Magical Credit Inc. is humbled to accept the nomination for the FinTech Company of the Year award
The company is humbled that The Canadian FinTech & AI Awards would nominate it in its first eligible year
TORONTO, Nov. 20, 2018 /CNW/ - The annual awards ceremony, Canada's largest and most prestigious in the digital financial services industry, was established in 2015 by the Digital Finance Institute to recognize and celebrate Canadian innovation in financial technology and artificial intelligence.
The FinTech Company of the Year award is open to any Canadian financial services company "that has been providing financial products or services for over four years and is actively engaged in innovation creation," according to the FinTech Awards website.
Toronto-based Magical Credit is pleased to receive this form of recognition in its first eligible year for its efforts to provide innovative products and financial literacy training aimed at helping Canadians break the payday loan cycle.
"We're looking to help people grow in their credit knowledge, and ultimately provide that stepping stone that can help them build their credit back up," said Natalie Bell, the founder and director of operations for Magical Credit Inc. "That's what this nomination means for us: that we're actually helping Canadians have a better financial life."
Bell founded the company in 2014 as a lending service for Canadians who rely on government subsidies, before expanding its services to provide financing solutions to all employed Canadians in 2015. Magical Credit has lent over $15 million to date to its more than 5,000 customers from coast to coast.
"Too many small businesses don't even make it to year four, and here we are nominated for an award at Canada's largest FinTech event. I am absolutely, ecstatically happy," said a jubilant Bell. "I feel validated to be acknowledged in a field with big, publicly traded companies with thousands of employees when we only have 20."
Establishing credibility in a relatively new industry was a challenge, but Bell says the business continued to flourish through its inaugural years thanks to positive reviews and referrals from customers.
"This award reinforces what we've already been seeing in the reviews we receive on social media and comparison websites like Smarter Loans; that we're excellent in customer service, financial education and that we're ultimately looking to help people get out of this cycle of debt that they're in," said Bell. "It shows that we're being recognized as a reputable business in Canada that has really made a name for itself."
While she feels the award nomination helps validate the company's mission Bell says the purest form of recognition Magical Credit receives is from its customers, who feel comfortable enough with the organization to share their most intimate financial details.
"We're asking them for basically everything you could ask someone about their personal, financial life; we need them to trust us and we need to trust them," she says, adding that comparison websites and social media platforms have helped build that credibility over time. "Being on the Smarter Loans platform has brought us credibility we couldn't get otherwise."
Whether Magical Credit ultimately wins the FinTech Company of the Year Award or not, Bell says she is excited to continue providing innovative new products, services and financial education to Canadians in need.
For example, while Magical Credit currently offers loans of between $500 and $10,000, Bell says the company will eventually be able to offer a debt consolidation product of up to $25,000. "We're also working towards offering more credit education, especially to those that have had debt in the past and want a fresh start," she said.
"We've been growing since day one, and it shows in how many more people we're helping on a daily, monthly and yearly basis," she adds. "We're still growing quickly and 2019 is going to be our best year yet!"
SOURCE Magical Credit Inc
Natalie Bell, 647-660-0445, [email protected]
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