113 – Mogo Loans: Are They A Good Deal?

My guest today is Kerry Taylor. Her website, Squawkfox, was voted Canada's best money blog by the Globe & Mail in 2010, and in 2014 Chatelaine said she was the "gold standard for personal finance blogging".

I've followed Kerry's work for many years, so I was very interested to read her Globe & Mail article where she described her visit to Mogo Lounge, operated by Mogo, a new "sexy, fintech" lender.

What Kelly discovered was today's new form of payday and alternative lender. No more ugly yellow stores, these new loan shops have a much more attractive approach. Nice looking locations that look more like lounges than payday loan outlets, they offer free water, an online app - and best of all a 3 minute signup process. In addition, they give you a free credit report, with your credit score.

As we discuss on the show, Mogo markets themselves to people who feel like they are "getting screwed by the banks" (and those are the words on the packages of free condoms they hand out). Their marketing pitch is simple: go to the app, get your credit score for free, and in three minutes you may get pre-approved for a loan of up to $35,000 with rates starting at 5.9%.

But are the rates really that good? What's the catch? And what do condoms have to do with it. That's what we discuss on today's show.