Fintech One•On•One

Julie Szudarek of Self Financial

Mar 22, 2024

Fintech innovates credit building for Gen-Z and millennials avoiding credit cards. Julie Szudarek, CEO of Self, discusses their credit builder account, financial literacy, and partnership with the Spurs. The podcast explores career highlights, product market fit, and empowering financial futures through credit building products.

28:22

Episode guests

Julie Szudarek

AI Summary

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Fintech offers creative solutions for credit building without needing existing credit, benefiting underserved demographics.

Self's credit builder program at Self Financial helps customers increase credit scores significantly through timely payments and financial literacy.

Deep dives

Self's Core Product: Credit Building

Self is a company that helps individuals with low or no credit to establish or re-establish their credit. The core product involves consumers committing to monthly payments into a secured CD account, which is reported to the three credit bureaus. By improving credit scores, Self empowers individuals in areas such as insurance, renting, and financial opportunities.

Introduction

2min

Exploring Career Highlights and International Experience

2min

The Journey to Becoming CEO at Self Financial

2min

Empowering Financial Futures through Credit Building Products

17min

Exploring the Strategic Partnership with the Spurs

2min

Future Plans and Priorities of Self Financial for Financial Inclusion

2min

Until fintech came along, there was a serious catch-22 when it came to establishing credit. There was no easy way to establish your own credit score without first obtaining credit. This became a real problem with Gen-Z and even younger millennials who have avoided credit cards. But for most people, successfully establishing a good credit score opens doors that are otherwise unavailable. Fintech has come up with some creative solutions to help both establish a credit score or reestablish one that has dropped significantly.

My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Julie Szudarek, the CEO of Self. She has been in this role for almost six months, taking over from founder James Garvey (listen to the episode with James here). Self was the inventor of the credit builder account and the space has grown a lot in the last few years as consumers are more aware than ever of the importance of a good credit score.

In this podcast you will learn: