FintekNews is pleased to offer our weekly feature column 3 Questions. Each week, we feature a thought leader within a unique sector of fintech and ask them to answer just 3 questions for our audience in their vernacular. This week, we’d like to introduce you to Chris Meyer, CEO of Magilla Loans, a search engine for loans which connects borrowers to banks without requesting personal information.
NAME:
Chris MeyerTITLE:
Chief Executive OfficerCOMPANY:
Magilla LoansWEB ADDRESS:
www.magillaloans.comWhat does your firm do/offer within the fintech sector?
Magilla is an anonymous search engine for both residential and commercial loans: no name, social security number, or phone number is ever placed on our site. In addition, the borrower chooses the lender with whom to close their loan; not the other way around. It can best be described as Kayak or Match.com for loans.
Magilla Loans empowers borrowers to find the best terms for their loans quickly and makes banks more efficient in the way they find quality borrowers and lend money.
Magilla offers efficiency, speed, and massive cost savings within the fintech sector.
What area/s of fintech do you believe will grow the most in the coming 5 years?
I believe banks are more readily partnering with fintech and finserv companies.
I see banks as one of the last bastions of the old regime that has truly modernized. We are currently in the midst of a fintech revolution in banking that will see the decentralization of the branch and teller system to a markedly more mobile paradigm. Branches are very expensive and need to be occupied by humans (also very expensive). Consumers want neither. This will create the opportunity for easier, more mobile technologies to advance in the fintech sector. Toward those ends, some form of crypto-currency that people will trust, is widely accepted, and safe will change the landscape of the world economy in the next five years.
All this, only spells good news for the large banks of the world. They will become markedly more efficient, with less people, and, despite initial infrastructure costs, it will quickly drive profits through the roof.
How do you feel businesses are adapting to the facet of fintech that your company operates within?
With Magilla, we see very clearly how consumers interact with our platform. There is a lot of testing (as can be expected with new technology) to see if we are what we advertise. People do not just adopt and trust. There is a natural skepticism with any new technology. In our particular area of fintech, we believe we benefit by the greater populace’s interest in quickly shopping on the Internet for what they need: Zappos, Kayak, Match.com, Amazon, et.al. have paved the way for what we do. We have simply brought unbiased search to the area of home and commercial loans; in many ways, we have benefited by the forefathers of tech in America.
Our task has been to convince institutions, which have been successful for generations, that we will make them even more successful. The internal structures of these institutions are challenging to navigate and the time it takes for a massive corporation to commit is seemingly endless. The wherewithal one needs to advance one’s cause is a balancing exercise in patience, resiliency, and determination.
Chris Meyer is the Co-Founder and CEO of Magilla Loans. Prior to launching Magilla Loans, Mr. Meyer was the CEO of Lind Brothers Mortuary in Northern California since 2001. He is a graduate of Brandeis University with a BA in Politics and History and obtained his JD and Masters in Environmental Law and Policy graduating magna cum laude from Vermont Law School.