience on your journey that you are the most qualified to solve? Start from that problem. Start from the pain, right? You want to find that hair on fire pain that you’re passionate about solving because you know that once it’s solved, it’ll create a better world for people that look like you for the broader community. Start with that. And that will give you the fuel that you need when the times are difficult to power through those because it becomes a mission. It’s it’s like you become the hero in the story and you are so attached to solving this problem that you’ll work seven days a week. You’ll be up at 5:00 in the morning, you’d be in bed by 11. It doesn’t matter, because it’s more of the the the joy of being able to solve this issue. And then the money will follow you. You know, like the money solves follows problem solvers. I feel like if you have that mindset and that approach, you’ll fare much better as you progress on the journey and just take your time with it. Have fun. The journey is the gift. I’ll say that for sure. And yeah, just. Just focus on just just focus on doing good and being good and then good things will flow to you.

Lee Kantor: [00:24:36] So what’s next for Swipe Credit?

Kevin Mobolade: [00:24:40] So we are definitely in the process of raising our seed rounds. We’re looking to expand our team, hiring some folks in certain roles and engineering customer success sales. As I mentioned before, we’re seeing the demand increase in terms of our solutions. So we definitely need to shore up the the infrastructure and increase the capacity in terms of what the platform can actually sustain and hold. So these are all good problems to have. And yeah, that’s what our focus is for 2022. And, you know, just focus on creating this end to end solution that these organizations can use to empower their inclusive growth moving forward to the future.

Lee Kantor: [00:25:21] Is there an ideal customer out there that you’re trying to serve?

Kevin Mobolade: [00:25:27] So our typical customer segments that is anywhere between, I would say 20, let’s say 30 to $40 Million in assets under management, up to 5 billion. That’s the typical sweet spot that we’ve seen really resonate with it in terms of the products, the need and also the sales cycle, keeping the sales cycle tight. But we have seen, as I mentioned before, those brand names, those leaders in the industry also reach out and we’re currently in conversations with them as well, too. So once we’re able to announce those, I think that will help to really galvanize our growth moving forward.

Lee Kantor: [00:26:06] So if somebody wants to connect with you or the team, what’s a website?

Kevin Mobolade: [00:26:10] So the website website is swipe credit.com. So that’s WW Swipe Credit.com. And then you can personally reach out to me via email. It’s Kevin at Explore Swipe. So it’s like explore swipe dot com so Kevin dot com.

Lee Kantor: [00:26:26] Well, Kevin, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Kevin Mobolade: [00:26:31] Thank you so much for the opportunity. Ali. It’s been great.

Lee Kantor: [00:26:33] All right. This is Lee Kantor mission next time on Startup Showdown.

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