Progreso Financiero Completes Second Asset-Backed Securitization for $102 Million

REDWOOD CITY, CA--(Marketwired - Jul 9, 2014) -  Progreso Financiero, a mission-driven, high growth financial services company serving the credit needs of the growing Hispanic market, closed its second securitization on June 30, 2014. This offering of $102 million of asset-backed bonds was secured by a pool of the Company's installment loans. 

"The demand for Progreso's responsible and affordable credit-building loans continues to grow as evidenced by our having recently passed a milestone $1 billion in loans disbursed," said Raul Vazquez, CEO of Progreso Financiero. "The response to this offering reflects the strength of our business and team and validates our vision to serve one million customers by 2016."

The bonds, which were not rated, were placed with a diversified mix of institutional investors in a private offering book run by Jefferies LLC. Progreso Financiero issued its first securitization in June 2013.

"Issuing bonds in the asset-backed market gives us access to a broad, deep and dependable source of capital to more efficiently grow our loan portfolio," said Jonathan Coblentz, CFO of Progreso Financiero. "We are very pleased with the pricing and the strong demand we received from a broad group of investors. We plan to be a frequent issuer, coming to market once or twice each year with a new asset-backed bond offering."

Progreso Financiero leverages a proprietary risk-scoring platform to determine a customer's true capacity to afford a loan to accurately assess loan applications and extend loans to borrowers with little or no credit history. Progreso loans range from $500 to $5,000 with payment terms from 7 up to 30 months. Through its network of more than 110 locations, Progreso has disbursed over one billion dollars in loans to more than 370,000 customers.

Through installment loans with lower fees and interest than widely available alternatives, Progreso estimates that it has saved its customers an average of $435 in charges per customer since disbursing its first loan. Further, after three successful small loans, a typical borrower is able to establish a median VantageScore ^® of 672, with the top 25% of customers achieving a VantageScore^® of 697.¹

For more information about Progreso Financiero, please visit http://www.progressfin.com.

About Progreso Financiero
Progreso is a mission-driven, high growth financial services company providing credit-building, affordable loans that empower the more than 23 million emerging Hispanics in the United States who lack sufficient credit histories.

Progreso leverages its unique technology platform to perform automated risk scoring and augment back-office productivity. The service experience is designed with the Hispanic customer in mind and delivered through a network of more than 110 stores, open at convenient hours in neighborhoods where customers live and work, and three highly professional call centers. The staff at the stores and call centers speak Spanish and excel at understanding our Hispanic customers' needs.

¹ VantageScore® credit scores are marketed and sold independently by Equifax, Experian and TransUnion through licensing agreements with VantageScore Solutions.