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Alternative personal finance platforms have been sweeping the world of late, with advances in data analytics and instant access to capital making overnight success stories of companies like Afterpay (ASX: APT) and Zip Co (ASX: ZIP).
Personal loan group MoneyMe is throwing its own hat into the buy-now pay-later (BNPL) ring with the launch of its latest product ListReady.
The entrance of MoneyMe into this world of on-demand, instant-access personal finance comes at a pivotal time for the business; it hopes to list on the ASX before the end of 2019.
The IPO will be a pivotal moment for MoneyMe. The company even has the backing of Airtasker chairman James Spenceley and former NAB Chief Risk Officer Peter Coad sitting on the company board and helping to push the listing.
But unlike Afterpay and Zip, who are focusing on personal finance for daily transactions, MoneyMe is diving headfirst into an untapped niche market.
ListReady is a BNPL option for the $6.6 trillion real estate sector, allowing vendors to postpone up to $25,000 of property marketing costs until after settlement, with 60-day interest free terms.
MoneyMe CEO and founder Clayton Howes (pictured) says the platform irons out friction involved in selling houses, allowing vendors to market their properties better and potentially realising more generous outcomes at auction.
"MoneyMe is a mainly a data driven solution for where pain and friction exists and its managed to build a really compelling experience for customers in servicing the modern personal loan and credit cards product experience," says Howes.
"It is a solution for vendors to be able to list a house quite efficiently, as opposed to them having to put $10,000 on their credit card or go away and find that $10,000-20,000 for the marketing budget."
The platform is based on data science, with ListReady able to assess the probability of real estate agents to be able to sell the property as well as the characteristics of the borrower to determine how much money the platform will provide to its users.
"It's really removing a whole bunch of friction points and it's a win-win strategy for the vendor and for the agent," says Howes.
"The money is going into investing into realising a better outcome for both parties with the house being sold perhaps for a better price. It's a product data driven by probability of the house being sold by the agent understanding the value of the asset and the market dynamics of what a house is likely to sell for."
ListReady is just the beginning for MoneyMe as it approaches its inevitable IPO.
The company is due to launch Australia's first instant virtual credit account on the Mastercard network in the next month which will allow customers to get access to and use credit in real time.
"The buy-now pay-later model gives customers instant access to things they want to buy," says Howes.
"We're seeing that a structured repayment model is attractive to customers. What we've delivered is those same elements but through a Mastercard network that allows customers freedom and flexibility to use it. There can be shopping experiences everywhere."
An IPO is a major move for any company, and according to Howes the listing will not only help bring in investment but will promote MoneyMe's business journey to the nation.
"I've been building this business for six years. It's a really successful business and we've built a large customer base with a strong foothold in Australia," says Howes.
"But we wanted to actually share the MoneyMe story with the public in a more meaningful way. We want to allow the Australian public to participate in its success rate and realise its growth ambition together."
"The capital raising in the public markets is useful to establish funding growth so that we can take this to broader sectors."Air
"We're cash flow positive and I think the Australian public will find the accessibility of this fintech darling a real delight to participate in."
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