Credit Where Credit Is Due: Co-Founder Helps Employees Create Wealth

Kashable co-founder Einat Steklov helps employees establish credit a new way.

By the time Einat Steklov moved to the United States from Israel in 1996, she had already served in Israeli Defense Forces, graduated from Tel Aviv University Law School and worked in a corporate law firm.

But she couldn’t get a phone line because she needed a credit history in the U.S.

“I recall sitting there thinking I need a credit card. I made good money, my husband made good money and we could not establish credit,” says Steklov, founder and CEO of Kashable, a lending model offered through employers for employees to have easy access to credit.

““I made good money, my husband made good money and we could not establish credit,” says Steklov, founder and CEO of @getkashable, a lending model offered through employers for employees to have easy access to credit. #femaleCEO #financialhealth”

“To this day, to get that first $500 line of credit was a lifesaver,” Steklov says.

After her husband earned his PhD at Columbia University in New York, she switched from law to financial services, earning her MBA at Columbia in 2004.

In 2008 she met Rishi Kumar. Just as the credit industry was melting down, they decided “this is an opportunity to think about lending to small businesses.”

It was also a perfect time to start Coral Capital Solutions, a venture financing dozens of small businesses for up to a total of $2 billion, that is still operating today.

“Those small businesses may be just five people and they have to get a credit line. These small companies were selling products to Home Depot, and Walmart and they take a long time to pay,” she says.

In 2013, Steklov says she and her co-founder, Kumar, began “to talk about how to extricate these lessons and find an audience where we can implement a different way to look at credit and scale.”

For many individuals, a credit score is the deciding factor on whether they can get a mortgage, buy a car or qualify for a job. So in 2014 they created Kashable, which works with employers to lend to their employees. In the past three years, she says, Kashable has lent $500 million in hundreds of thousands of loans to more than three million people in the U.S. who have access to Kashable through their employers.

“For many individuals, a #creditscore is the deciding factor on whether they can get a mortgage, buy a car or qualify for a job. So in 2014 they created @getkashable, which works with employers to lend to their employees.”

It is a distinct need they are filling for many Americans.  

According to Bankrate, “Say you have a limited or no credit history because you’ve never used credit or just started (a situation many young consumers experience). If you apply for a top-tier rewards credit card, you may be turned down due to insufficient credit history.” But on the other hand, “a long credit history full of on-time payments and responsible credit use can help you qualify for the best credit cards or secure a mortgage—and a favorable interest rate, too.”

Creating credit is also a system steeped in racism and gender bias.

“Creating credit is also a system steeped in racism and gender #bias. #creditscore #creditsystem”

Kimberly Atkins Stohr writes in The Emancipator, “Will lenders be willing to provide financing for your home or business? For Black Americans, the likelihood is far greater the answer will be ‘No.’ That’s due to credit scoring, one of the single largest factors affecting every American’s financial health.”

Stohr writes, “The inequality is clear: While only 1 in 19 White Americans has a credit score of 620 or lower — a level considered high risk for most lenders — 1 in 5 Black Americans does.”

What Steklov has seen is that creating an opportunity for anyone with a job to establish credit history through loans from their employers outlines a path to financial wellness that is not possible another way. Nine out of 10 employees who apply for a Kashable loan are approved.

“What Steklov has seen is that creating an opportunity for anyone with a job to establish #credit history through loans from their employers with @getkashable outlines a path to #financialwellness that is not possible another way.”

“This is a trend,” Steklov says. “Financial wellness is part of expectations of employees, like healthcare. Kashable helped employees deliver an action plan.”

As a woman in the field of finance and lending, Steklov says for years she would attend a financial conference and would see perhaps one woman for every 100 men in attendance. That is slowly changing, she says.

“I make sure in my organization that women are promoted, have equal pay and have a say at the table. I’m not going to change the whole world instantly, but I can start with my own company and make sure women have opportunity and backup,” Steklov says.

““I make sure in my organization that women are promoted, have #equalpay and have a say at the table. I’m not going to change the whole world instantly, but I can start with my own company @getkashable,” Steklov says. #femaleleader #genderequality”

According to Paymnts.com, “Last year, only 24% of leadership roles in financial services firms were filled by women despite the fact that women make up about half the workforce. And that percentage will grow only slightly, to 28% by 2030.”

Paymnts continues, “But technology and the digital shift that has taken shape over the past few years, especially amid the pandemic, has given opportunities for founders and entrepreneurs — women in particular — to take advantage of platforms to build the networks they need to succeed.”

Keisha Bell, Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. Head of Talent Management and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, writes in Traders Magazine, that there is a “’leaky pipeline’ for women in our industry, with the gender proportions decreasing when we consider senior levels. This trend is redoubled for women of color and varying sexual orientations, backgrounds and abilities, as they stand at the intersection of multiple dimensions of unconscious bias, often precluding them from succeeding in financial and tech careers. As the industry works to close this gap, it will be critical to support female leaders of all backgrounds at the point where we are seeing them start to fall off – in the middle of their careers – and amplifying the ‘broken rung’ in the ladder to success.”

Headquartered in New York, Kashable has 50 employees and now due to the pandemic, many are working remotely in Boston and Nevada. Kashable clients include nonprofits, schools, government organizations, manufacturing companies, universities, hospitals and more.

“Our philosophy is we underwrite people based on their steady employment,” she says. “2020 was our stress test.” And it worked.

“Eighty percent of people who did not have a credit history, Kashable gave them a loan. So they had a credit file and now they can show a credit score. That plays a major role in the U.S. more than any other country,” Steklov says.

““Eighty percent of people who did not have a credit history, @getkashable gave them a loan. So they had a credit file and now they can show a #creditscore. That plays a major role in the U.S. more than any other country,” Steklov says. #financialliteracy”

“They now have the opportunity to access traditional lines of credit and it can be used to create wealth.”

Looking back on her own history and all she has accomplished, Steklov says her best advice is, “Be realistic. This is a marathon, don’t gear up for a sprint. Because if it’s a sprint, you will collapse halfway through.”

“Looking back on her own history and all she has accomplished, Steklov says her best advice is, “Be realistic. This is a marathon, don’t gear up for a sprint. Because if it’s a sprint, you will collapse halfway through.” #femaleCEO #careeradvice”