Milton, Queensland, Australia
Ten years ago, I founded Jacaranda Finance with a mission to offer fast, fair and accessible credit to everyday Australians who are rejected for finance by the mainstream economy. We know that affordable credit is essential for financial well-being, and we’re dedicated to making it available when our customers need it or want it. Jacaranda's technology brings together more than a decade of data, machine learning, and nontraditional risk variables to create a proprietary decisioning platform that looks at each customer through a more holistic lens than just their Beuerau credit score. This approach allows us to provide accessible, responsible, and affordable financial products. Our products aren’t just stopgaps but are designed to build strong financial foundations. Through Comprehensive Credit Reporting (CCR), personalised loan assessments, and financial education tools, we’re helping our customers learn more about their credit profiles and navigate a stable financial future. We believe in supporting our customers with the same features that mainstream lenders offer prime consumers, giving everyone the chance to grow their financial well-being. I’m also a board member of Zenobia Capital. Zenobia is a Jacaranda Finance Group company. The Zenobia Fund is an investment fund for wholesale investors, targeting monthly cash distributions of 11% p.a. A proud University of Queensland alumni, I am committed to supporting aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators. In 2023, I decided to endow an entrepreneurship scholarship to inspire student entrepreneurs to start their own businesses. The scholarship will support students year after year in perpetuity, leaving a lasting legacy in the University. As evidenced by the above, in everything I do, I’m driven by not just settling for the way it has always been done and always looking for smarter ways to work and provide a service for the end user – the customer.
What started as a shared vision between myself and my brother to simplify the personal loan process, has become Jacaranda Finance with a 70+ strong team that now services all of Australia. Our mission is to provide everyday consumers with accessible, affordable, and responsible borrowing opportunities. We leverage alternative data to assess risk, allowing us to offer credit to borrowers who are often overlooked by the mainstream economy that is heavily reliant on a traditional credit score. We achieve our mission by focusing on three key areas. First, we provide fast and more accessible credit through custom-built, cutting-edge technology that simplifies and accelerates the lending process. By using alternative data to measure risk, such as our customers' bank transactional data, we tailor each loan assessment to the individual, ensuring a more accurate and fair evaluation of their risk profile. Second, we empower our customers through financial education. We believe in sharing the essential financial skills that everyone should have—skills that are often overlooked in traditional education. Our tools allow customers to understand and track their credit scores for free and offer helpful tips on how to improve their financial standing over time. Lastly, we actively participate in the Comprehensive Credit Reporting (CCR) regime, which enables us to help our customers build and improve their credit scores. This not only benefits them directly but also strengthens their position in the broader financial ecosystem, where credit scores are critical for accessing a range of services. Together, these efforts ensure that we provide accessible, responsible, and empowering financial solutions to our customers.
Zenobia holds an Australian Financial Services Licence (487 355) is a Jacaranda Finance Group company. I have worked with the team to sharpen the focus on the growth of digital lending at Jacaranda Finance. The Zenobia Fund is an investment fund for wholesale investors, targeting monthly cash distributions of 11% p.a. (net of fees).
Nifty Loans was acquired by the Jacaranda Finance Group in 2022. Nifty Loans built a strong reputation for making personal lending simple, fast and accessible. The business focused on convenient, unsecured and secured personal loans, typically ranging from $500 to $3,000 with terms of up to 24 months, designed to meet everyday customer needs through a digital-first experience. We acquired Nifty Loans in 2022 as a deliberate and strategic step to accelerate Jacaranda Finance Group’s growth and strengthen our capabilities. The acquisition delivered immediate value through the addition of a high-quality, performing loan book, providing an instant uplift in revenue-generating assets that aligned well with our credit and risk strategy. It also expanded our customer base by around 5,000 active customers, alongside a database of hundreds of thousands of past applicants and prospects, significantly extending our reach and future growth opportunities. Nifty’s founder, Andrew Bell, joined Jacaranda Finance as Chief Product Officer, bringing more than eight years of fintech leadership and product innovation experience. His appointment strengthened our executive team and reinforced our commitment to building technology-led lending solutions at scale.
I evolved and streamlined the company’s loan application structure to an online product in both Australia and the UK. The initial process in Australia required customers completing the loan application in-person at a physical Cash Converters store after an initial online enquiry. But the process was overhauled to make it 100% online. Within three years, the small team I led was responsible for the online channel accounting for half of all personal loan outgoings annually. I also established and refined the online product in the UK in 2012-2013.