Self Financial Expands into Credit Reporting for Rent & Utilities with Acquisition of RentTrack
The company will operate the definitive credit building platform to better serve 100 million+ credit-challenged Americans
Austin, Texas, Feb. 17, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Self Financial, a leading fintech company that makes building credit and savings more accessible, today announced the acquisition of RentTrack, Inc., a pioneering credit reporting company that was the first to report rent payments to all three major credit bureaus. The acquisition includes RentTrack, the enterprise solution that offers rent reporting through property managers and is available in over 2.8 million rental units, and LevelCredit, the company’s consumer solution that enables customers to build credit through rent, cell phone, electric, water and gas payments.
To date, more than a million American consumers have used RentTrack and LevelCredit to have some of their largest household expenses furnished to the bureaus to help build their credit.
Self plans to fully integrate LevelCredit and RentTrack products into a single Self credit building platform, along with the Credit Builder Account and Self Visa® Credit Card. It will serve as a destination for an expanding list of credit building options made possible through everyday activities like purchases with a secured credit card, and paying significant bills such as rent and utilities.
“A good credit score is a critical component of financial resilience, but historically you need credit to build credit. It’s a catch-22,” said Self founder and CEO James Garvey. “By incorporating RentTrack and LevelCredit products into Self, we will help our customers build credit in a unique way using existing rent and utility payments.”
A LevelCredit subscription is $6.95 per month and includes the ability to report rent and utility payments to the major bureaus, a monthly credit and score summary, instant alerts and $1 million in identity theft insurance and restoration. An optional $49.95 one-time payment is available for monthly subscribers to have up to two years of prior payment history reported on their credit report. LevelCredit currently reports rent payments to Equifax and TransUnion and utility payments to TransUnion.
RentTrack reports payments through Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.
According to recent research[1], more than 44 million households in the U.S. are renters. However, less than 1% of Americans have their rental payment history included in their credit reporting[2]. Based on recent customer survey data, more than three quarters of Self’s active customers are renters.
“Combining forces with Self was an easy and natural decision because of our shared mission to break down barriers for people who have been shut out of the financial system,” said Matthew Briggs, co-founder and CEO of RentTrack, Inc. “With Self’s scale and resources combined with our technology, we can make the greatest impact for our consumers.”
RentTrack, which was founded in 2014, is based in Minneapolis. Briggs, RentTrack’s executive management and its entire team have joined the Self team in order to accelerate the combined credit building business.
The acquisition comes on the heels of a standout year for Self. It raised $50M in a Series E financing announced in September 2021, bringing its total equity capital raised to $127M. With the acquisition Self now has 255 employees and plans to add more than 100 additional employees this year.
About Self Financial
Self Financial is a credit building platform working to increase economic inclusion and financial resilience through products that make building credit accessible. With no hard credit check to get started, Self’s signature credit builder products issued by its partner banks are designed to enable people to build credit and savings simultaneously. The company also offers rent and utility payment reporting through RentTrack and LevelCredit, which Self acquired in February 2022. Download the Self app at the Apple App Store (185,000+ reviews and an average 4.9 rating) or Google Play or visit Self.inc for more information.
[1] Research from the National Multifamily Housing Council https://www.nmhc.org/research-insight/quick-facts-figures/quick-facts-resident-demographics/
[2] How Reporting Rent Payments Affects Your Credit Score https://blog.levelcredit.com/reporting-rent-payments-credit-score
CONTACT: Allee Bennett Self Financial [email protected]
