Not all partnerships in fintech involve companies. In fact, one of the most interesting partnerships in fintech in recent days might be a union between people – not an alliance among corporations.
Angel Rich, who made history this spring as the first African-American woman to secure an institutional partnership with one of the Big Three major credit bureaus, announced her engagement to Karl Jones, Director of Corporate Partnerships at ansrsource, this week. “What’s better than one future Black billionaire?” Rich asked on her LinkedIn page by way of sharing the engagement news. “Two. Thanks for all of your love and support on our engagement. Karl Jones and I are very excited to make an impact with our union.”
Rich’s company, WealthyLife, launched its AI-powered fintech app, CreditRich in April, collaborating with Finovate/FinDEVr alum Experian. The app enables individuals to use their spare change or “round ups” to pay for bills and other expenses. CreditRich promotes financial wellness by allowing users to prioritize debt payments – or to use the app’s algorithm to find and pay first those bills that have the most impact on the user’s credit score. Users can make one-time deposits to accelerate any debt repayment, as well as make contributions to a family member’s account to enable them to pay down debt and improve their credit score. The CreditRich app is currently available on the Android operating system, with an iOS expected soon.
“It makes sense to put financial literacy, intelligent billpay, and credit management together on a smartphone to help people increase their credit scores faster and easier,” Rich said late last year on the news that actor, singer, and songwriter Naturi Naughton had joined WealthyLife as Chief Branding Officer. “I don’t want people to experience the same hurdles I did after graduating from college with $180,000 of debt.”
Also the founder of Black Tech Matters, an organization dedicated to promoting ethnic diversity in STEM, Rich said she is looking forward to collaborating with Jones to advance financial education technology solutions. ansrsource, where Jones is Director of Corporate Partnerships, specializes in helping companies leverage digital technology to enhance their training and development strategies. The Dallas, Texas-based company’s clients range from 42,000-student Arizona State University to construction manufacturing firm Hilti.
As BlackNews.com noted, the union between financial literacy and digital education represented by Rich and Jones also represents a union of rivals. Rich is an alum of the famous HBCU (historically black college/university) Hampton University in Virginia. Jones is a graduate of the equally-legendary HBCU Howard University in Washington, D.C.
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