Ascend Consumer Finance is a San Francisco-based financial technology company that has developed Adaptive Risk Pricing technology to let consumers demonstrate real-time creditworthiness through positive financial behaviors. Its first product, RateRewards, enables borrowers to reduce monthly interest expense by displaying and tracking positive financial behaviors throughout a loan’s life. The company is led by Steve Carlson (CEO) and Scott Crawford (VP of Product and Marketing). Ascend raised $11M in venture capital to accelerate loan origination growth and enhance the RateRewards user experience. Backers include a mix of venture firms and industry programs supporting its growth and product development. Ascend Consumer Financial has launched RateRewards, a product that introduces dynamic pricing into three‑year personal loans of up to $10,000 for borrowers with FICO scores of 580–660. Under RateRewards, borrowers accept a slightly higher initial rate with the possibility of earning up to a 50% equivalent interest‑expense reduction by meeting tracked financial behaviors over four months. The company’s Adaptive Risk Pricing platform monitors four factors—two from credit bureaus (reducing overall monthly debt by at least $50 and limiting credit‑card spending), one via Yodlee (increasing emergency savings by at least $50/month), and a willingness to pledge a car title if owned. Monthly repayments are adjusted downward when behaviors are met (the nominal interest rate is not legally revised), and reductions can be reversed but never exceed the original monthly payment. CEO Steve Carlson, formerly of Intuit and HSBC and an advisor to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, says the product targets roughly 110 million U.S. non‑prime borrowers who may be better risks than their scores indicate. Ascend plans to staff up operations and marketing using proceeds from its seed raise and expects future incorporation of real‑time phone monitoring into pricing triggers.

Total raised

$13M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Jun 2016