Financeit recapitalisaton gives Goldman Sachs majority stake
Point of sale (POS) financing provider Financeit completed an investment round with existing shareholder Goldman Sachs. The round gives the firm a majority stake in the Toronto-based fintech, writes David Penn at Finovate (Banking Technology‘s sister company).
Michael Garrity, CEO and president of Financeit, says the investment is a sign of Goldman Sachs’ “continued confidence in our leadership team, our business model, our platform, and the ability to grow our service”. He highlights the recent integration with Centah, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) workflow and lead management solutions provider, as an opportunity to expand into the home improvement industry “from lead generation to closing the sale”.
Financeit helps merchants increase closing rates and transaction sizes by enabling them to offer customers affordable monthly or bi-weekly payment plans. The cloud-based technology provides a fast and transparent application process for consumers, and helps merchants better manage cashflow, get paid sooner, and offer customers additional payment options. Financeit is free to use, and requires no merchant fees.
But Financeit adds a twist. “We service the transaction on both sides,” Garrity explains. “On one side, we have a set of merchant partners who rely on us to power sales at the POS every day with our innovative solutions. On the other side, we have a set of financial institutions who rely on us to originate and to manage these loans on their behalf in their name and within their compliance framework.”
Financeit was founded in 2011. In June this year, it received new funding capacity of $85 million from a “major Canadian life insurance company”. Since inception, the company has worked with more than 7,000 merchant partners in Canada and processed more than $2.5 billion in loan applications.
