Commentary on Appendix 4C
Released
Released
Announcement PDF
ASX RELEASE
Wisr delivers record loan origination growth on the back of an
oversubscribed capital raise and multi-product business momentum
$18.8 million in new loans a quarterly record for the Australian neo-lender
HIGHLIGHTS:
-
Continued growth trajectory with a 293% increase in quarterly loan originations
when compared to the same period last year (Q3FY18)
Oversubscribed placement raises $15m, with cash on hand circa $12m following
settlement of the first tranche
Wisr App attracts more than 13,500 downloads in first month
Technology team strengthened including CTO appointment and Senior Executive
to lead Wisr App
Wisr takes out Best Lending Innovation category at Australian Lending Awards,
and is nominated for four awards at upcoming Australian Banking Innovation
Awards
Sydney, 30 April 2019 - Wisr Limited (ACN 004 661 205) (ASX: WZR) (Wisr or the Company),
Australia’s first neo-lender, grew new loan originations to a record $18.8 million last quarter, the
Company announced as part of its Q3FY19 business update.
It is the Company’s single largest quarter in loan origination value and it takes total historic loan
value to $86.9 million. It represents a 293% increase in quarterly loan origination value when
compared to the same period last year (Q3FY18) and was up 11% on Q2FY19.
Anthony Nantes, Chief Executive Officer, Wisr said “We are pleased to report another
successive quarter of record loan origination growth, combined with a heavily oversubscribed
share placement which has raised $15 million to support the Company’s ambitious growth
agenda.
In addition to strong core metrics across the Company this quarter, we continue to deliver on
our strategic platforms. We have had a fantastic consumer response to the official launch of
Wisr App, continued the strong growth in customer numbers on the WisrCredit product, and
demonstrated significant progress on our Wisr@Work and Wisr&Co platforms. Additionally, we
have also been able to attract some impressive senior talent to the organisation, with key hires
in place to assist us in executing our strategy.”
Wisr continued to see momentum in lending through its broker channel where the Company
works with many of Australia’s largest financial aggregators and now has relationships in place
with more than 5,500 brokers across the country. The Company will continue to seek out
opportunities with new aggregators in the coming months.
Corporate partnerships strategy
The Company also announced it will open up its proprietary loan processing platform to allow
other organisations to partner and offer the Wisr financial wellness suite.
The Wisr&Co platform allows any company to deliver the Wisr suite of financial solutions to its
members or customers. Wisr will begin to roll-out pilot programs with partner organisations in
the coming weeks following 18 months of investment in people, processes and technology to
deliver these solutions.
Nantes said “Our unique partnership models and focus on genuine financial wellness speaks to
both the flexibility of our technology platform and ability to create new growth channels to deliver
financially fair products to more Australians through strategic partnerships. Wisr continues to
deliver new growth channels as part of its neo-lender strategy to accompany the organic growth
from our core personal loan business. The Wisr&Co platform and technology suite can provide
full white-label, grey-label or co-branded options for any major corporation in Australia to deliver
a consumer finance offering to market within weeks, not years as is the current industry
standard.”
HCF Catalyst Accelerator program underway
Wisr has begun working with the country’s largest not-for-profit health fund (with reach to
approximately 1.5 million Australians) as part of the HCF Catalyst Accelerator program.
The Catalyst Accelerator program, now in its fourth year, is designed to support innovation in
health care by providing funding and hands-on resources to some of Australia’s most promising
new business models.
The program began in late March and Wisr has begun working closely with HCF executives and
commercial development teams to develop solutions that help improve the financial wellness of
Australians, and thus making healthcare more affordable.
HCF said: “HCF is working alongside Wisr to find solutions that make health care more
accessible to members, as well as raise awareness of the link between wellness and money
issues. This is a great example of how we work with businesses like Wisr to deliver innovation in
health care.”
Credit quality and Net Promoter Score
Wisr continued to deliver consistently strong credit quality with the Annualised Gross Default
Rate1 in line with previously reported data and well below its 2% target since FY16.
Net Promoter Score, which measures customer and broker satisfaction, remained high during
the quarter, up marginally at +61 from +60 during H1FY19. This continues to be considered
best-in-class when compared across the banking and finance industry.
1 Quarterly Gross Default Rate = (Written Off Loans + loans 90+ days in arrears) / Total Origination Amount of Cohort. This is then annualised based on the
number of months to 31 March 2019 since the start of each cohort (quarter) up to a maximum of 36 months. An average of the quarters for each financial year is
then taken to obtain the annualised figure.
First tranche of capital raise completed
Cash on hand was circa $12 million following the capital raising announced in March 2019. As
earlier disclosed, Wisr had raised approximately $15 million after costs via a placement of 220
million ordinary shares. It was announced the Company will issue shares for the placement in
two tranches.
Capital raised from the placement provides balance sheet robustness, further investment in the
Company’s proprietary technology platform and accelerated roll-out of strategic growth channels
such as WisrCredit, Wisr App, Wisr@Work, and Wisr&Co.
Tranche 1, comprising of 134,767,857 fully-paid ordinary shares, has now been allotted and
settled. The issue of shares in Tranche 2, comprising of 93,173,320 shares, will be issued
pursuant to shareholder approval, to be sought at an Extraordinary General Meeting held on 10
May 2019.
Key appointments in the technology team
Wisr has strengthened its senior management expertise with a number of key roles, including
the appointment of financial services technology veteran Jason Chisholm as Chief Technology
Officer and Vinko Grgic to lead Wisr App.
Chisholm has almost 20 years’ experience in the financial services industry having played a
senior role on key projects with Suncorp, CBA and Westpac. He was most recently Head of
Architecture at Assembly Payments, which provides online payment platforms to marketplaces,
banks and other financial institutions.
The Company also appointed Grgic to lead the recently launched Wisr App. Grgic was formerly
the Head of Operations at Jayride, an ASX-listed airport transfer booking platform.
Financial Wellness Products: Wisr App and WisrCredit
Wisr App - a smartphone tool which links a user’s everyday transaction account, rounding-up
purchases to the nearest dollar and automatically paying the funds off a nominated debt - was
launched in March 2019.
As of the end March 2019, Wisr App had more than 13,500 downloads since becoming
available in the iOS App Store - making it amongst the top ten ranked financial apps in the
Australian store during the first month of launch.
Credit score comparison service WisrCredit also continued to see audience growth, with almost
25,000 active users - up from 16,000 at the beginning of the year. The Company has also
begun to see customer migration from WisrCredit to its core personal loan product.
Industry recognition
In February 2019 Wisr won the Best Lending Innovation category at the Australian Lending
Awards in Sydney. The Australian Lending Awards are designed to recognise and celebrate the
outstanding achievements of the Australian Mortgage and Lending industry.
Gerald Ferguson, Managing Director, APAC, RFi Group, said “RFi Group is delighted to
congratulate Wisr in winning the Best Lending Innovation category, in what are the most highly
contested awards in the Australian lending industry. Wisr's entry and win reflect the company’s
outstanding skills and achievements in a competitive and dynamic industry and they should be
proud of their accomplishments this year.”
Wisr has also been shortlisted for four awards at the upcoming Australian Banking Innovation
Awards, in the categories of Best Banking App, Best Financial Literacy and Betterment Initiative,
Best Fintech Innovator and Most Innovative Challenger. The awards are due to be announced
at a ceremony in Sydney on Wednesday 22nd May 2019.
-endsAbout Wisr Limited
Wisr (ASX: WZR) is Australia’s first neo-lender with a commitment to the financial wellness of all
Australians, through providing a smarter, fairer and wiser collection of financial products and
services. Wisr provides personal loans, the country’s only credit comparison service with
Wisrcredit.com.au, apps, content and other products that use technology to provide better
outcomes for borrowers, investors and everyday Australians.
For general investor enquiries, email investor@wisr.com.au
For more information visit www.wisr.com.au
Share your feedback
Discover