SoLo Announces Regulatory Resolution bringing the Community Finance Platform back to District of Columbia Residents

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May 05, 2023, 17:34 ET

LOS ANGELES, May 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Good afternoon. My name is Kyle George, and I lead regulatory affairs for SoLo Funds. I joined SoLo after serving as the First Assistant Attorney General for the State of Nevada, and learning about the challenges underbanked communities experience. When I joined this company, SoLo was facing regulatory scrutiny based on fundamental misunderstandings about our mission and business model. Over the past few months, we've worked closely with lawmakers, state regulators, and attorneys general to educate them about what we do, to seek resolutions such as the one I am here to announce today. This is a proud moment for SoLo Funds, our community, and the District of Columbia.

I'm excited to announce that SoLo, the largest community finance platform in the US, has reached an agreement with the District of Columbia's Office of the Attorney General in connection with a complaint filed May 2nd. In coordination with the Attorney General's Office, SoLo has already commenced efforts to comply with the terms of that agreement. This resolution marks a marquee conclusion to this matter with no admissions of wrongdoing and provides a clear pathway forward for SoLo to continue its offering to District of Columbia residents. We are thankful for the due process afforded us, and appreciate the efforts of the District of Columbia's Office of Attorney General to work through this matter in the spirit of innovation with SoLo and ultimately find a resolution for its residents.

I want to especially thank District of Columbia Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb and his staff for their collaborative approach to reaching resolution on this matter. I also want to thank our advisors for their unwavering support, especially Manny Alvarez, former Banking Commissioner of California. DC's resolution comes after we appointed three strategic additions to our legal and regulatory leadership team to provide senior counsel. Collin Schwartz joined as General Counsel, myself as the Head of Government & Regulatory Affairs, and Manny Alvarez as Advisor.

This news is a win for SoLo's model of people helping people. This is a win for community finance, which seeks to provide options to borrowers who are otherwise denied opportunities to access small-dollar, short-term capital. This is a win for borrowers who too often trade privacy and dignity while applying for costly loans that prey on our communities. And this is a win for those who want to invest in their own communities and help their neighbors, while growing their own nest egg to better ride out their next financial shock.

We built SoLo to solve those needs, while redistributing profits back into the community. SoLo is needed in DC as more Americans than ever before are cash poor due to limited savings. More Americans than ever before are living paycheck to paycheck. To our DC members, we are now working on turning back on, in the District. Thank you for entrusting SoLo in providing a solution to you where others have decided not to. You can expect more details in the near future regarding the specific date of our return. Please rest assured - that date is coming.

The resolution we have reached is a great example of how regulators can work with fintechs to bring new models to fruition. In order to support underserved communities financially, it's imperative that regulators modernize their regulatory framework to make room for fintechs like SoLo.

Since our voluntary pause in operation in DC in 2021, SoLo has continued to grow. Our innovative business model has resonated with over 1 million users who have signed up to our platform and funded over 800,000 loans, making us the largest black owned personal finance solution in US history. And we've done this while reaching an all time high repayment rate of 93%, and a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 90.

SoLo's mission is to enable financial autonomy. Our vision of community finance is powered by people. As the only Black-owned Certified B Corp fintech in the U.S. and Canada, we've been able to balance innovation and community impact at a scale that has never before been seen. With rising popularity amongst consumers already, and having reached the milestone of 1 million users to our product - we're eager to once again allow DC residents to borrow from and lend to each other.

For any additional press related questions please reach out to [email protected]. For our members requesting additional detail on our return please reach out to [email protected]

SOURCE SoLo Funds