Veterans Day in the U.S. is a day to remember and honor the sacrifices our military veterans have made to preserve the freedom we enjoy on a daily basis. How can banks and fintechs give back by connecting and serving this niche clientele in return?
We interviewed Dennis Cail, co-founder and CEO of Zirtue, who shared his experience as a U.S. Navy veteran-turned-fintech entrepreneur. Cail told us how his military experience impacts his work at Zirtue and what banks and fintechs can do to give back.
Tell us the basic idea of Zirtue.
Dennis Cail: Zirtue is the world’s first relationship-based lending application, simplifying loans between friends, family, and trusted relationships by turning informal promises into structured agreements and automating the repayment process. Zirtue’s mission is to drive financial inclusion and freedom, one relationship at a time.
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Zirtue sits at the nexus between two major pain points: a person needing a financial lifeline to pay their bills and a company struggling with bad debt. Corporate partners use Zirtue as an alternative payment solution, allowing individuals with past-due accounts to request loans from friends or family members in order to pay their bills. Zirtue has raised $6 million of VC funding and more than $10 million in loans have been processed on the platform to help users keep their lights on, pay their rent, and get access to critical healthcare.
How did you come up with the idea of Zirtue? What was the impetus?
Cail: Growing up in Louisiana, I lived in public housing and neighborhoods often surrounded by payday lenders and check cashing services; the same was true of the areas surrounding the naval bases I lived on. It wasn’t until college when I saw how different communities attract different types of neighborhood businesses such as banks, and that many neighborhoods didn’t have traditional banks.
Looking back, I saw how clearly and deliberately predatory lenders target those with few financial options and no access to traditional banking services, like my neighborhoods in Monroe and the Navy. These experiences led me to creating a loan option for these unbanked and underbanked folks that provided them with necessary loans and empowered them through the process. We all need a little help sometimes, and that is what Zirtue is all about. I also have experienced the challenges of loaning friends and family money myself. Even though I wanted to help my loved ones out, it made things awkward. I saw the impact that these friendly loans could have on my loved ones in terms of helping them achieve their dreams or simply make ends meet, without having to pay the high fees of predatory payday lenders who are the only available option for many.
As someone who has always wanted to found a company and had a background in finance, I knew I could create a solution for this problem that formalized these friendly loans, while simultaneously driving financial inclusion. Ultimately, this solution became Zirtue, and we’ve now processed more than $10 million in loans to-date and plan to continue until Zirtue is a payment option at every retailer you visit in-person and online.
You are one of a handful of military veteran fintech founders. First off, thank you for your service. Can you tell us about your military experience?
Cail: As a Systems Engineer in the US Navy working with hardware and software to ensure we had ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communications, my military experience gave me the technical foundation I needed to start a successful career in technology. The military is also a place that either makes or breaks you. At the very least it reveals who you are at your core and I learned a lot about myself during my military experience.
Funny, but true story… I didn’t know how to swim when I joined the Navy and when I shared this information with my civilian friends after I left the Navy, they would naturally ask me, “why did you join the Navy if you couldn’t swim?!” The answer is that I joined the Navy to learn how to swim and to serve my country. This may sound a bit extreme. However, entrepreneurs have to be extreme on some level if they are going to achieve what most people would consider impossible or too risky. Long before I became an entrepreneur and a fintech founder, I had the spirit of an entrepreneur with a high tolerance for calculated risk. My military experience only amplified that entrepreneurial spirit.
How does your military experience impact your work at Zirtue?
Cail: The military has absolutely influenced my career and led me to found Zirtue. First of all, the military taught me how to be a strong leader and how to navigate stressful situations – which are both imperative to founding a company and handling the complexities of entrepreneurship. Further, the military taught me to always look out for your partner, or in my case shipmate, and that we either win together or lose together. This concept has shaped the way I interact with my team, our customers, partners, and other entrepreneurs – we have to take care of each other.
Finally, being in the military taught me about the importance of structured, detailed plans, which has helped me integrate further structure into entrepreneurship and supported business growth for Zirtue. Looking back, I am incredibly thankful for my military experience for shaping me into the man I am today and forming a solid foundation as an entrepreneur and CEO.
What advice do you have for banks and fintechs looking to connect with and serve military veterans as clients?
Cail: It’s extremely important that banks and fintechs alike do all they can to help military veterans transition back into civilian life so that we can put them in the best possible position to be successful with skills that are highly transferable. Given the sacrifices made by these men and women, my advice is simply to be intentional about their DEI efforts to connect with military veterans with formal programs that include military veterans.
At Zirtue we actively recruit from this amazing source of talent and encourage military veterans to apply for any open jobs we may have. I would also like to call out that banks like USAA and Navy Federal Credit Union are very active in their efforts to support veterans and their families with financial products and customized lending options. Their efforts should be applauded and replicated.
