WSFS comments on Upstart loans

Few days WSFS, Upstart recent bank partner reported earnings and in the subsequent analyst call commented on their recent partnership with Upstart.

Long story short, promising partnership, expect to grow, very happy with it. More details here:

https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2021/10/22/ws…

33 Likes

Thank you CrazyCzech for bringing this to our notice. I found the following exchange very insightful, providing further hints that Upstart is already making moves into the mortgage space.

Excerpt from the WSFS conference call below:

Erik Zwickx – Boenning & Scattergood – Analyst

That’s great. I really appreciate the detail there. And with regard to the new Upstart partnership, any color you can provide in terms of what you expect for average loan size, credit risk profile and just kind of the growth outlook going forward?

Dominic C. Canuso – Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Yeah, sure, so obviously, it’s in the early stages. This is a primarily unsecured product and as we’ve seen is more of a debt consolidation. The yields are in the low-single – low-double digits, so 12% to 14%. The average loan is about $15,000. All of this is within our footprint, utilizing our underwriting approach and strategy, applying Upstart’s AI proprietary scoring system. And all with the opportunity to build into further relationships beyond the loan into deposits, mortgage, and deepening the relationship across WSFS.

10 Likes

Not sure if that’s maybe over-interpreting the answer.

The way I read it, the CFO may very well speak about HIS company’s deepening relationship with new customers gained through UPST. That doesn’t necessarily mean UPST is going to venture into mortgages, nor do I think it’s likely we would learn about that intention through the words of a new banking partner.

6 Likes

For me, the biggest takeaway from this call is how big of deal Upstart seems to be for this bank. Notice how many times it is mentioned in both the main comments and in Q&A. WSFS is clearly quite excited about Upstart, the value of their AI algorithms and the products (ie margins) it can produce. Judging by the analysts’ questions they are not alone. This is just another, very real, validation of what we have been hearing from Upstart.

7 Likes