
FinTech News
Debt Resolution Platform Relief Raises New Capital
A platform built to help consumers save money while settling their debts has raised new capital.
About the Investment:
Earlier this week, the FinTech app Relief announced a new round of growth capital. This investment was led by National Debt Relief, which is the largest debt settlement company in the United States. With this strategic partnership, Relief says it will be able to develop additional product lines and offer consumers more debt resolution solutions in its app. The company also says that this added functionality “will position Relief as the leading digital infrastructure layer for consumer debt resolution at scale.”
The details of this new capital were not disclosed. However, Relief has previously raised a total of $17 million, including a $15 million Series A in 2022.
According to Relief, since launch, more than 150,000 users have registered for the platform. This amounts to more $7.6 billion in consumer debt.
More About Relief:
Relief describes itself as an AI-enabled debt resolution platform. Using the service, consumers can submit reduction requests to creditors in order to save money.
After downloading the Relief app and creating an account, users can share details about their debt in order to view their options. Note that Relief only offers reduction offers for debts that are more than 60 days delinquent.
For credit card and personal loan balance reductions, Relief charges a one-time platform fee. This fee can vary depending on the estimated savings and will be refunded if a reduction request is ultimately denied by a creditor. Meanwhile, for student loans, Relief offers an annual subscription to its tools.
My Thoughts:
Starting with the platform itself, looking at the Relief app, it seems like a pretty easy-to-use service. However, I could only get so far into the service before I needed to start providing details about my (non-existent) debt. I was also unable to find specifics about the fees Relief charges. Presumably, these fees represent a percentage of the projected savings, but I’m not sure how large of a portion it would be. So, while I think Relief is a good idea overall, obviously those details would make or break my opinion of the service overall.
As for this investment, partnering with National Debt Relief sounds like a no-brainer. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if this eventually leads to an acquisition that brings Relief under the NDR umbrella. That’s just speculation on my part, but it’s something I’ll be keeping an eye on for sure.