VALUES DRIVEN DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
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VALUES DRIVING CASHCO FINANCIAL’S DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
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CASHCO FINANCIAL
Raymond Wilson, COO of Cashco Financial, discusses the company’s five core values and how they are driving the digital transformation of its customer journey
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oday, more than 30% of Canadians are living from paycheque to paycheque. The number of people in debt is rising too,
with the Bank of Canada reporting in May 2018 that the average Canadian typically owes around 04
CA$1.70 for every dollar they own. Canadians are not just struggling financially: according to a report by NBC, financial pressure and consequential stress can both directly and indirectly affect mental and physical health. Millions of underbanked Canadians are in need of banking and money management services, of short-term loans to make it to the next paycheque, and of long-term services to nurture and support their aspirations. The idea of Cashco has been rooted in a number of businesses founded by the company’s CEO, Tim Latimer. Cashco Financial as it exists today has been around for a decade delivering alternative financial services to the citizens of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario, both through brick and mortar and online – providing over 140,000 clients with long and short-term personal
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CASHCO FINANCIAL
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“ We work hard to make sure these are living, breathing values embodied throughout the organization” — Raymond Wilson, COO, Cashco Financial
loans, cheque cashing and, as of 2017 in Alberta, banking services. “Over the course of our history our business model has continued to evolve, at a time we were focused solely on providing access to payday loans, then added and evolved to installment products, and now we’re focused on bringing banking services to our clients. There isn’t a one size fits all solution to our clients banking needs so we work to offer banking-like products that can offer support to
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘CASHCO MOM’S REALITY’ 07
people that can’t get help anywhere
clothe the both of us,” he recalls.
else,” says Raymond Wilson, Chief
“I really feel passionate about the
Operating Officer (COO) at Cashco.
subprime loans market because I can
Wilson, who has served in his current
connect with the customers. There
role for three years, is able to bring
were plenty of days growing up when
a powerful sense of empathy to the
there was nothing in the fridge. I know
company’s relationship with the numer-
where they’re coming from.”
ous underserved families and individu-
Cashco serves its clients by working
als across the country. “I grew up in a
tirelessly to embody its five core
single parent home; my mother raised
values: Respect the vision, Embrace
myself and my brother, and there were
Can I, Live the Golden Rule, Own the
many times I could see the stress on
Results and Communicate Honestly.
her face as she was trying to feed and
The core values set the expectations w w w.c a shc o f i na nc ia l. com
CASHCO FINANCIAL
08 for staff on how Cashco employees
commitment to them. “At the time, it was
behave and treat each other. “We work
transformational for our business, today
hard to make sure these are living,
it means we can make better decisions
breathing values embodied throughout
on affordability and support our clients
the organization,” says Wilson. “The
need in order to help them maintain a
organization moves quickly, and we
positive relationship with their money.”
have a big job to do. If we don’t have
That technology now needs to be
clear expectations of ourselves and
monitored and adjusted continuously
the people around us, it’s very hard
to ensure that, first, clients keep moving
to do what we do every day.”
along their credit journey, and second,
Over the last 5 years Cashco
that Cashco builds a sustainable
introduced a decision engine that takes
business that can be around for many
all the data feed into it and works to
years serving the underserved and
make better predictions on client’s
underbanked. This technology is heavily
likelihood of honoring their financial
based on artificial intelligence/machine
learning that speeds up the delivery
he says. The company’s efforts range
and removes friction from the client’s
from simple steps, like attaching an
journey with Cashco.
employee’s picture to an email to
One of the largest challenges that
humanize the interaction for the client,
Wilson recognizes is the preservation
to the construction of an entirely new
of the empathetic, personal experience
portal to allow for easy access to
as Cashco increases its digital offerings.
account information and Cashco’s new
“We know we can be successful when
banking services. Rather than cold
the client sits down at the desk and we
functionality that widens the distance
have a conversation. But, as we move
between Cashco and its customers,
into a more digital age, we need to start
Wilson sees the “exponential growth
looking at other ways to create those
of technological applications” as an
touchpoints and still maintain that
enabler for increasingly personalised
relationship while the client benefits
and empathetic services. “We’re
from the accessibility of digital products,”
utilizing technology to make our
E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE
Raymond Wilson Raymond Wilson has been with Cashco Financial for 10 years where he started as a VP managing the branch network. In 2016 he was promoted to Chief Operating Officer and now oversees all operations. He has worked in this market for almost thirty years and is very passionate about what Cashco stands for and the people they serve. Wilson has four beautiful children and has been married to his wife Leslie for 13 years. He is also an avid golfer and enjoys the outdoors with his family.
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CASHCO FINANCIAL
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140,000 Clients served
2009
Year founded
HQ
Edmonton, Alberta Canada
customer journey as painless as possible,” he explains. In particular, Cashco is employing analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to both empower the front end of its business and augment its back-end decision making. “We use AI for our loan decisioning, which we’re constantly tuning to make more efficient, and twinning with our analytics to create a higher loan completion and closing rate,” says Wilson. Cashco has also made the decision to build its AI in-house. “Our CEO has the entrepreneurial spirit,” Wilson explains. “With that comes quick change; this way we don’t have to wait to make alterations the way we would if you bought something off the shelf. We acknowledge that there’s a cost to doing things in-house, but it allows us to be much more agile.” AI also plays a critical role in Cashco’s latest project: applying decision making to the loan recovery process. “We’re working with another company to bring AI into our recovery and collections department,” says Wilson. “If clients are unable to make a payment, there’s a reason for that. AI can help us understand not only how to best communicate with people, but how w w w.c a shc o f i na nc ia l. com
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CLICK TO WATCH : ‘CHRISTINA’S REAL WORLD STORY’ 13
to help them ensure they can complete their loans with us.” To maintain relevancy Cashco has recently mapped out the strategic direction for the next three years, identifying the necessary business decisions in order to compete in their space – knowing the space continues to grow and demand is increasing. “A digital Cashco is imperative, and we have it centered around the idea of digital client-care services,” says Wilson. “Overall, our digital ecosystem
“ Respect the Vision, Embrace Change, Live the Golden Rule, Own the Results and Communicate Honestly” — Raymond Wilson, COO, Cashco Financial
is focused on leveraging our data, and w w w.c a shc o f i na nc ia l. com
CASHCO FINANCIAL
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advanced analytics platforms are built together so decision making is driven by the business, and AI/machine learning will be the driving factor is producing sound recommendations to guide the process.” The entire enterprise is designed to accommodate and exceed the needs and expectations of the underserved. Cashco provides relief today by making it easy to get an immediate loan regardless of current or past credit history. The company accepts its
“ We’re utilizing technology to make our customers’ journey as painless as possible” — Raymond Wilson, COO, Cashco Financial
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clients, wherever they are on their
resilient business with a loan book of
journey. Due to the multiple solutions it
$250mn by 2021, serving underbanked
offers, Cashco is the only finance
Canadians with subprime loans, and
company that can help move clients
continue to offer meaningful banking
through the entire credit continuum to
delivered through advice-based,
achieve a better credit rating and
intimate, one-to-one relationships.”
create hope for tomorrow. Looking to the future, Cashco Financial has bold ambitions. “Our big, hairy, audacious goal is to be recognized as a new, different kind of bank by 2025,” Wilson concludes. “We’re going to build a forward-looking w w w.c a shc o f i na nc ia l. com
Cashco Financial 8170-50th Street, Edmonton Alberta T6B 1E6, CA www.cashcofinancial.com