A FinTech Solution that Not Only Improves Your Finances, but Helps Consumers Build Equity

It is scary, but true – household debt among Americans is rising much faster than income. [Open in your browser]( [Investor Alert] [Stockhouse.com]( A FinTech Solution that Not Only Improves Your Finances, but Helps Consumers Build Equity --------------------------------------------------------------- [Visit the company website]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( FinTech Solution that Not Only Improves Your Finances, but Helps Consumers Build Equity) [LinkedIn]( [Email](mailto:?subject=A FinTech Solution that Not Only Improves Your Finances, but Helps Consumers Build Equity&body= Jon Brown, Stockhouse It is scary, but true – household debt among Americans is rising much faster than income. The Federal Reserve recently reported that total household debt increased by $286 billion (USD) to $15.24 trillion (USD) in Q3 2021. Mortgage balances, which are the largest component of household debt, rose by $230 billion (USD) and stood at $10.67 trillion (USD) at the end of September 2021. According to a CNBC 2021 report the average American debt is around $90,460 (USD), including mortgages, home equity, auto, student, and personal loans, as well as credit card debt. While these figures paint a nerve-wracking picture, what people need is a simple solution that is easy to use for automating their cash flow and reducing debts over time, without having to do the complex interest calculations and economic benefit math themselves. Enter: Financial technology company Hank Payments Corp. ([TSX-V: HANK]( [Forum]( a company that has developed the leading-edge Hank software platform which acts as a personal, financial concierge, automating the complexities of personal cash flow management. Customers use Hank as an automated budgeting platform that manages their bill and loan payments as well as their cash flow. Hank's 40,000 customers use the platform as an automated budgeting tool that conveniently calculates their upcoming payments and higher interest loans to utilize the customers' cash flow to help reduce debt more quickly, without having material impacts on their budgets – it's about developing an intelligent approach to paying off higher-interest loans faster, and then automating the discipline required to do so over a long period of time. [SEE COMPANY PROFILE]( Who is Hank? Meet the "robo-advisor for debt": Hank's philosophy has been to help consumers reduce high-cost debt, build equity, improve credit quality, and stay on the platform until their loans are retired. Better payment and debt ratio performance can lead customers to lower interest rate borrowing or cheaper refinancing of high-cost debt over time. How the automated budgeting platform works: Customers pay Hank an enrollment or membership fee, as well as monthly processing fees to store cash away at partner banks (because we all know what happens when we have cash!), and then instruct those banks to remit payments on behalf of the consumers when their bills or debts are due. Hank's algorithms find cash in a consumer's cash flow and can automate payment plans and models designed to manage the consumers' finances – Hank puts consumers on financial autopilot. Consumers can choose to pay highest interest debt first or lowest balance first and many permutations in between. The team leading Hank considers itself as the robo-advisor for Liabilities Under Management vs. Assets Under Management. Hank does not lend money to consumers and has no balance sheet risk. Hank's bank partners operate under banking licenses and accept customer deposits as they build up towards making consumers' payments on time. In fact Hank never touches a customer's cash – the Hank platforms tells its bank partners when to debit the customer, store cash for the next series of payments, then make those payments when they are due. For customers that use the Hank platform for all payments, essentially the money left in their accounts between payrolls is theirs to spend, knowing their payments are taken care of. Hanks's banking partners earn fees for acting on instructions from Hank and housing the customer's cash in accounts, among other key services. Half of the customers who use the Hank service have good credit and use Hank for convenience, while the other half need Hank to instill and execute the discipline associated with budget and cash management. Hank noted that customers who use the platform for more than one payment have doubled since last year, processing well over twenty payments per month in many cases, automatically. The team boasts the platform's ease of use, as customers simply set up their payment program and Hank does all the work for them. Hank also houses powerful payment and financial data that will aid lenders in making underwriting decisions in the future to high quality Hank customers. As Hank pays more than 400 lenders for consumer loan balances of well over $1 billion (USD), the company expects to introduce and match customers to lenders as its product suite evolves. Hank's view is once it has a customer demonstrating better payment performance, that customer will be attractive to lenders who may be able to reduce the cost of borrowing through refinance opportunities, with the hope being the cash flow saved by reducing interest costs will contribute to consumers building savings. The President and Chief Executive Officer of Metropolitan Commercial Bank (MCB), New York, Mark DeFazio noted that his company has been banking platform partners with Hank Payments since 2018 and offered high praise for the team and their work as Hank went public. "We have come to appreciate the discipline and culture that Hank applies to its regulatory and platform environments, and we look forward to scaling with Hank, as one of our premier customers." [INVESTOR UPDATES]( Going public: Shares of Hank Payments Corporation have started trading on the [TSX Venture Exchange]( under the stock symbol HANK. Following a [qualifying transaction]( with capital pool company Nobelium Tech Corp. earlier this autumn, Hank began trading at the opening of the market on October 20th, 2021. Chairman and CEO, Michael Hilmer commented on the milestone achievement. "When we launched the Hank payment platform in 2018, we set out to transform the financial wellness market by providing our customers with the tools to improve their cash flow management, resulting in several incredible benefits." He added, "Since then we have made significant progress in strengthening our operations, assembling an institutional team, advancing complex technology and data solutions and putting ourselves in a position to scale organically and through acquisitions." CEO Hilmer sat down with Caroline Egan to discuss the company's milestone achievement. (Click to play video.) Expanding the auto dealer base: In late October 2021, Hank Payments signed an agreement with [Dennis & Co. Auto Group Inc.]( to offer Hank products to consumers in all of its stores. Dennis & Co. Auto Group operates one of the largest networks of auto dealerships in the US, generating more than half a billion dollars in annual revenue. CEO Hilmer discussed the partnership with Caroline Egan and spoke highly of the potential growth it brings to both businesses. (Click to play video.) Brian Dennis, the owner, founder, and President of Dennis & Co. commented, "We have been using similar platforms in a lesser capacity with good success but the broad capabilities of Hank, coupled with its seasoned leadership and robust product path, convinced us to get serious about this industry leading platform." "This is a clear signal of confidence in Hank by one of the nation's most respected automotive dealership groups," CEO Hilmer added. "We have followed Brian's success in taking the friction out of the vehicle buying process and in particular putting the customer's needs front and center. Brian is a clear leader in the automotive retail sector, and we are thrilled to be partnering with Dennis & Co." Meet the team: [Jeff Guthrie, President and COO] Hank Payments is founded and operated by leaders in the finance space with exceptional acumen and experience. In early November 2021, Hank announced that [Jeff Guthrie]( joined the team as President and Chief Operating Officer. A senior leader from the payment space, he is an accomplished financial services business executive with more than 30 years of experience in payments, banking and financial services. CEO Hilmer discussed the appointment with Caroline Egan. (Click to play video.) "Jeff's proven cross platform execution will be instrumental to immediately scale Hank as we accelerate our growth strategy across the United States. Holding a Masters of Management with specialities in International Business, and with a considerable network of business contacts, we expect Jeff will contribute quickly to our organizational advancement, ensuring growth with an eye towards risk mitigation during transaction driven events." "I am delighted that Jeff has chosen to lead Hank's execution and his style and institutional thought processes are complementary to mine and our teams. Securing Mr. Guthrie allows me to focus more directly on illuminating our vision with large investors, bankers, prospective institutional partners and acquisition targets, with the confidence of knowing that carriage of execution is well in hand," he added. Mr. Guthrie stated "After analyzing many interesting Fintech opportunities in great detail, I am excited to choose to lead Hank principally for the commitment the team has towards the mission of helping consumers get financially well and for the innovation in the platform today as well as what we have in development. Hank's growth path and platform strategy are among the most exciting I have seen in the sector and with Hank already deployed in a massive consumer market, I see dramatic growth at our fingertips." He added, "I plan to work very closely with Michael and the team to ensure my institutional knowledge fuels everything we do here at Hank, including large deal launches, consumer growth and transaction negotiation and integration, all with a view to creating long-term stakeholder value." [Michael Hilmer, Chief Executive Officer] As for CEO Hilmer, he also brings 30 years experience to the table, from banking, technology, fintech and lending. Having raised over $1B in debt and equity for past ventures that became dominant market players within two years of launch, he understands the governance, discipline and relationships that come together in a rapidly scaling environment. From building software companies to finalizing deals and acquisitions, he has done it all. [William (Bill) Holland] Chief Technology Officer, William "Bill" Holland has held senior level roles at CPPIB, CitiBank, Bank of America, and Lehman Brothers. He has deep financial and technical knowledge gained by delivering solutions to complex financial problems in Asset Management, Credit and Market Risk, Data Management and Capital Markets Trading Systems. [Ashish Kapoor, Chief Financial Officer] Chief Financial Officer, Ashish Kapoor is the former Senior Vice President at Macquarie Capital Markets Canada Ltd., He was responsible for the Canadian telecom, media, entertainment and technology investment banking and principal investing group. During his 10 years at Macquarie, He completed more than $3 billion in successful principal investments. Future outlook: As the Hank Payments team works to build out its platform and services over the next six months to a year, the focus is building its leadership and bringing institutionally experienced personnel on board, while taking advantage of accelerated growth opportunities. In an interview with Stockhouse Editorial, CEO Michael Hilmer explained that the company sees great opportunities for transactions to acquire platforms that already have a loyal following of customers, as well as channels that attract customers and strategic relationships, which they may not be fully monetizing for the real growth, due to their size, perhaps they are not able to raise capital on a level like Hank Payments, or they are unable to tap the USA National Market Place due to resource constraints. Mr. Hilmer commented "We will be very aggressive when it comes to transactions over the next 6 to 12 months. We are launching more features and more products for our consumers. We are also pursuing strategic partnerships. We look for ways to create reciprocity with brands that already have customers that we can help. Those four things are very easy to say, but that is a massive amount of work." [VIEW COMPANY WEBSITE]( About Metropolitan Commercial Bank Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. ([NYSE: MCB]( is the holding company for Metropolitan Commercial Bank. The Bank provides a broad range of business, commercial and personal banking products and services to small and middle-market businesses, public entities and affluent individuals in the New York metropolitan area. Founded in 1999, the Bank is headquartered in New York City and operates six locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Great Neck, Long Island. The Bank provides banking-as-a service to its fintech partners, which includes serving as an issuing bank for third-party debit card programs nationwide. The Bank is a New York State chartered commercial bank and a Federal Reserve System member bank whose deposits are insured up to applicable limits by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and an equal opportunity lender. For more information, please visit www.mcbankny.com FULL DISCLOSURE: This is a paid article produced by Stockhouse Publishing. --------------------------------------------------------------- [stockhouse]( Stockhouse Publishing Ltd. 1100 – 609 West Hastings Street | Vancouver | BC | V6B 4W4 | CA [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Preferences]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [LinkedIn]( This email was sent to you by Stockhouse Publishing Ltd. because you consented to receive messages from us. You may manage your subscription preferences at any time. You may contact our email compliance officer at compliance@stockhouse.com The advertiser featured in this Stockhouse Publishing Ltd. Alert has paid a fee in cash or stock not exceeding $5,000 to have their corporate information featured. The information shown is solely the responsibility of the advertiser [Hank Payments], not Stockhouse Publishing Ltd, whose only function was as a supplier of media facilities. 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