Lending & Credit | Mississauga, ON | Founded: 2006 | Employees: 2,200 (goeasy: >2,000) | www.easyfinancial.com
PHONE: (844) 446-3279 | LINKEDIN PROFILE | BLOOMBERG PROFILE | WIKIPEDIA
Last updated September 9, 2021 | To download a PDF version, click here.
Company Overview
goeasy Ltd., a Canadian company, headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, provides non-prime leasing and lending services through its easyhome, easyfinancial and LendCare brands. Supported by more than 2,200 employees, goeasy offers a wide variety of financial products and services including lease-to-own merchandise, unsecured and secured instalment loans. Customers can transact seamlessly through an omni-channel model that includes an online and mobile platform, over 400 locations across Canada, and point-of-sale financing offered in the retail, power sports, automotive, home improvement and healthcare verticals, through more than 4,000 merchants across Canada. Throughout our history, we have acquired and organically served over 1 million Canadians and originated over $6.4 billion in loans, with one in three easyfinancial customers graduating to prime credit and 60% increasing their credit score within 12 months of borrowing.
Accredited by the Better Business Bureau, goeasy is the proud recipient of several awards including Waterstone Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures, Glassdoor Top CEO Award, Achievers Top 50 Most Engaged Workplaces in North America, Greater Toronto Top Employers Award, the Digital Finance Institute’s Canada’s Top 50 FinTech Companies, ranking on the TSX30 and placing on the Report on Business ranking of Canada’s Top Growing Companies. The Company is represented by a diverse group of team members from over 75 nationalities who believe strongly in giving back to the communities in which it operates. To date, goeasy has raised and donated over $3.8 million to support its long-standing partnerships with BGC Canada, Habitat for Humanity and many other local charities.
goeasy Ltd.’s. common shares are listed on the TSX under the trading symbol “GSY”. goeasy is rated BB- with a stable trend from S&P and Ba3 with a stable trend from Moody’s.
Senior Management
Jason Mullins: President and Chief Executive Officer (2019-Present). Previously: Chief Operating Officer, goeasy Ltd. (2010-2018); Vice President, Sales & Operations, Mogo (fintech) (2008-2010); Senior/site, Operations manager, Bill Gosling Outsourcing (2005-2008); National Manager, Secured Recovery, CIBC (2004-2005). Education: MBA, Business Administration (2011-2013), Ivey Business School. Commerce (2001-2003), Ryerson University.
Hal Khouri: Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (2019-Present). Previously: Chief Financial Officer, Walmart Canada Bank (2011-2019); Chief Financial Officer, Chase Canada (2006-2011). Education: BComm, University of Ottawa.
Andrea Fiederer: CMO and Executive Vice President (2015-Present). Previously: Director, Customer Marketing, Mobilicity (2011-2015); Director of Marketing, XM Canada (2007-2011). Education: MBA, Marketing/Strategic Management (2004-2005), Schulich School of Business. Bcomm, Finance/Strategic Management (1997-2000), McGill University.
Jackie Foo: Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (2021-Present). Previously: VP, Retail Centre of Excellence & Corporate Stores, Bell Canada (2017-2021); VP & Chief Operating Officer, The Source, A Bell Company; VP, Corporate Stores, 2007-2015. Education: B.A. (1988-1991), University of Western Ontario, Advanced Management Program (2015-2017), University of Chicago, Booth School of Business.
Jason Appel: CRO and Executive Vice President (2012-Present). Previously: Senior Vice President, Decision Management, Citigroup (2008-2012); Senior Director, Account Management, mortgages and lending, CIBC (2005-2006). Education: MBA (1991-1993), York University Schulich School of Business. BSa, History (1987-1990), University of Toronto.
David Cooper: Senior Vice President HR (2015-Present). Previously: Director of Human Resources Moneris Solution (2007-2015); HR Associate CIBC (2005-2007); Education: BA Employee Relations (1999-2003), University of Toronto.
Sabrina Anzini: Senior Vice President, Legal and Corporate Affairs (2019-present). Previously: Vice President, Legal, goeasy Ltd. (2017-2019); Director and General Counsel of Law and Corporate Affairs, LoyaltyOne (2012-2017); Senior Advisor, Legal Affairs, Office of the Prime Minister (2008-2012). Education: Master of Laws (2008-2009), University of Ottawa. Juris Doctor (2001-2004), Western University. HBA, Business Administration (2002-2004), Ivey Business School at Western University. BA, Political Science (1998-2002), Western University.
Steven Poole: Senior Vice President, Operations and Merchandising (2018-present). Previously: Vice President, Operations and Merchandising, goeasy Ltd. (2016-2018); Vice President, Merchandising and Procurement, goeasy Ltd. (2015-2016); Vice President, Merchandising, goeasy Ltd. (2007-2015); Vice President, Operations and Merchandising, Loblaw Companies Ltd. (2003-2007). Education: MBA (1996-1998), Ivey Business School at Western University. BScA, Acadia University.
Michael Eubanks: Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, (2020-present); Board Member, Toronto Hydro (2020-Present). Previously: Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) and Ontario Cannabis Store (2014-2020); Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, One inc. (2012-2014). Vice President, Architecture, Relationship Management, Governance, Diversified Business, Canadian Tire Corporation. Education: B.A. (1989-1993), York University.
Farhan Ali Khan: Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Investor Relations, (2020-present); Advisory Board Member, Black Professionals in Tech Network (BPTN) Inc. (2021-Present). Previously: Managing Director, RBC Capital Markets (2019-2020); Director, Financial Institutions Investment Banking, RBC Capital Markets (2015-2019); Vice President, Financial Institutions Investment Banking, RBC Capital Markets (2013-2015); Vice President, Mergers and Acquisitions, RBC Capital Markets (2011-2013). Education: MBA (2006-2008), University of Toronto – Rotman School of Management; B.Com, University of Toronto.
History
goeasy (TSX:GSY), was founded in 1990 as RTO enterprises and focused on the rent-to-own furniture business. In 2001, David Ingram was appointed as CEO and returned the company to profitability, later converting 6 unique brands under one consolidated banner, easyhome Ltd. (2003).
In 2006, the company recognized the need to explore new growth opportunities as market dynamics were evolving in the lease-to-own segment and created easyfinancial, the company’s financial services arm that provides consumer installment loans to non-prime Canadians that have limited access to bank credit. Since then, easyfinancial has been the company’s growth engine increasing their maximum loan size to $50,000, creating a proprietary centralized credit adjudication process, introducing secured lending, broadening into the Quebec market, and introducing the first full credit spectrum point-of-sale financing solution. In 2011, we opened our first ever standalone easyfinancial branch, and expanded our operations into Quebec in 2017.
In 2021, the company acquired its third business unit, LendCare, a Canadian point-of-sale consumer finance and technology with officed located in Pickering, ON and Montreal, QC. LendCare enables over 4,000 businesses to increase their revenue by providing full credit spectrum financing at the point-of-sale; providing fast, reliable and affordable financing options for the powersports, auto, retail, home improvement and health sectors. With a dedicated team of finance experts and well-established partnerships with merchants, dealerships and brokers, LendCare bridges the gap between credit score and customers living their best life.
Key Corporate Developments
Press releases: http://investors.goeasy.com/
August 2021: New transactional website launched
July 12, 2021: Appointment of Jackie Foo as Chief Operating Officer
April 30, 2021: goeasy Ltd. Completes acquisition of LendCare
January 5, 2021: goeasy Ltd. Provides update on sale of equity interest in Paybright
Business Highlights
Products/Pricing
- Personal Loans: Direct loans without collateral and higher interest rates. Loan amount ranges from $500-$20,000 with an interest rate of 29.99% and an APR between 29.99% to 46.96% on 9 to 84-month terms.
- Home Equity Loans: Service to get a loan at a discount, using the home as a collateral. Loan amount ranges from $15,000-$50,000, with rates starting at 14.99%, on 72 to 120-month terms.
- Debt Consolidation: Combining smaller loans through a debt consolidation. Same cost structure as personal loans.[1]
[1] https://www.easyfinancial.com/debt-consolidation
Technology
The company has made significant investments in technology over the past several years to provide easyfinancial with a scalable platform on which to support significant future growth and to allow new delivery channels to be developed. Investments include a proprietary loan application management system to process applications, transactional ecommerce websites, and Canada’s first full credit spectrum point-of-sale financing solution. The company has also invested in building proprietary customer scoring models built using machine learning and advanced analytical tools improve the accuracy of predicting default risk for the non-prime customer.[2]
[2] goeasy Ltd. Annual Report
Distribution/Logistics
Easyfinancial serve customers through “branches” of “kiosks,” call centres and online.[3]
[3] https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/goeasy-beats-banks-by-tapping-borrowers-they-turn-away/article32851257
Marketing
With a focus on providing its customers with improved financial outcomes and a better financial future, goeasy’s marketing efforts have centered around building an emotional connection with its customers. Through mass media including TV and radio, as well as digital marketing activities, easyfinancial’s integrated marketing approach has been critical in driving brand awareness and new customer acquisition for the company.
Competitors
With both strong retail branches, as well as online activity, easyfinancial acts as a “gap-filler” between payday (fintech and more conservative) lenders and more traditional banks, both in terms of product/pricing strategy and segment targeting. Some close competitors are:
- Fairstone: Formerly known as CitiFinancial Canada, Fairstone offers personal loans, mortgages, debt consolidation and retail financing through their website.
- Money Mart: Also known as National Money Mart Company, Money Mart provides personal loans, cheque cashing and money transfer services to consumers through its website and stores.