Harmoney

Harmoney Corp Limited was established in 2014 to introduce peer-to-peer lending to New Zealand. Harmoney has since become the largest online personal lending platform in Australia and New Zealand, with a goal of providing people a quick and simple way to borrow online. Harmoney provides risk-priced, unsecured personal loans up to $50,000 and has helped nearly 50,000 customers borrower more than NZD $1.7 billion through over 80,000 loans as of July 2020.

Harmoney
TypeLimited
IndustryPersonal finance
FoundedAuckland, New Zealand
(2013)
HeadquartersNewmarket
Auckland, New Zealand
Key people
David Stevens, CEO; Neil Roberts, CPO and Founder; Simon Ward, CFO; Brad Hagstrom, COO [1]
ProductsPersonal Loans
Website

Launched in September 2014, Harmoney was the first licensed provider in New Zealand after peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding were enabled on 1 April 2014, following the passing of new financial legislation in New Zealand.[2][3][4]

Harmoney originally started with peer-to-peer lending but ceased providing retail investors with new loans on 1 April 2020,[5] instead focusing on funding loans to borrowers from a mixture of institutional financing, and lending from its own balance sheet. In Australia, Harmoney obtained its Australian Financial Services Licence from ASIC to operate peer-to peer-lending, but never accepted retail funds. Similarly to New Zealand, the Australian entity funds loans through a mix of institutional financing, and lending from its own balance sheet.

History

Harmoney was founded in late 2013 by Neil Roberts who became CEO of the new company.[6] Roberts is the largest share owner of Harmoney. Heartland Bank announced it had taken a 10% stake in the platform and provided a funding line in September, 2014.[7][8]

Harmoney launched on 10 September 2014, after it had obtained a licence by the Financial Markets Authority on 8 July 2014.[9] At that time, the company said it had NZD $100 million available to lend from four main investors including Heartland Bank.[10]

Since founding, Harmoney has had three capital raises, successfully bringing in more capital and strategic investors. Trade Me announced in January 2015 it had acquired a 15% stake for $7.7 million. Soon after, then-CFO Jonathan Klouwens joined Harmoney's board of directors.[11][12] Icehouse (New Zealand based business incubator) holds a 2% stake.

In October 2019, Harmoney successfully completed a Series C funding round which raised AU$22.9 million (NZ$25 million) in capital from Australian private equity firm Kirwood Capital and a private institutional investor based in New Zealand. In addition, Harmoney implemented a AU$20 million (NZ$21.9 million) corporate debt facility with an Australian investment fund to bring the raising to AU$42.9 million (NZ$47 million). The corporate debt facility was to be used to expand Harmoney's customer base and debt warehousing programme.[13]

In September 2020, Harmoney announced its full year financial results for the financial year ending June 2020. Revenue was $37 million, with a net loss of NZ$15.4 million, attributable in large part to the group’s transition to on-balance sheet loan funding, with immediate provision for expected future period credit losses, as well as a reduction in expected future revenue from peer-to-peer funded loans.[14]

The current CEO of Harmoney is David Stevens, who was appointed in November 2019. Previous Joint CEOs, Neil Roberts and Brad Hagstrom remained with the company as Chief Product Officer and Chief Operating Officer respectively.[15]

Business Model

Harmoney enables borrowers to apply for personal loans through its website by providing details about themselves and the loan they would like to apply for. Loans are unsecured, and can be between $2,000 - $50,000 (previously, up to $70,000) for three or five-year terms. Harmoney determines the creditworthiness of a borrower on the basis of their credit history, income, debt, and requested loan amount, among other things. Applicants are assigned a risk grade and associated interest rate using in-house proprietary AI and machine learning models. Currently, as of September 2020, Harmoney offers rates ranging from 6.99% p.a. to 24.69% p.a. in New Zealand, and 6.99% p.a. to 26.65% p.a. (comparison rates of 7.79% p.a. to 26.65% p.a.) in Australia.[16][17]

Across New Zealand and Australia, residents aged 18 or older with a valid driver's licence or passport are eligible to apply for a loan through Harmoney. Since launch, Harmoney has loaned out more than $1.7 billion through over 80,000 loans. Bad debts average 4.2% of total money borrowed as at June 2020.

Harmoney makes money by charging an establishment fee to successful borrowers and a net interest margin (NIM) in its warehouses (NIM being the difference between the weighted average interest rate it lends to customers versus the weighted average cost of funds charged by wholesale funders). In Australia, the establishment fee is $275 for loans less than $5,000, and $575 for loans greater than $5,000. In New Zealand, this fee is $200 for loans less than $5,000 and $450 for loans greater than $5,000.[16][17]

Board of directors
  • David Flacks (Chair), Independent Director. Former Partner - Bell Gully, former General Counsel and Company Secretary - Carter Holt Harvey.[18]
  • Tracey Jones, Independent Director; COO & CFO, Tappenden Holdings Ltd.[18]
  • Richard Dellabarca, Independent Director; Chief Executive, NZVIF's .[18]
  • Neil Roberts, CPO and Founder.[18]
  • Udhav Goenka, non executive Director. Kirwood Capital and previously with Archer Capital.[18]
  • Andrew Yeadon, non executive Director. Trade Me and previously with Experian and KPMG.[18]

See also

References
  1. "Harmoney management team". Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  2. "Harmoney the first peer-to-peer lender to obtain a licence from the FMA - interest.co.nz". Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  3. "NZ's first licenced online peer-to-peer lender now up and running - interest.co.nz". Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  4. "Cabinet rubber stamps regulations for crowd funding and peer-to-peer lending - interest.co.nz". Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  5. "Peer-to-peer platform Harmoney shuts door to investors". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  6. "About Harmoney Peer Lending". Harmoney.
  7. "Banks' personal loans and credit card business in the sights of peer-to-peer lending applicant Harmoney - interest.co.nz". Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  8. "Heartland invests in HarMoney funding, after taking 10% stake". TVNZ. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  9. "FMA issues first NZ peer to peer licence". Financial Markets Authority NZ. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  10. "HarMoney launches with $100m to lend". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  11. Elisara, Greg (12 January 2015). "Trade Me pays $7.7 million for 15% stake in peer-to-peer lender Harmoney". Harmoney. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  12. "Trade Me acquires stake in peer-to-peer lender Harmoney". Investor Relations – Trade Me Group Ltd. 12 January 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  13. "Personal loans company Harmoney | Raises $47 million". Harmoney. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  14. "Harmoney Financial Results Media Release August 2020". Harmoney. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  15. "Harmoney Earmarks New CEO | Personal Easy loans | NZ". Harmoney. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  16. "Interest rates (per annum) and fees for personal loans | Harmoney NZ". www.harmoney.co.nz. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  17. "Interest rates and lending fees | Harmoney Australia". www.harmoney.com.au. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  18. "Harmoney CEO and Directors - harmoney.co.nz". Retrieved 13 September 2016.
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