Salad Money, a social enterprise launched in 2019 to provide an alternative to high-cost lending for NHS and public sector workers with poor, thin, or non-existent credit scores, has appointed Alex Marsh, formerly head of Klarna UK, to its Board as a non-executive director.
Marsh will join the growing fintech, a community development finance institution, as it experiences exploding demand for affordable credit and surpasses £58 million in total lending to over 45,000 customers, based on an Open Banking only approach without reference to credit reference data.
Salad has pioneered the use of Open Banking to assess whether an applicant can afford a loan, rather than credit reference agency data, and says its process is fairer and more transparent for the people it serves, who otherwise would be at risk of borrowing from higher interest and even illegal lenders.
Marsh is also co-founder of Charterpath, which connects non-profits with volunteer financial skills; a member of the industry advisory board for The 93% Club, a social mobility charity tackling the state-private education divide and levelling the playing field for students from disadvantaged backgrounds; and an Independent Non Executive Director of the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT).
Tim Rooney, CEO of Salad Money, said:
“Alex brings a determination to do the right thing for customers along with rock solid financial and commercial nous. Just as importantly, he’s long worked to address disadvantage, boost social mobility and develop impactful partnerships which level the playing field and create genuine impact in society. I’m thrilled he is joining Salad at a critical strategic moment in our [ business’ / social enterprise’s ] journey to make consumer credit fairer for more people.”
Alex Marsh said:
“I love the fact that Salad Money is driven by its financial inclusion purpose and powered by data insights, enabling it to serve its customers so effectively and give impactful support to people who apply to it but it cannot lend to. It combines cutting edge technology with innovation, empathy and care for people's financial resilience, and I’ve been struck by how well it has embraced new ways to work, leapfrogging traditional approaches.
“Joining Salad marries my passions for social justice, trying to create a fairer society, financial services, fintech and serving all consumers better, not just giving more choices to people who already had choice. Its team is amazingly talented, skilled and empathetic and I’m excited to work with them.”
