Sam Lynch
A loans connection service based in California is excited to announce the transaction of its 500,000th customer.
Founded in 2019, Pheabs.com is a US-based online service that connects customers who are looking for financial products including personal loans, credit cards and payday loans in Los Angeles. Pheabs matches customers with the lender who will most likely approve their specific loan applications at the best rates. These applications extend beyond typical banks to private lenders, apps, stores, credit unions and more.
Customers apply by visiting the Pheabs website to borrow any amount between $100 and $35,000 using their simple form. Within 5 minutes, Pheabs will find them with the perfect lender and propose an offer on the screen which they can decide to proceed with and electronically sign their loan agreement.
The lender chosen will be the one who is most likely to accept the customer’s unique application based on factors from loan amount, duration, customer profile (age, gender, residence) affordability, location, income and credit status.
Founder Dan Kettle named Pheabs after the nickname of a character from the sitcom Friends, Phoebe. He says, “I thought it had a nice ring to it! A lot of fintech firms have snappy names, like Monzo or Wise, so it just seemed like a perfect fit. We also wanted better legitimacy than more vague, long-winded options like loanconnectionservice.com. We thought customers might prefer something a bit more personable.”
Dan has over 10 years in consumer finance. After years working in the UK’s short-term lending market which became heavily regulated, he decided to turn his attention to the US. He noticed that most of the US’s lenders consisted of high street stores, which can be a huge barrier for many people. These stores can be totally inaccessible for those with compromised health, or who face reduced mobility, or disability, or who cannot drive for any number of reasons.
Even for those who are able to make it into physical stores, it can be a huge inconvenience and a drain on valuable time. There is also some social stigma associated with going to these stores that can be off putting for many.
Dan explains, “There was a huge opportunity for some online innovation. People have been able to apply for loans in the US for years, but it was lagging behind the UK in several aspects. The quality of service in US online lenders and brokers was so far behind, and it was extremely difficult for people in the US to find a good lender.”
As Pheabs is very data-driven, customers can submit loan requests online in just 5 minutes or less, and get money in their accounts in as little as 15 minutes, for smaller loans. Pheabs learns which lenders are more likely to accept certain loans, and only connects customers with lenders that are likely to approve the loan.
“It’s our aim to save people time applying directly to several lenders and not getting anywhere,” explains Daniel. “Lenders only accept 5% or less of customers, and applying directly can impact your credit score.”
Pheabs is completely free for customers to use, and it has no impact on their credit scores. Their services are available to people of all credit histories and backgrounds. Those with bad credit scores may be limited in the loans they can safely apply for, but they can still apply for free and see what sort of products they can get.
Short term and payday lending is legal in the US on a state but not federal level. It is available in 37 states, including California and Texas, but it is currently banned in 13 states including New York.
