equipifi | Financial wellness through flexible payments

Consumers want to spend responsibly. Make it easy.

Offer transparency

It's hard to manage what you can't see. Help consumers understand their real-time purchasing power so that they can make spending decisions that align with their cash flow health and financial position.

Give control

Have everything in one place. Set your checking account and digital banking as the single place where consumers can view and manage their cash flow and budget.

Encourage behavior

Incorporate wellness into product design. Set your parameters to align with your financial wellness strategy. Determine when members and customers become eligible for offers, and when they aren't.

Design for financial responsibility

Building healthy financial behaviors starts from product design. equipifi’s platform ensures each flexible payment program reflects the financial wellness philosophy of each unique institution, including the ability to:

Display purchasing power for each eligible user
Set program limits including usage and merchant categories
Consider NSF, delinquencies, and other activities when determining eligibility

Grow financial strength & resilience

While flexible payments does not require traditional credit, it can help consumers build history with their financial institution and deepen the banking relationship. This allows more consumers to:

Access a new “credit” without revolving debt
Use alternatives to predatory and payday loans
Build their profile as responsible borrowers

Build for financial opportunity

For community-minded financial institutions and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI), launching flexible payment programs can support economically disadvantaged communities by:

Offering financial solutions to those with little access to credit
Providing low-interest rate loans efficiently and responsibly
Designing a program tailored to the needs of the target population

PayAdvantage by Apple FCU

PayAdvantage helps members refinance their third-party BNPL loans at a fairer, credit union rate

Third-party BNPL products are popular, but are often at high interest rates and can become hard to manage. Financial institutions are providing an alternative.

Challenge

Apple FCU wanted to re-engage with its members that were using third-party BNPL products, many of which were paying interest as high as 38%.

Solution

To provide members with a solution with lower interest rates, Apple FCU launched PayAdvantage with a special feature. It helped members pay off their third-party loans and refinance it with its in-house program, giving borrowers substantial savings and an opportunity to balance their budget.

FAQs

How can my flexible payment program encourage financial wellness? Your flexible payment program can be set to reflect your institutional strategies and your lending philosophy.

equipifi’s platform allows institutions to set eligibility criteria on an account and transaction level, so that each loan underwritten is a reflection of the consumers’ financial position as well as the institution’s strategy. To learn more about parameters typically used by CDFIs launching flexible payments, please reach out to hello@equipifi.com.

How does this fit with my existing emergency loan products? Launching a flexible payment program allows you to serve your entire eligible membership or customer base throughout their financial lifetime. Each consumer is provided with flexible payment offers reflective of their real-time purchasing power, which is inclusive of but not limited to those experience financial duress.

equipifi is a complementary product to existing emergency loan products, which are supportive of consumers in difficult financial positions, but do not serve those making everyday budgeting decisions. Most existing emergency loan products are also application based and require an application fee, while equipifi extends pre-qualified installment loan offers as a part of the digital banking experience.

Is this a Payday Alternative Loan (PAL)?

equipifi is not a Payday Alternative Loan (PAL), although consumers may choose to use flexible payments as a PAL for its lower interest rate. Launching a flexible payment program allows you to serve your entire eligible membership or customer base throughout their financial lifetime. With equipifi, each consumer is provided with offers reflective of their real-time purchasing power, which is inclusive of but not limited to those seeking PAL or its alternatives.

Many financial institutions launch equipifi as a complementary product to PAL. Most existing PAL are also application based, while equipifi extends pre-qualified installment loan offers as a part of the digital banking experience.

Who writes the loans?

You do. equipifi is the platform that enables, embeds, and automates the processes that provide flexible funding. The installment loans that finance these loans are originated and serviced by your institution.