10K Users from Product Launch Day 1 | TomoCredit Kristy Kim

Summary

Chrisy Kim, the founder and CEO of Tomo Credit, a fintech AI startup in San Francisco, discusses the challenges immigrants and international students face in obtaining credit in the US. With no background in banking, Kim leveraged her own experiences and industry insights to build a platform that approves loans based on a proprietary 'Tomo score' derived from bank data, not traditional credit scores. The company has grown exponentially, aiming to empower its diverse customer base and help them build a better financial future.

Takeaways

• 🚀 Chrisy Kim, the founder and CEO of Tomo Credit, shared the company's rapid growth, starting from over 10,000 customers on day one to nearly 4 million customers in the US.
• 💡 Tomo Credit is a fintech AI startup based in San Francisco that was founded to address the credit access issues faced by immigrants and international students.
• 🌟 The company experienced significant growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, growing by 400%, and aims for another 200% growth this year.
• 🏦 They received investment from Barclays UK bank and have been able to meet and learn from various banking professionals, which helped them in their journey.
• 🔢 Tomo Credit uses its proprietary 'Tomo score' to assess creditworthiness based on bank account data, offering a solution for those without a traditional credit score.
• 🛡️ The company's approach to risk management involves hiring experienced professionals from established banks to ensure the sustainability and security of their lending practices.
• 💼 Chrisy Kim's personal experiences with credit rejections motivated her to create a solution for immigrants and international students facing similar issues.
• 🤖 The Tomo score is based on factors such as affordability, sustainability of income and spending patterns, and the willingness to pay, which are crucial for assessing credit risk.
• 🌐 Tomo Credit does not share private or sensitive customer data with lenders, ensuring privacy while still providing valuable insights to partners.
• 🌱 The company's mission is to help people build a better tomorrow by providing financial services to those traditionally underserved by the banking system.
• 💪 Chrisy Kim advises entrepreneurs to turn their weaknesses into superpowers and focus on their strengths, which has contributed to her success as a founder.

Q & A

What is the name of the fintech AI startup based in San Francisco mentioned in the transcript?

The name of the fintech AI startup is Tomo Credit.

Who is the founder and CEO of Tomo Credit?

Chrisy Kim is the founder and CEO of Tomo Credit.

Why did Chrisy Kim and her friends decide to start Tomo Credit?

Chrisy Kim and her friends decided to start Tomo Credit because they faced difficulties in getting credit cards, auto loans, and mortgages as immigrants and wanted to help others with similar issues.

What investment did Tomo Credit receive from Barclays UK bank?

The transcript does not specify the exact type or amount of investment received from Barclays UK bank, only that they received investment.

How did Tomo Credit's growth rate compare during the COVID pandemic and the following year?

Tomo Credit grew by 400% during the COVID pandemic and by 200% in the following year.

What is the main challenge that immigrants and international students face according to Chrisy Kim?

The main challenge that immigrants and international students face, according to Chrisy Kim, is not having a credit score, which makes it difficult for them to get loans and other financial services.

What is the significance of the 'Tomo score' in the context of the company's services?

The 'Tomo score' is a proprietary formula used by Tomo Credit to assess the creditworthiness of customers without a traditional credit score, allowing them to approve loans based on bank account information.

How does Tomo Credit handle the privacy of its customers' data when working with partner lenders?

Tomo Credit does not share any private or privacy-related data of its customers with lenders. The data is used to train the model for the Tomo score, ensuring confidentiality.

What is the role of Tomo Credit in the credit ecosystem according to Chrisy Kim?

According to Chrisy Kim, the role of Tomo Credit in the credit ecosystem is to help people who are rejected by traditional financial institutions due to lack of credit history, by providing them with a chance to build credit and access financial services.

What advice does Chrisy Kim give to young entrepreneurs and herself in retrospect?

Chrisy Kim advises young entrepreneurs to turn their weaknesses into superpowers, focusing on their strengths and hiring people who excel in areas they are not good at, to improve overall company performance.

What is Chrisy Kim's vision for Tomo Credit in the future?

Chrisy Kim's vision for Tomo Credit is for it to become a big brand that empowers immigrants, helping them succeed in various financial aspects such as getting apartments or auto loans, and to be the go-to brand for international students.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Founding Tomo Credit: A Fintech Solution for the Underserved

Chrisy Kim, the founder and CEO of Tomo Credit, introduces her San Francisco-based fintech AI startup. The company was born out of the personal experiences of its immigrant founders who faced difficulties in obtaining credit cards, auto loans, and mortgages due to their lack of credit history in the US. Tomo Credit aims to assist immigrants and international students by providing financial services without the need for a traditional credit score. The company experienced rapid growth, reaching nearly 4 million customers in the US without relying on paid marketing. Chrisy Kim attributes the company's success to its ability to address a real pain point for immigrants and international students, who often face rejection from traditional financial institutions due to their unfamiliarity with the US financial system.

05:00

🌱 Growing Tomo Credit: Overcoming Challenges and Scaling Up

The script details the growth trajectory of Tomo Credit, which expanded by 400% during the COVID-19 pandemic and aimed for another 200% growth in the following year. The company's approach to credit scoring is innovative, focusing on factors beyond traditional FICO scores, such as the age of credit, which disproportionately affects immigrants who may not have established credit early in their lives. Tomo Credit's solution is to offer a 'Tomo score' based on a proprietary formula that utilizes bank account information to assess creditworthiness. The company initially funded its lending operations with its own capital, as banks were initially hesitant to approve loans without a credit score. Tomo Credit's strategy was to prove the viability of their model, which has since attracted interest from other financial institutions looking to partner with them.

10:01

🛡️ Privacy and Partnership: Tomo Credit's Commitment to Data Protection

Chrisy Kim emphasizes Tomo Credit's commitment to customer privacy, ensuring that no personal data is shared with lenders. Instead, the company uses aggregated data to train its underwriting model, which can confidently predict the likelihood of customers repaying loans. This approach allows Tomo Credit to offer a valuable service to banks and other financial institutions, licensing its underwriting and scoring system without compromising customer confidentiality. The company's mission is to help build a better financial future for its customers, particularly for immigrants and international students who have traditionally been underserved by the financial industry.

15:03

💼 Embracing Diversity and Innovation: Tomo Credit's Vision for the Future

The final paragraph outlines Tomo Credit's vision to become a leading brand that empowers immigrants and international students in the US. With a team predominantly composed of immigrants and international individuals, the company is deeply connected to its customer base. Tomo Credit aims to help its customers overcome the barriers to financial services they face, such as securing apartments or auto loans. The company's long-term goal is to ensure that future generations of immigrants do not have to struggle with financial exclusion due to lack of credit history. Chrisy Kim shares her entrepreneurial advice, encouraging others to leverage their unique strengths and experiences to build successful businesses.

Keywords

💡Fintech

Fintech refers to the intersection of financial services and technology, where technology is used to improve and automate financial systems. In the video, the founder of Tomo Credit discusses how their fintech AI startup is revolutionizing the credit industry, particularly for immigrants and international students who traditionally struggle with credit scores.

💡Credit Score

A credit score is a numerical representation of an individual's creditworthiness, typically calculated using the FICO formula. The video emphasizes the challenges faced by immigrants and international students in obtaining a credit score due to lack of credit history, and how Tomo Credit aims to provide alternatives to the traditional credit scoring system.

💡Immigrants

Immigrants are individuals who have moved to a new country with the intention of residing there permanently. The video's theme revolves around the difficulties immigrants face in establishing credit in the US, and how Tomo Credit is designed to assist this demographic by offering financial services without the need for a traditional credit score.

💡International Students

International students are non-native students who come to another country to pursue education. The script highlights the struggles international students encounter with the credit system in the US, similar to immigrants, and how Tomo Credit seeks to alleviate these issues by providing accessible financial services.

💡Investment

Investment in this context refers to the financial backing provided by an entity, such as Barclays UK bank, to support the growth and development of a business. The video mentions that Tomo Credit received investment in its second year, which is indicative of the trust and potential seen in the company's mission and services.

💡Growth

Growth, in a business context, refers to the increase in size, value, or profitability over time. The script details the impressive growth rates of Tomo Credit, including a 400% growth during the COVID-19 pandemic and a target of another 200% growth in the following year.

💡Underwriting

Underwriting is the process of evaluating the risk of lending to a prospective borrower by a financial institution. Tomo Credit has developed its own underwriting process and 'Tomo score' to assess the creditworthiness of individuals without a traditional credit score, as explained in the video.

💡API

API stands for Application Programming Interface, which is a set of rules and protocols that allows different software applications to communicate with each other. The founder initially wanted Tomo Credit to provide APIs to banks for lending purposes, although banks were initially hesitant to adopt this approach.

💡Risk Management

Risk management is the process of identifying, assessing, and controlling risks to minimize any potential negative impact. The video discusses the importance of balancing innovation with proven risk management practices in fintech, especially when dealing with lending to individuals without a credit score.

💡Fraud

Fraud refers to any form of deception intended for personal gain or to damage another individual. In the context of the video, the founder mentions the importance of having a robust underwriting process to prevent fraud and ensure that only high-quality customers are approved for financial services.

💡Sustainability

In the financial context, sustainability refers to the ability of an individual or business to maintain stable income or spending patterns over time. The script explains that Tomo Credit's underwriting process considers the sustainability of a customer's financial situation, which is crucial for assessing their ability to repay loans.

Highlights

Tomo Credit has acquired over 4 million customers in the US without any paid marketing.

Founded by immigrants to address the credit card and loan access issues faced by immigrants and international students.

Received investment from Barclays UK bank in the second year of operation.

Growth of 400% during COVID and a target of 200% growth for the current year.

The challenge of building credit without a credit history, likened to creating a 'painkiller' for those in need.

The founder's personal experience of rejection due to lack of credit history motivated the creation of Tomo Credit.

Tomo Credit's initial execution involved extensive industry consultation to understand credit scoring and lending.

Barclays' investment facilitated further industry connections and support.

The FICO credit score is determined by five main factors, one of which is the age of credit, posing a significant barrier for immigrants.

Tomo Credit aims to solve the issue of credit invisibility among immigrants by offering an alternative scoring system.

Tomo Credit's proprietary 'Tomo Score' uses bank account information to assess creditworthiness.

Risked the company's own money to approve loans for people without a credit score, as banks were unwilling to do so.

Tomo Credit's relationship with banks involves licensing its underwriting and scoring system without sharing customer data.

The company's mission is to help people build a better tomorrow by providing financial tools to those traditionally underserved.

Tomo Credit has a strong team of 90% immigrants and internationals, deeply understanding and caring for their customer base.

The importance of balancing innovation with risk management in fintech, as emphasized by the company's hiring of experienced risk team members.

Tomo Credit's focus on affordability, sustainability, and willingness to pay as key factors in their lending decisions.

The founder's advice to young entrepreneurs to turn weaknesses into strengths and focus on individual superpowers.

The vision for Tomo Credit to become a leading brand empowering immigrants and international students in the US.

Transcripts

we got 10,000 more than 10,000 customers

signing up day one without us having to

do any paid marketing we only did it in

year five as of today we are close to

like 4 million customers in the US hi my

name is chrisy Kim founder and CEO of

Tomo credit so Tomo credit is fintech AI

startup based in San Francisco so we

started a company because as immigrants

we all had the same problems uh we

couldn't get a credit card we couldn't

get an auto loan we couldn't get a

mortgage so me and my friends we decided

to start a company that helps other

immigrants and international students we

got investment from Barclays UK bank the

following year the second year we were

growing very fast we grew like 400%

during the covid and then last year we

grew like 200% and this year we are

aiming for another

200% not having a credit score it's a

real pain so building to of credit feels

like I'm building a painkiller for

people who really need it when

immigrants International we come here we

come here for our own like ambitious

goals right whether it is to start your

own company or to study get a job or be

somebody here in my 20s I kept getting

rejected it was more about not knowing

the system and I think I felt difficulty

more as a adult than a teenager uh

because when you are like teenager and

when you are in the school when you're

at University you are kind of protected

cuz you are in a bubble cuz your

identity is a student for me the main

actual struggle I felt like oh it sucks

when I was applying for jobs for the

real world why am I getting rejected CU

I got rejected uh for apartment

application and also I got an offer from

Goldman and in San Francisco and Goldman

resed the offer and they were saying

that they decide not to offer visa for

the incoming class at that time so for

me it's like well that's totally not

fair I studied hard and worked hard and

I am about to enter this like Workforce

and then getting rejected uh for not

having a Visa or not being a US citizen

and not having a credit score so that's

where I just felt like oh like I

thought that I fit in and then and oh

maybe I don't fit in so that was the

time that I just felt like rejected and

that feeling became some sort of a

driver to start tomomo because founding

team members are all foreigners we all

had that experience that oh wait am I

not accepted here or why am I getting

rejected and trying to figure out why

and how to change that first execution

was talking to people because I had no

background in credit card or banking I

did Investment Banking which is totally

different from consumer banking so I

started um meeting people who are

working at personal loan or business

loan loan uh department at Wells Bago

and then I talked to people at American

Express I talked to people at Barclays

and finally Barclays invested in Tomo

and after that it got easier to meet

more and more Bank people because now I

have some track record but in the very

beginning was really just like having

coffee meetings with people who were in

the industry credit score uh of known as

FICO uh it has five main factors that

determine the score so think of it this

way let's say your score is 750 and

there is a Formula that spits out the

score it can be like ax plus b y plus

XXXX equals the score and there are five

main factors you can think of as a b CDE

e and one major factor is age of your

credit so if you were born and raised in

the US and opened your first credit card

when you were like 19 then by the time

you're 29 you have 10 years of history

but immigrants like me uh my parents

didn't help me open a credit card so I

didn't open a credit card for a really

long time and when I'm 29 trying to

apply for anything my age of credit is

zero that's why as an immigrant is so

hard you are just behind simply because

you didn't know that you had to open

your credit when you young so in that

formula that determines your credit

score you are starting at a huge

disadvantage cuz one factor that

determines the biggest weight

determining your score in the formula

you have zero you have no age so so at

Tomo that's something we are trying to

solve that a lot of people in that

situation we tell them that hey it's

okay no credit score no problem come to

us and we will guide you to the right

direction

so ignorance was a blessing I didn't

know how difficult it would be to start

a credit card company I just had no idea

all I cared about is hey can we approve

people without credit score can we make

it really no credit score no problem the

mission I cared about was very clear but

when it comes to exactly how like I

didn't know the answer so initially when

I was meeting with people in the banking

industry I asked them hey can you do

this can you uh approve people without

credit score like I'm the living example

that without credit score but good

quality

customer can you go talk to your team

and then try to approve people like me

who don't have credit score

International students and immigrants

and it will be good for your business

it's not a charity it's not a like like

Mission driven activities it's good for

your business because you can acquire

more customers who are high quality and

then during that process I realized and

learned one very clear answer is that

banks will never be the first mover they

will never do it unless somebody has

tried it and then proved that it's

working so somebody had to try that's

why I was like okay then I have to do

lending by myself so after talking to

people in the industry about my idea of

building Tomo credit the very next thing

I did was building a website and I hired

two engineers at that time we just got

to work right into it and I think we are

very lucky because the very first idea

that we chose together back in 2019 and

still our idea is basically the same and

I think it's very lucky as a startup

that your initial idea and your initial

product Market fit that you hope for is

there and then you are able to double

down on it and triple down on it I think

that's a big blessing that we have had

so the relationship between Tomo and

Banks and Tomo's customers are like this

so our customers they all have their own

bank accounts so we do not Target

illegal immigrants or people without

credit score we target like legal

immigrants and legal International

students and even Americans who were

born and raised here but happen to have

no credit score yet so we target these

people and majority of them already have

US bank account or foreign bank account

and Tomo what we do is that we tell

these customers that no credit score no

problem show me your bank account then

our customers like potential customers

can connect their bank account and they

can connect as many as bank account they

want so let's say say you have three

bank account one at boa one at Wells

fago and one at City you can add all of

it and let's say you have stock

brokerage account like Robin Hood or

charge swap or even your 401k account to

your savings account you can add all of

it and it's free you can just add it and

on Tomo what we do is that our back end

our algorithm would categorize your data

and analyze data and see check your

income and your spending power and your

disposable income Etc and then decide a

score and we call it Tomo score it's

using Tomo's own proprietary formula

that is using your own bank account

information and if you have high Tomo

score we are able to approve you

regardless of your credit score or FICO

score we risked our own money in the

very beginning to try it out because

Banks were not willing to do it and no

one was willing to do it and I just

wanted to be a to be honest I just

wanted to be a tech company with API

only I wanted to provide API to Banks so

Banks can do the lending uh but Banks

didn't want to do it so I had to um not

only build the like a software API

software and underwriting and also had

to do lending so I had to do all of it

but I'm glad that we did because now in

2024 I look around nobody has done it

except Tomo and then now everybody is

interested in doing it so they are

coming to tommo and ask us about what

was our performance and maybe we can

potentially partner together so Tomo can

license our underwriting and Tomo score

and here's a really important part we do

not share any private or privacy related

data of our customers to lenders at all

so our partners would never know that

this data came from you but our partners

would know that oh income data or your

number of transactions or your income

and transaction ratio would have this

much impact on your probability to pay

lenders back so our data was used to

train the model so we can confidently

build a score Tomo score that can be

used instead of

FICO I have a very strong opinion about

it cuz my question to people who

criticize is okay so what are you

exactly doing to help so many people

they criticize other companies saying

that well it's not perfect but I I want

to ask them better okay so exactly what

are you doing like are you helping

anybody so no company is perfect and for

even Tomo we are still a startup so

there are so many new features we want

to roll out and many improvements we

want to make but bottom line like we are

trying every day our best and our team

members are 90% immigrants and

international so for us we do care about

our customers a lot

and we do have growing pains because we

grew so fast in the past couple of years

so now we are trying to hire more people

so we have more manpower to support more

customers and Etc and another think

important part is that we see our role

as helping people build better tomorrow

that's why the name of our company is

Tomo too we wanted to find people who

are rejected today and we wanted to help

them get approved and build better

tomorrow so on that sense yes we cannot

help everybody but we try our best to

help as many as possible and I think

bringing more people into credit

ecosystem has more net positive than net

negative because we bring people in and

if they do not not pay lenders back then

that data about the fact that they

didn't pay back will go to the bureaus

then now everyone will know so knowing

is better than not knowing many people

entering credit system is a risky it can

be but after they enter we are going to

monitor what's going to happen and then

we are going to train our model and then

now everyone all the other lenders will

be able to know what happens once we

approve people without credit score the

difficult part of fintech is that you

have to always find balance between

being Innovative and being the first

mover and also don't be too crazy and

relying on risk management that's

already proven so for us is okay we want

to be the first mover by welcoming no

credit score customers like immigrants

International students but when it comes

to building our own score Tomo score our

own score has to be good enough to make

sure that we are not losing money to

make sure that we don't accidentally

approve bad quality customers or Bad

actors cuz there can be a frauds so I

made sure that we bring in experts from

the industry so we brought in people

from American Express City bank Wells

fago a people who have done this for 20

years so our risk team was actually the

team that's paid the most very senior

our underwriting works now because

Market is good but you never know what's

going to happen four years 5 years or

next cycle in the market we had to make

sure that we bring in people who have

seen the market Cycles what I learned

from the data is that basically we were

right our high level assumptions were

correct it is not about having high cash

balance

so when I tell people that Tomo score is

from Bank data transaction data people

think that oh that just means that a lot

of money now that's good enough I'm like

no because what we are looking for is a

couple of things like number one like

affordability so are you able to afford

this loan yes that maybe it has some

correlation with the balance but it also

has to be sustainable so sustainability

making sure that it's not one time you

have a lot of money we want to make sure

that in the past one year P past two

years you have stable income or stable

spending pattern to give us a comfort

that you have sustainability in your

cash flow and then the third part is

your willingness to pay this is the most

difficult part because someone with

stable income and sustainable cash flow

and who are able to afford a loan might

not want to pay you back willingness is

a tricky part right so that's why some

people with great cash flow sometimes

default because they're unwilling to pay

so that's why training the data is very

meaningful and also takes time um and

Tomo is in a great position cuz we have

been doing this to four to five years

that we are sitting on the result so we

can say okay four years in this is a

result 3 years in this is a result

so we have gathered like um trended data

and that becomes more powerful as our

portfolio

matures the advice I want to give

to younger version of myself and other

soon to be entrepreneurs is that turn

your weakness into your superpower so in

my

earlier career career I thought a lot

about what I was lacking for example I'm

not a CS major or I'm not this I'm not

that and now looking back I do feel like

I had my own

superpowers and I wish I focused on that

more earlier because now I think I'm at

really at ease and know what I'm good at

and then being able to really like shine

that and triple down on it instead of

focusing on things that I'm not good at

and actually that made me a really

efficient entrepreneur because I don't

bit myself over the things I'm not good

at it's more like okay if I'm not good

at this how do I find someone hire

someone who's really good at it so

everyone can focus on their own

superpower then our entire company's

performance goes up instead of me trying

to like struggle and like try to do

things that I'm not good at and not

being able to really spend time on

things I'm good at I really want to see

Tomo become a big company a big brand

that can be empowering for immigrants

because in the US right we have so many

immigrants coming in to study or work

and I think it's great to have a brand

that that present them make them feel

empowered and make them feel like this

brand has their back so whether it's uh

getting an apartment or getting an auto

loan or everything um that immigrants

for you to succeed I want Tomo to be the

go-to brand so in that way there are so

many more we can do down the road

because my thinking is when immigrants

International we come here we come here

for our own like ambitious goals nobody

comes here to get a credit card or to

get an auto loan I think that's just

tools to make your life convenient and I

don't want the future generations of

international students to get stuck and

struggle because of these tools cuz I

suffered with it and with Tomo I hope no

International students in the future

have to get rejected anymore so that's

my hope for the

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future

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