TEFARI BAILEY

Founder and CEO of Hutsy Financial

Revolutionizing Finance

and Banking for Canadians

by David Messiha

Tefari Bailey is on a mission to make financial wellness attainable for everyone, regardless of their financial situation or background. The CEO and founder of Hutsy Financial wants people to build and establish their credit history. After a life-changing experience on CBC’s Dragons’ Den, Bailey intends to lend a helping hand to individuals abandoned by big banks. Bailey speaks below about what inspired him, and how Hutsy provides a smart alternative to how Canadians save and spend.

Hutsy is a neo-bank. What is neo-banking and what are the benefits of neo-banking compared to other traditional financial institutions?

The term neo-bank means it's all online and digital. We don't have any physical locations like other financial institutions, like one of the big five banks, for example. They have thousands of employees, and tons of office space across Canada and the United States. They have all this overhead cost. Since we are online and digital, we don't have to pay those marginal expenses that they do. We're playing in a giant category in banking where the five banks control 95 per cent of assets under management. We are able to reward the end-user with a better user interface with lower costs, or even no cost in some instances. We are also able to add on subscriptionbased products to make our offering profitable.

How many have signed up for the Hutsy card? What are its advantages?

We currently have about 35,000 people that have signed up and are ready to go, once we launch our product in February 2023. With the Hutsy Card, we are providing the first debit card in Canadian history that builds credit with every purchase you make. Secondly, it provides early access to payroll, which means individuals never have to use a payday loan again, as long as they have direct deposit set up with us. Thirdly, there is a no-fee banking solution. Instead of paying a monthly fee for your bank account or your checking account, it's completely free with us. Fourthly, you get cash back on all purchases instead of having to use a credit card to get cashback; you couldn’t do that with a debit card before. //