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The peer-to-peer lender has reported a 441 per cent surge in loan originations in the first half of the 2019 financial year, but remained in the red.
Wisr disclosed to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) that the total value of personal loan originations in the first half of the 2019 financial year (H1 FY19) rose 441 per cent year-on-year to $28 million.
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While the marketplace lender reported a 59 per cent year-on-year increase in revenue over the year from $759,000 in H1 FY18 to $1.2 million in H1 FY19, it remained in the red.
Total comprehensive loss for the latest half-year was $3.45 million, 12 per cent higher than the $3.09 million loss recorded in H1 FY18.
The loss was attributed to a 26 per cent hike in staff costs to $2.2 million as the lender “rolls out its growth strategy and new products”.
The peer-to-peer lender launched a credit score comparison service, WisrCredit, in August last year, which it claimed brought in more than 19,000 new users to its ecosystem.
Wisr CEO Anthony Nantes said: “Wisr has created… an ecosystem of intelligent product, tech and services that redefine the value chain for customers – extending the traditional role of what a lender does into a much more full funnel solution.
“We remain resolute and committed to the Wisr neo-lender strategy. Building a purpose-led organisation with the genuine financial wellbeing of our customers at its centre at a time when it’s needed most.”
In October last year, Wisr’s Intelligent Credit Engine (ICE) – which performs credit risk analysis, identity verification, personalised interest rate assessment and institutional lender matching – was updated so that it could extract data from a wider range of sources to make lending decisions. Mr Nantes said at the time that this demonstrates the lender’s “vigilance” in the area of responsible lending.
“Wisr is now able to automatically pull down two years of available transactional data into ICE to better assess the financial behaviour of potential borrowers. The ICE platform then synthesises up to 110 data points, including living expenses, to determine borrower suitability and personalise the interest rate,” the lender’s disclosure to the ASX states.
“This is particularly important in an environment when many other lenders have been criticised about their approach to credit assessment.”
The marketplace lender reiterated that it continued to deliver “consistently strong credit quality, exceeding its objectives for arrears and book performance“.
It said Wisr customers have both high income and credit scores than the national average.
“Wisr has remained consistently below the target annualised gross default rate of 2 per cent since FY16,” the lender’s disclosure to the ASX states.
The marketplace lender also reported the imminent launch of its mobile application WisrApp in the third quarter of the FY19, saying that it will allow consumers “to pay down debt using a unique transaction round-up model.”
Wisr additionally noted “further strength” in the broker channel, having joined Connective’s panel of lenders in August.
“Growth through these channels, introduction of new products and continued performance of its technology platform positions Wisr for future growth,” the lender’s disclosure to the ASX states.
Wisr further reported that its net promoter score increased to +60 at the end of December 2018, compared to +54 recorded at the end of June 2018.
[Related: New lender joins aggregator panel]
