LONDON,
ON, January 31, 2025 /CNW/ - VersaBank (TSX:
VBNK) (NASDAQ: VBNK), a North American leader in
business-to-business digital banking, as well as technology
solutions for cybersecurity, today announced through its wholly
owned subsidiary, VersaBank USA
National Association, it has entered into an agreement with
Watercress Financial Group LLC ("Watercress"), a rapidly growing
point-of-sale originator of home improvement loans in the US.
Watercress has a proven track record of originating high quality
consumer loans through its expanding nationwide network of
contractors and will leverage VersaBank's innovative Receivable
Purchase Program ("RPP") to fund a portion of its originations.
Funding will commence immediately.
"The United States represents
the largest point-of-sale financing market in the world. So, we are
proud to announce this partnership with Watercress Financial as we
roll out our unique RPP solution, which we have proven out in
Canada over the last 15 years,"
said David Taylor, President and
Chief Executive Officer, VersaBank. "Watercress Financial is our
first American partner following our transformational acquisition
of a US bank. Home improvement financing has been one of the
biggest drivers of the significant growth in our Canadian business
in recent years, so we are naturally excited to team up with a
fast-growing leader in this expanding market. We look forward to
continuing to work with the incredible team at Watercress Financial
to support their accelerating growth."
"We believe Watercress management's long and successful history
of originating and servicing home improvement loans in North
America, along with our previous success of working with
VersaBank, makes us an ideal partner for VersaBank's expansion into
the US," said Matt Melius, Chief
Executive Officer, Watercress Financial. "This new funding
program continues our efforts to expand and diversify funding
sources. We appreciate VersaBank's collaborative approach and
demonstrated reliability, proven performance, and long-term
relationship orientation."
About VersaBank's Receivable Purchase Program
VersaBank's Receivable Purchase Program (RPP) is an innovative
and highly attractive digital funding solution for finance
companies that lend money to consumers and small businesses for
what are typically "big ticket" purchases (e.g. consumer home
improvement/HVAC projects and a wide variety of commercial
equipment). It was specifically designed to address an unmet need
in the market for consistently available, readily accessible,
economically attractive capital using VersaBank's proprietary,
state-of-the-art banking technology. Consistent with its
branchless, business-to-business, partner-based digital banking
strategy, VersaBank's RPP enables it to access the massive and
growing consumer and small business financing market in an
indirect, efficient and highly risk-mitigated manner.
As of October 31, 2024,
VersaBank's RPP portfolio exceeded CAD$3.3
billion (US$2.4 billion) and
has been growing at a compounded annual rate of over 27% over the
last five years. Since VersaBank's RPP was first launched in
Canada in 2010 and launched on a
limited basis in the US in April
2022, VersaBank has provided more than CAD$10.5 billion (US$7.5
billion) in funding to North American finance companies.
About Watercress Financial
Watercress Financial partners with contractors to provide
financing options to individuals planning home improvement
projects. Their intuitive platform allows contractors to easily
research financing products, quickly enabling them to close more
deals and grow their business. Founded in 2021 by consumer finance
experts with decades of experience, Watercress Financial combines
knowledge with a white-glove approach to ensure contractors have
the support they need throughout each project.
About VersaBank
VersaBank is a North American bank (federally chartered in
Canada and the US) with a
difference. VersaBank was the world's first fully digital financial
institution and today has a cloud-based, branchless, digital,
business-to-business model based on its proprietary
state-of-the-art technology that enables it to profitably address
underserved segments of the banking industry in a significantly
risk mitigated manner. Because VersaBank obtains substantially all
of its deposits and undertakes the majority of its lending
electronically through financial intermediary partners, it benefits
from significant operating leverage that drives efficiency and
return on common equity. In September
2024, following its acquisition of a US bank, the Bank
broadly launched its unique Receivable Purchase Program (RPP)
funding solution for point-of-sale finance companies, which has
been highly successful in Canada
for nearly 15 years, to the underserved multi-trillion-dollar US
market. VersaBank also owns Washington,
DC-based DRT Cyber Inc., a North
America leader in the provision of cyber security services
to address the rapidly growing volume of cyber threats challenging
financial institutions, multi-national corporations and government
entities.
VersaBank's Common Shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange
("TSX") and Nasdaq under the symbol VBNK.
Visit our website at: www.versabank.com
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SOURCE VersaBank
