Some Dude Who Hasn’t Shaved in Two Days Wants to Give You a Loan on Your Phone
And He’s Now the CEO of a Multi-Billion Dollar Public Company
Jason Wilk is the CEO of a banking app that wants to help you out — and keep you from paying expensive overdraft fees. At least, that’s the premise behind the “Dave” app that allows consumers to take out payday advance loans of up to $250 right from their phones.
American Banker reports that Dave is now a public company thanks to a multi-billion-dollar IPO.
The Los Angeles-based Dave merged with a blank-check company sponsored by Victory Park Capital, VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings, on Thursday. Dave is now publicly traded on the Nasdaq exchange and valued at $4 billion. It was set to offer 376 million shares at $10 per share, according to a federal securities filing.
Dave, which launched in 2017, was one of the first neobanks to offer an alternative to overdraft fees. It offers members small loans called ExtraCash they can use when their bank accounts run low.
So, what’s the problem? There’s a cool CEO in the requisite t-shirt and hipster beard and there’s an app that is user-friendly and purportedly saves users money. Plus, it’s a convenient way to avoid those gross payday loan stores.
