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  5. PRL: I have been reading questions on PRL as well as the company report. [Propel Holdings Inc.]
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Q: I have been reading questions on PRL as well as the company report. After reading the company profile I don't really understand the business . Though I did glean they lend money . Please explain why I would prefer to use them over my bank ?
Reading from their website Creditfresh partners with banks to provide loans. Banks lend money . What does PRL bring to the table that the bank doesn't offer ? Why would a bank want to partner with them ? Moneykey provides unsecured loans and lines of credit. So does a bank .... What does PRL do to make a better experience ? The same question for Fora which appears to be the same as Moneykey only centred in Canada ?

What I am trying to understand is the business model and why a consumer would use them over a conventional financial institution ..... I've never heard of this business nor have I ever seen them advertise.... Banks do a lot of advertising in an attempt to take business away from each other ..... So I can't figure out how Joe Sixpack would know of their existence and why he might take his credit needs to them ?
Thanks in advance for your always sound advice ..... Garth
Asked by Garth on April 09, 2024
5i Research Answer:

In a general sense, the reason that consumers would choose PRL's services as opposed to a traditional bank is because they can provide credit access to more consumers that would otherwise be locked out from a traditional bank. These are typically consumers with lower credit scores that traditional banks do not want to lend to, whereas, PRL will look into their creditworthiness and provide them with a loan, which are generally at a higher rate than a traditional bank provides. 

PRL has three key services. MoneyKey acts as a direct lender that provides loans to consumers and deals with the administrative tasks of the lending process. But, MoneyKey also acts as a Credit Services Organization (CSO), which earns compensation by helping individuals obtain loans from a traditional bank. In this sense, PRL only deals with the administrative tasks associated with the lines of credit, but the actual funding and loan is provided by an unafilliated bank. Its CreditFresh platform acts as a bank partner, which is similar to a CSO model, however, in this case the bank partners are identified and there are only a handful of select banking partners. PRL receives compensation for assisting individuals obtain loans from banks in a bank partner model. For its Fora business in Canada, PRL acts as a direct lender, where it provides the actual loan itself. 

In summary, PRL generates revenue in a variety of ways across its platforms, which includes receiving a fee for administrative tasks relating to ongoing customer relationships, servicing of loans, as well as the interest payments and other income from the actual funding of loans.