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Paul Harrald heads new Curve Credit business line; believes Curve could be bigger than Klarna
London – 13th December 2019 – Curve, the Over-The-Top banking platform that consolidates multiple cards and accounts into one smart card and app, has appointed Paul Harrald, a founding member of SAV Credit, now New Day, to lead the company’s new Curve Credit Business.
Paul joins from Chinese Venture Capital firm CreditEase where he ran UK and European private equity investments and where he first developed a keen interest in Curve. Paul takes up his new role as part of a distinguished career that includes being CIO and Director of Analytics at SAV Credit, now the £1bn alternative credit business New Day, occupying a seat on RBS retail banking boards as well as working as a credit and risk advisor at Google. He was also one of the youngest academics to achieve tenure at Manchester University and has been a visiting Professor in Computer Science at UCL.
Paul’s new role at Curve will see him set up and lead Curve’s credit business.
Curve Credit will allow Curve customers to pay off their credit card debt and to split transactions into instalments, flexibly and simply managed within Curve’s app. Curve’s unique position as an OTT banking platform with read/write access enables customers to make smart decisions based on their spending and credit habits across all their financial products, regardless of where they pay and to whom. Curve Credit will be an alternative to revolving credit and will feature the ability to make full, ad hoc, partial, and regular repayments from a variety of sources. Customers will have complete visibility of payment schedules and amounts outstanding. Although Curve Credit is still in its very early stages, Harrald has big plans for the new product and is preparing to apply for FCA approval.
“Paul’s credit industry expertise is second to none,” said Shachar Bialick, Founder and CEO of Curve. “He has a remarkable track record for building and growing hugely successful credit products and it is a massive coup for Curve to have secured such a talent and be able to draw on his expertise as we look to enter the highly competitive credit market later this year” he added.
“It’s my belief that, in time, Curve can rival Klarna, a company I admire greatly” said Paul Harrald, Curve’s new Credit Lead. “Curve is uniquely positioned in the market as an Over-The-Top banking platform to offer consumers unrivalled simplicity in managing multiple payment and credit products. The launch of Curve Credit in 2020 will provide its customers with phenomenal control of their finances and the ultimate financial experience” he added.
Paul is the second senior appointment at Curve this quarter following the announcement of Nathalie Oestmann, former head of Samsung Pay, as Curve’s COO.
In September Curve became the fastest startup in history to raise £4m in crowdfunding. After initially smashing its £1m target in under five minutes, the round was eventually closed around £6m after being massively oversubscribed. In July Curve closed its series B funding round, valuing the business at a quarter of a billion dollars. The company has also announced it plans European and US expansion in 2020.