Learn and Grow Financially with Arro’s Tools - Episode 100
In today's episode, I’m chatting with Ryan Duitch, the CEO of Arro, a fintech company dedicated to creating fair credit solutions. Ryan shares how Arro helps people build credit responsibly with low limits and step-by-step guidance. We dive into the challenges of the traditional credit system, why financial literacy matters, and how Arro uses tech to teach and empower users to make smarter financial choices.
About our guest
Ryan Duitch is the Founder and CEO of Arro since May 2021. Prior to that, he was a Co-Founder at Field Day, a VC-Backed start-up, from May 2017 to May 2021.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Naseema: [00:00:00] Ryan Duitch is the founder and CEO of Arro, a fintech venture focused on fair credit and financial literacy, which he started in May, 2021. Driven by passion for equitable financial solutions, Ryan is dedicated to making financial tools more accessible and educational. Before Aero, he co founded Field Day, a VC backed startup where he led from 2014 to 2021.
What's up, my financially intentional people. I'm excited to have Ryan on our podcast and he is going to break down new financial product that he has put together that I feel like you guys can benefit from. Hey Ryan, how are you? My fellow USC alum. Awesome.
Ryan Duitch: me. Really excited to be here today.
Naseema: Awesome. Let's just get like a little bit about your background and how you ended up in the finance space.
Ryan Duitch: Yeah, absolutely. I [00:01:00] did undergrad at Berkeley where I was in the business school. I ended up starting my career in finance as I was trying to think of where did I want to do? Where do I want to go? And I loved the stock market. I loved financial planning and I ended up starting my career in the financial planning space.
So I was a financial advisor working at one of the top firms Bernstein. And I found my way into it in the midst of all of us college kids trying to think of where we're starting next.
Naseema: Yeah, so you also did your master's in business, so you got an MBA, right? And so you did that after you started working as an advisor?
Ryan Duitch: Yeah. So I did the wealth management path for about four years. Then I ended up getting my MBA. I wanted to move into entrepreneurship and early stage tech, but I was interested in the same vertical. So I was interested in FinTech, which is financial services in the technology space ended up finding, my own journey as we all do started a [00:02:00] business out of business school in a slightly different space than started Arro but yeah, we all find our way in our own path.
That's for sure.
Naseema: I asked, because most financial advisors that I know don't have MBAs and where people like pursuing that path, how important do you think it was that you did your MBA or, how beneficial was it or wasn't it because I don't really use my degrees. I don't
Ryan Duitch: I'd say, for the path that I wanted to go on, which was to actually leave that space and do something different. It's a great way to change your trajectory, change careers, pivot industries, whatever it might be. If I just wanted to be a financial advisor and stay in that space.
I might have done a part time program because it really helps build a network and establish credibility. There's also learnings and there's so many amazing things, but that network, that experience, that credibility does go a long way, especially in that space. However, for me, I knew I wanted to leave that world [00:03:00] and enter the world of tech.
I always knew I wanted to be a founder and. If we get into it, I'll share how I ended up, coming across this path. But but yeah, I went to the MBA to switch, leave the world of financial advising and enter the world of technology.
Naseema: No, let's talk about it. Let's go down that rabbit hole. So, How did you go down that path of being in the fintech space?
Ryan Duitch: Yeah. So coming out of business school, I knew I wanted to go into FinTech, but I actually thought I should go to Google for a couple of years. I was like, I should just build my brand, build a network, get, one of those really strong companies on my resume. And someone in my network introduced me to someone very high up at Google.
And I was in the midst of interviewing and he was like, but why Google? And I said same thing. I think I should get the brand, the network, the, this, the, that. And he's but really why Google? And the deeper he dug, I was like technically. I want to be a founder. This is my five year plan. And he goes, you don't need Google to get there.
He goes, I really like [00:04:00] you. I want you to meet a friend of mine. And he introduced me to a serial entrepreneur who had sold a couple companies previously. And that ended up being how I co founded my company at a business school. And you just never know what path you end up on. You take opportunities, you meet amazing people, you get excited about whatever it might be.
It was a slightly different space, but, he was just raising a little bit of money and we had a similar kind of shared passion for the idea and I ended up co founding a business at a business school thinking though I was going to go either to Google or I was looking for a series fintech company.
Naseema: Wow, that's a pretty powerful story. But it also highlights like the importance of networking networks and who, and leaning into those circles. It's really. The opportunities that are presented to you, if you put yourself in the right spaces, and even though you didn't end up working at Google, that interview changed your life.
And I [00:05:00] really love that story because I really tell people, it's. Can be really that simple. It could just be that 1 conversation that you have with someone that ends up, affecting the trajectory of what you do. Yeah, I love that. So let's talk about Arro. What is Arro? What does it do?
How can it help my people?
Ryan Duitch: Yeah, yeah, no and I just add, one of the mantras I've always taken is, don't come with an agenda. And a lot of people come with this idea in mind of what they think they should get out of it. But some of the best things come when you have nothing to get out of it other than learn, meet good people, have good conversation.
The more open minded you are, the more opportunities can come about. And I try to take that in most things I do, even now, when I raise money, when I meet partners and it's helped me a lot to get here is have an open mind to be open to where opportunities come about.
Naseema: Yeah, thank you for sharing that because that is super important. And I tell people that even in this space what is a nurse doing in the personal finance space? It's just because I was bold enough to share my story. And then these opportunities just started opening [00:06:00] up themselves. And then.
Even my podcast I meet incredible people like you, you guys become part of my network and I get exposed to so many things. I never would have thought I've been exposed to. I've been consultant, a consultant with a lot of fintech companies that want to get in front of nurses. And it just happened because.
I'm in this space, right? So that's super important and I didn't come with an agenda I just came like sharing trying to help people And you know i've been exposed to so many opportunities. So yeah, thank you for that. Okay back to Arro
Ryan Duitch: Okay, yeah, I will give you the story of Arro. So as I mentioned, I co founded a business at a business school. We were doing really well. But unfortunately COVID was very difficult for us as it's made some companies, on certain journeys. And unfortunately for us, it was the opposite, but part of that company was we had a gig economy component where we employed gig workers all over the U S.
And that got me deep into the psyche of this kind of individual that [00:07:00] hustles so hard to make their bills every month. That lives paycheck to paycheck. That is usually a lot of the time just thinking a few weeks ahead, maybe a month ahead. Mostly, am I going to make rent? And the few things that I need to make sure survive the month.
And I had always been passionate about Alternative credit, flexible finance, credit building, and Aero was really born by talking to customers all over the country. So I was studying the problems people experience with credit spending and debt and mostly looking at kind of paycheck to paycheck users.
I was talking to college students. I was talking to immigrants. But really people who have had some struggles and what I found from this research really opened my eyes into just how broken the credit system really is. It's a lot of fear and anxiety around the debt trap, around overspending. It's this distrust of institutions.
And the deeper I went, I said, there's so many good people out there. That I would lend my personal money to, but if you looked at them on paper, you'd say are they credit [00:08:00] worthy? And it's because what I said is a lot of them don't know how to manage money in the first place. So how do you expect someone to be able to manage debt?
If managing money is already really hard, it's not the most intuitive, it's not taught in schools. And a lot of people are just trying to get by and survive and continue living. And so I started to but what I'm starting to learn is Why people made decisions, how they got here, what they would do, maybe what they do differently next time.
And the deeper I went, I said, there's so many good people. There must be a better path. What if we could actually shape what someone would do and created a lending model that actually aligned behavior with a financial service? What if I could create a new model? And what Arro ended up creating was. I want to give people credit that no one else will.
I want to set them on a journey that actually sets them up to be successful. And so the way it works is we will approve people for a low limit credit card that starts as low as [00:09:00] 50, as high as 200. The first thing we ask someone to do is set a financial goal. If they do that, we increase their credit line.
We then have built a financial literacy program in house that trains people on how to use credit responsibly. As you take lessons, we keep on growing your credit line. To keep growing, you make payments. You set a budget. We're working on a savings wallet right now. So the idea is, can we take someone from 100 to 2, 000, but do it in a way that's responsible, that's cheaper than anyone else out there, and that actually helps you instill Some of the right behaviors to not overspend to not get into the debt trap, et cetera, et cetera.
Naseema: that. So it's actually, it's, Empowering people to learn, but also do at the same time, because a lot of times in the personal finance space that is disjointed, right? We have all this education. Then people, have that over analysis paralysis. Okay, I know these things, but then [00:10:00] how do I implement it?
But then you're showing as you're learning these things, you're doing these certain steps. And those two ways as a nurse, learning models are super important. Like, how does a person actually learn? And so that's how people actually learn. You can. hear all of the things, but not know how to implement it and actually improve on, your personal finance journey along the way.
So I, I really like that model.
Ryan Duitch: Thank you.
Naseema: Yeah, because like I was saying, like the question that I get asked most often for people is just like, how do I get started? And this is like to me a perfect solution to that like you start here and as you learn Then you're increasing your knowledge base and then you're improving your finances
Ryan Duitch: Yeah. And in our world, I say there are models and companies out there who try to provide some education or some tooling or what it might be. But as you mentioned, it's [00:11:00] really hard to figure out where to go or where to start. And a lot of the times, what's the motivation behind it? Do I want to pay X a month to have some company tell me, A or B?
We put it a little differently, saying we're going to give you a real line of credit, give you real access to money and keep giving you access to money so that that motivation is still there on. I'm getting more spending power. All that adds to more credit building and all that adds into other cool rewards and systems that we're building right now to really align directly with.
How do you establish good behaviors, get rewarded for it in the right way? But how does this help you make decisions later? One of the things we've been investing in recently is we have this AI financial coach that's really meant to start with you at the beginning. It knows about your bank history. It knows about your credit report.
It sees how you spend. And it's a partner to be able to ask questions to. Hey, I have this outstanding bill here that pays x interest. Hey, How do I make sure I increase my credit score here et cetera, et cetera. We're trying to [00:12:00] help you make decisions that has nothing to do with era. That's all about you in driving more savings, reducing more spending and building your credit score to figure out how and what can I do with a higher credit score.
And so we have a lot of tooling and experiences in there. That's a we're a lot more than just a credit partner. We are a life partner trying to help with these different things. We have an investment module. We have a partner to help you start your investment journey where they even give you 20 to begin investing.
So we have some pretty cool things along the way that say, what are you interested in? What are you looking to know? And how do we help you along these different decisions that you need to make? We're really a financial management platform that has a credit card and a credit hook. Once again, for the building of credit and for the access, but we're much more about the behavior and the real vision of the company is that what we use to grow someone's credit line from the 100 to 2, 000 is very unique data that [00:13:00] large institutions have also been looking after.
We all know the credit score is broken for a lot of consumers out there in the, in America, especially. Our goal is to say, no matter what your credit score is, work with Aero, and over the course of time, we have data that shows you're so much more than just your credit score. So someone with a 600 or a 620 credit score, but an Aero 90, is actually more credit worthy.
We can help you save on an auto loan, or an insurance product, or whatever it is you're looking for, because a lot of those institutions, they're only looking at still some of the traditional basics. People are so much more in these days, and a lot of those models don't account for more of that inflexible lifestyle.
Naseema: Yeah, we all know the credit system is broken and it's biased and all of those things. So I like that. There's an alternative that you guys are building out around that. I also like the things that you're starting to implement the things that you're growing into. You're just not like this. credit solution, you're [00:14:00] also, taking people through that whole path.
And I always look at like investing is like the thing that everybody is aspiring to do, be better investors, because obviously we know you can't really build wealth without understanding investing but so many people are intimidated by that and to be able to walk people through that journey It's super powerful.
You also mentioned that you're starting a savings wallet. Can you talk us a talk to us about that?
Ryan Duitch: Yeah, no, absolutely. So some of the pillars of financial health, how do you set yourself with some savings so that you can afford that medical payment, the car tire, right? The examples that always comes up. But without savings, you're really always working from behind. And so one of the goals that we have you think about is what do I even need savings for?
Is it a rainy day fund? Is it something I want to buy? Or is it Christmas gifts? Is it et cetera? And what we found is a lot of our customers love setting goals, but how do you maintain that goal? And a [00:15:00] lot said we'd love if you offered a savings account. And so we are in the midst of launching one right now for a couple of reasons.
One, we train, we educate, and we help you set these things based on what you're looking for personally. Two, we can offer a lot higher. A yield than the big banks do. It's actually pretty crazy that, Bank of America and Wells and all of these give you almost nothing, but they're actually making, over 4%, if you look at what's happening at the treasury right now.
So we're going to offer a couple percent savings. So people are more excited to save. We're offering goals around how to get there. And then the more you save, the more we'll grow your credit line even higher. So if you save a hundred dollars at some point, your credit line might be able to grow by hundreds.
But the idea is, is. You start to set the right behaviors because for us showing a willingness to save is one of the most important things. As you said, where do you start? And we've done lots of customer interviews where they're like, I've thought about saving. I want to, I have so many bills, right?
I don't know where to start. Do [00:16:00] I even get money off of it? Like you have to start somewhere. And someone wants to set a path that says, what should you do? How should you do it? And what can you get from it? And that's how ours goes. We recommend based on goals you've set, surveys you've answered, how much money you have coming in and going out, so we can be a lot more intelligent and we can tie it all together with our program.
Naseema: Yeah, I really like that. And like you said, it's touching on all those pillars of successful personal finance that everybody needs. So when are you anticipating the launch of the wallet and the person, the financial advisor piece?
Ryan Duitch: Yeah, so the financial coach has been live for about six months now. We've been in beta mode, so we've been learning, seeing how people interact. We're starting to invest quite a bit more on How for us, the A. I. Experience and the financial coach can be a part of shaping behavior versus just answering certain things, for example, it doesn't just know about you, but as you [00:17:00] answer surveys, as you set goals, it's taking all of that into account and trying to say, what should someone do next?
And how can I be a partner? So that's an area that we're continuing to invest in. And At some point, the dream of what that can be will be, but now we're still learning and we're still in our early prototype beta modes. The savings wallet should be launching in early December. Yeah, we're pretty excited about that as well.
It takes a lot of time to build this stuff in the banking system. Savings we've been working on for almost six months now, and we are getting very close to launching. Yeah,
Naseema: The challenges in the banking space, because typical fintech models sit on top of a traditional banking model, correct? And there's the regulations, anytime you're dealing with money with multiple regulatory agencies, how do you guys navigate that? And how do you protect your customers?
Get over. It
Ryan Duitch: so one of the things we did early on and we invested in is we built our tech stack from [00:18:00] scratch. Then we found partners that we were able to replicate our ledger. We were able to make sure we're the right partners for us. So in order to. Exist in this world. You need to have a banking partner or a banking license of some kind.
We have a banking partnership that allows us to build on some of the components, tooling and products on you do your best to make sure you're covering all the regulatory components, all the compliance components, all of the banking needs. And in the end, we try to make sure that It's the user experience that we do right by the user in every which way, but it's hard.
Everything has to be approved. Everything goes through multiple layers. Things take time. And really getting off the ground is the hardest for a lot of fintechs and a lot of startups. Innovating in the space is so hard to get going. Once you get going, it's just very slow. And that's one of the biggest balances, there are things we want to do all the time.
But to get through all of the banking cycles, maybe something we could do in a [00:19:00] week might take three months because legal has to sign off. Compliance has to sign off regulatory, right? And then the bank is the final piece.
Naseema: Like in that in building all that stuff, the reason why it takes so long is because, the customer security is first and foremost. When people are using Arro from a user standpoint building credit and saving and doing all these things, what protections do they have?
Ryan Duitch: So all the same protections you'd have from your normal bank. If you were to be with a big Bank of America or once again, Wells or Chase or one of those, you have all the same protections as you would there. The only difference is the experience around it. So we have a different kind of mobile app. We have a different Options of what you can do and how you can do will offer more yield, but protection wise, everything and everyone runs through the same models and the same approaches.
What you hope, though, is that the company's done it right? Because we've seen some of these rodeos play out where we've seen with the FTX [00:20:00] debacle to some others. They say they're doing it right. But in reality, some sketchy things are happening behind the scenes, and those are some of the risks with fintech, and we don't take any risks like that.
We try to be as thoughtful as possible, especially on the credit side. We're giving money to people, right? So we take a lot of the risk ourselves, people that no one else might give money to, and we're trying to establish good behaviors on the saving side. Similarly, we've built this in a way that is very protective.
We don't lend that money out, for example, right? That money is someone's and it sits in their account and it's protected, and we've built our ledgering. But, you have to find companies that you believe in and that you trust, and we believe that our whole model of giving you access to money and teaching you around how to do it responsibly, the things that other companies don't want you to know because that's where they make most of their money already starts to show the type of brand and mission we have.
Naseema: And I have to ask, because I've worked with several companies and I've had several companies on [00:21:00] this podcast that are no longer in existence. People always are like in this space, it's like a small business, right? The success rate isn't necessarily guaranteed. What do you tell people who, want to partner with Aero about what happens if the company isn't able to sustain itself, if it closes down?
Ryan Duitch: Yeah, so I'll say two things. One, it is the risks in startups, right? Some will survive and some will not. We have done a lot of things this year, especially we've just closed on a really huge debt facility. We are in the midst of closing and wrapping up an equity round to continue to let us grow into the next stages.
And we're doing everything we can, but the difference between risk with someone like us and maybe someone. That is a big neo or challenger bank where your goal is to give them your money. Once again, our main goal is to give you our money. And so when you think about the risk the risk is, is that [00:22:00] eventually you won't be able to spend on your credit card.
That's money that was given to you to spend anyway. On the savings side, we are using savings as a really core driver, an important driver. And a lot of the times you might not save more than you have as a balance. So there are some components, but if you do, that money is protected by the same FDIC and the same rules and regulations as others.
And That money is your money. And so when I think about these different components and features, there is always that risk. We're doing everything we can. That's not my plan. And I think we've set ourselves apart in this has been a really hard year for fintechs, especially. And, we're coming out strong on the other side.
But I think you have to really believe in the companies that you're partnered with because not all will make it. But if the mission resonates, if the things check off what you're looking for, There are safety nets, there are precautions, and there are ways to protect yourself. And, I believe our approach is very low risk when you look at some of the challenges across the fintech [00:23:00] ecosystem.
Naseema: I love that. Thank you for sharing that. Because I think, people are a little bit hesitant, especially now, because, yeah, this has been a really hard year for Fintech and I'm seeing a lot of companies, have to shut their doors, but I'm glad to see that you guys are still doing so well. Somebody listening to my podcast that wants to get started with you.
Can you walk us through like how they would walk through your financial product and say from a year from now what they can expect?
Ryan Duitch: Yeah, absolutely. So for anyone who might be interested in signing up or sharing whether it's you, a sibling, a child, whatever it might be you do have to be over 18 at the moment. But you can download our mobile app. It's called Arro and either Google or the apple stores. You go to our website as well.
If you want It's www. Arrofinance. com. And that's Arro with no w. So A R R O. You sign up on our mobile app. It takes 2 3 minutes to get approved. You start anywhere between 50- 200. And in a year [00:24:00] from now, Hopefully your credit line is somewhere between 1000 to 2000. We've ideally helped you build your credit.
We've ideally helped you start a handful of other milestones from thinking about investing to some of the core layers of that educational journey that we begin. We train on everything from credit to savings, to budgeting, to et cetera. We've hopefully helped you partner with some companies that reduce some expenses.
One of the really core areas we're looking at is a lot of people in the U. S. Overpay on their auto loan because of a big hole in auto underwriting. And so we're really looking to figure out are you overpaying? And if so, can we help you figure out where to go? Unfortunately, I've taken a lot of Uber rides and I always ask the question, Do you know how much you pay?
And I've helped so many of the Uber drivers I've taken save a lot of money because they just didn't realize, Oh I can actually look for another. I can refinance, just where do you get started? And it goes back to what [00:25:00] you said in the beginning. It's stressful and it's overwhelming.
And we're all just trying to continue on and enjoy life as much as possible. And so I hope Arro begins people on a path of whether you're looking for credit and whether you need to build your credit or not, giving you access to a credit tool that also trains, helps make decisions, reduce expenses, build up savings, and who knows what can come of it from there.
Naseema: I love that. So in the next 10 years, where do you see Aero taking people with their finances?
Ryan Duitch: Yeah, absolutely. So one of the things I've always said is, We are not looking to be the super app or that, challenger bank that says, I want all of your deposits and all of your money. I don't plan to have 20 different lending arms of the company. What we really want to do well is help people get started, build their credit to a score that makes sense and then help them to even know what to do with that.
I've asked a lot of people I want to build my credit. What for? I don't actually know what for, I just know I [00:26:00] should. Is it to eventually buy a house? Because that's, that's where most people end up saying I want to buy a house. What are the steps you need to get there? Do you need to save up a certain amount to have that, deposit down?
Where do you begin? Et cetera, et cetera. And our goal is really to focus on that behavioral journey and bring in amazing partners. Amazing partners that might be large banks that want to participate on some level if that's your goal. Our goal is to help you figure out what is your goal? Why is that your goal?
Is that the path you should be on? And how do we help you get there? A lot of the times it starts with financial confidence. When you don't know these things and you're not taught these things, it's overwhelming. The amount of people that don't check their credit score, don't look at their bank balance because you don't want to see it.
We all have that. I've done that myself. I don't want, I'm just going to file this away. I don't want to think about it now. Then maybe a collections bill comes at some point or something else, right? And now you want to avoid it more, but you can't. And so our goal is to really help people make the right decisions, bring in partners in an ecosystem [00:27:00] that can support or empower, we're talking about a partner now, or if you want credit counseling, maybe locally.
This is a great nonprofit you could partner with that gives you someone to go meet with in person all the way through to the real vision, which is how do we help you save on auto insurance and a handful of other capacities? How do we help you eventually find a path to home ownership through partnerships and decision making that starts over time?
And eventually we will likely white label our model into banks and other companies all over the country because we've had a lot to say. I love this. Can we take it and offer it to our customers? And so I eventually assume that we will be powering lots of companies all over the country.
Naseema: love that. I love that vision. For someone who is like, Say recovering from a bankruptcy or a really bad credit challenge, would it be a good solution for them?
Ryan Duitch: Yeah, so We don't use the credit score, to make decisions. We do use attributes, but if you're coming out of a [00:28:00] bankruptcy We're absolutely a place that you can get started, and a lot of the times you need someone is going to help you also avoid some of the mistakes as well as give you a chance, right?
A lot of it comes with opportunity. Then it comes with maybe I shouldn't have done X and Y. We have a lesson that's all about avoiding interest. Yes, I'd say we are one of those opportunities that will approve people, no matter what your circumstances, no matter where you're coming from. But there are certain things.
We have a minimum bank balance, for example. So to apply, you have to have more than 50 in your bank account when you apply. We have some basic income requirements. They're very nominal, much less than others. But there are some basics because we also have to ensure we're meeting the regulatory standards and the compliance standards that we have.
And so we do have some basic requirements. But. We try to make it very open ended and very easy to get approved.
Naseema: What are your approval rates?
Ryan Duitch: Yeah. We have, once you get to our model, our approval rate is between [00:29:00] 60 to 70%. But once again, there are a handful of rules. So if you apply or you don't connect a bank account that has more than 50, You don't get declined, you just get stopped in the process. We have a few others like that that are similar kinds of rules that look at your bank activity or that might look at your credit report.
If you've charged off two other accounts in the last six months. We're probably not the right person to start with. If you have over a certain amount of debt, if you have tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt, we're probably not the right place to start. A debt consolidation partner is probably the right place to start.
Figure out a plan on how to pay that down, because for you, taking on more debt at that point isn't the right next step. Once you have a plan, then using us to figure out how do I set this up to be successful? That might be the right starting place. But we try to approve a lot of people who make it to the model, and we try to make sure our path is really transparent.
I'd say what I see is the [00:30:00] biggest area for folks is connecting a bank account and connecting your actual account. We have a lot of people that don't want to connect their primary account. So the secondary account might not meet some of the rules. Income coming in, certain balance requirements and things like that.
And a lot of people don't want to connect their bank account in the first place. Everything's encrypted, everything's secured. But those are some of the information.
Naseema: Yeah, a lot of people are leery about connecting their bank accounts rightfully. But it's required. If you're going to use a banking product. And understand the fears, but then understand the realities of actually building wealth and all of those things. But I'll it made me think about like when you deny people, say, for example, when you gave the the example of the having high limits on your credit card, or, credit card debt. When you deny people, do you like give them like even just an email that's hey, this is why you denied me. This is why we denied you. [00:31:00] Here are some resources that can help you get on the right path.
Ryan Duitch: Yeah, so we do let everyone know why they were declined if they are declined. That's actually a legal requirement for anyone who's issuing a credit card or credit product like this. It's called an adverse action. And so we send that to everyone who is declined. We started sending out some resources and some other things in an email.
And we found some people were slightly upset, right? That they were declined and didn't want to think about other resources. And so one of the things we've been working on is we're working on a new app platform where instead of just applying for the card, you actually get taken directly into our mobile app where you can start taking some lessons.
You can engage the coach. You can do a handful of things. And that way, Okay. If because a lot of people aren't declined, they're just stopped in the process because they didn't connect the right account. They didn't have certain information where this way we can start to share some of that stuff with you directly in our mobile app.
Here's another resource for you. Here's a lesson [00:32:00] that's really relevant. Here's an opportunity for you to think about something different. And yes, we're working on building kind of our partner ecosystem because a lot of it comes to what you said in the beginning, which is I don't know where to go, and unfortunately, the. Fear of rejection is a serious thing. It's, my dream originally was we would never decline anyone. And eventually I believe we'll get there, but unfortunately we also have rules and we also have things we need to make sure our business can operate sustainably. And so I hope at some point in time we can get there.
Now it might mean you start even smaller. And we say everyone starts at 10 no matter what, and here's the path to grow. But but yes, declining is one of the things that. Always kills me when I see it in any of the reports but we are continuously improving and improving more and more.
Naseema: Yeah, I understand that. So when people apply because it is a credit product, is it a hard credit pool?
Ryan Duitch: Great question. So I am happy to [00:33:00] say we do not do a hard inquiry. We are probably the only unsecured credit card that does not do that. And it's because we got a special partnership with one of the bureaus who said you start people lower than others. And you have this educational journey. We're going to call you a credit building credit card instead of just the normal credit card.
And so we have a special designation where we do not do a hard inquiry. So anyone's welcome to apply. Doesn't ping your credit report in any way. And then once you get your first statement and start making payments, That's when we submit to the credit bureaus. And so you have some time to get approved without any ping, then to start ensuring you're making payments so that we can report those to the bureaus and start building up your credit score.
Naseema: Question, do you only send that, I know every time I apply for something, there's a statement that comes in the mail this is what our decision was based off of, and this is what your credit score is, X, Y, and Z. Do you only get those if you get declined for a card, or is it just if they apply in general?
Mm
Ryan Duitch: you go through the full [00:34:00] application process, you do have our email doesn't say your credit score was X or Y, but you do have an ability once you either get declined or get approved to get a free credit score. You can already get free credit scores from a handful of sites and products out there, but you do have the right once you've got declined or approved to go request a credit report for free.
We have in our mobile app. A free credit score and report tracking as well that you can access once you do get approved. And we're working on something for people who don't, who want to see this stuff as well.
Naseema: Love it. Okay. One more time. How can people get started with Arro today?
Ryan Duitch: Yes, download our mobile app. It's called Arro in both Google and or the iOS Play Store and App Store. Check out our website, which I hope will be listed here and I mentioned earlier, but lots of ways to get started. The application process just takes a couple minutes. And if anyone on our team can be helpful on our website [00:35:00] please feel free to reach out to hello at aerofinance.
com and we'd be happy to answer any questions as well.
Naseema: I appreciate you Ryan for being on the podcast. I love what you're doing and I'm looking forward to joining Arro as well. So again, everything will be in the show notes. To all the links are clickable down below in the show notes. So you can get started with Arro today, but I really appreciate what you're doing, Ryan.
I appreciate you for being on the podcast.
Ryan Duitch: Thanks so much.
Naseema: Of course.
Hey there I’m Naseema
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