hello and thanks tuning in i'm holly shields for kalkine media and welcome to another edition
of executive corner expert talks today we'll be shining light on iehub and the best way to
do that is to sit down with a ceo at dylan jones thanks for joining me today thank you holly good
to be here it's great to have you on the show first of all congratulations on iehab obtaining
1 million pounds of seed funding in late march what has this meant for the business
so it's just meant for the business that we can we can scale and kind of deliver the growth plans
that we've got planned um there are kind of a number of areas which we want to invest in
um you know it's silly in the uk there's a there's a spiraling level of debt
so um we're here as an organization that kind of supports the consumers and the creditors so the
investment really allows us to invest mainly in three areas of technology to kind of enhance the
enhanced product even further um people uh we're expanding the company based from a
marketing through to operations um and really a lot of a lot of the product enhancements um
you know we've got an amazing product that takes the consumer through um a journey to help their
kind of difficulties in debt so we always need to enhance that product going forward
and we've got a number of plans to kind of um build kind of additions to the product as it
stands today so they're the key key three areas that's interesting it sounds like you definitely
are putting that funding to good use there could you maybe walk us through the specific uh perhaps
advancements to the to the product that you're referring to sure so um so definitely we're going
to continue with the tech investment um we just we want to give the consumers greater empowerment
um so when somebody's in debt it's it's key that they complete an income and expenditure
so we need to we need to kind of give those consumers empowerment about how they
normally create but how they share that ina and maintain those eye needs consumers have to do
this many times a year with many many creditors so without without product it's it's how do we make
that journey easy for them and then how do they have a more informed discussion with the creditor
so as i say a lot of it is around data bringing we can look at the way we present our data
how is it easy for the consumer to fill in the ine
and the accuracy data accuracies are obviously key as well so how do we have layers of accuracy in
the ine that gives the cons it gives the credit to confidence that the information they've got um is
good enough to then come up with a mutual plan for that consumer so very much uh bringing in some key
new developments in the product can't go too much into that currently but
some key strategic things can be delivered this year um really we we want to be the go to
consumer platform for both consumers and creditors supporting those people in debt it's great to hear
it is very important as you say a lot of people are struggling with that at the moment in the
uk and around the world so it's really good to hear that you will be having those advancements
to your product and i'd love to ask you as well what would you say are the biggest challenges
perhaps of the irony process for consumer facing creditors and how do you address these
so for creditors i guess there's probably three or four key areas that are kind of challenges
for them today you know when they have a consumer going through this journey um one
of the challenges is data accuracy you know when they're when they when they're having a
conversation with the consumer they want to make sure that the ine is as accurate as possible
so again it's having a product that gives those organizations confidence in the ine
um through improved efficiencies we've all we can see the increased level of debt um
there's a high volumes of debt now coming through the credit operations however there's only so many
agents or colleagues we call them that are in these operations to deal with increased volumes
so they need they're looking for more automation more operational efficiencies
and the third one really is is it really is a big one is vulnerability
how do they identify and and manage customer vulnerability so again through that conversation
that informed conversation with the consumer how do they identify and identify those key key areas
um a consumer today going through debt they typically have
an average four to six different debts that they have to manage so that's an increment
expenditure they have to do every time several times a year so for the consumer they're looking
for something that makes it much easier to have a more informed conversation with the consumer
where mutually that then come to a conclusion that works for both both parties
right and that's good to hear because i can imagine that to that seven to ten to eight
rather times a year can be really really taxing i think on both sides is that something you find
yeah it is you can you can imagine the increased level of um mental anxiety and stress for these
individuals you know typically having an hour conversation with every every creditor
they're doing that with four to six different creditors several times a year
you know and our our kind of ethos is to make that make that easier do it once an hour hub and then
they have the ability to share that i need with all your lenders just makes the whole journey much
easier so again reducing mental anxiety for the consumer and making it a more informed discussion
for the creditor as well absolutely very important points there and i understand as well that you've
recently partnered up with c l software what can you tell us about this new venture
we have yeah it's an exciting partnership um so really again with
where we've come from here is with the the rise in debt that we can forecast for the next year
and a couple of years we we needed a partner with an organization that was that offered the best
the best in market decisioning platform um that had a pedigree of kind of operational
effective effectiveness and just an organization of new new collections
so first the cnn software guys and and in particular their debt manager products
just stood out a mile for us um i've known i've known the product for for many years having dealt
with the previous company so we we knew who we're dealing with and as i say the pedigree they had
so we're we're highly focused on on the integration of i have within debt manager um
you know i've mentioned before kind of the number of the number of ies people have to complete
the other thing as well is when a debtor is kind of completing an ine there are so many
repeatable tasks so the whole focus for us really is to partner with the manager guys
to kind of enhance our customer journey into their product again makes it easier for the consumer so
we're way down that path um that's phase one phase two which we've kind of just about to launch um
can't say in terms of phase two yet but phase two basically will expand that whole partnership to
then um develop kind of a collections ecosystem so pretty pretty exciting partnership um with
more with more to go this year once we've made an announcement later this year so lots lots going on
it'll sound like it lots going on indeed and it does sound like it's already been
to the benefit um of your business and for your consumers i can imagine it's
a very promising uh partnership there i just deployed sorry for interrupting
just for a wrap up i'd love to know what we can look forward to seeing from i.e hub in 2022
so first really it's all about um you know expanding expanding into sectors and we've
been successful in many sectors but there are sectors we've not really tapped into
um and for me it's i i need to make it easier for that consumer you know when when they have
those debts i want the ability where they can share their id with all their all their lenders
so of importance for us really is to increase the profile of ie hub um increase profile to consumers
to tell them there's a product out there they can help them through these difficult times
um and also kind of the ultimate thing within ihub is we're building a network
building a network of ines so through this expansion
through other markets and the sectors that's the big focus for 222 is building the network
the large that network is the easier it is for the consumers to share with the lenders
um and easier for the creditors then to see what are the deaths does the consumer have
so it's very much you know kind of experience um developing the ine data hub and just to kind of be
becoming that platform of choice for the consumer and the creditor that's the plan for this year
it's a great plan indeed and we definitely look forward to seeing that expansion and everything
else you have coming up in the year it does sound like a busy one but uh with that said thanks
very much for sharing that with us today dylan it's been really great having you on the show
no problem thank you holly thanks thanks for your time as well viewers if you've missed that chat
that was dylan jersey ceo of doing some incredible work in this space so do keep an eye out and make
sure to subscribe i'm will shields reminding you to stay apprised and invest wise kalkine