Borrowers do not pay interest. Instead, they give Klover real-time access to their banking transactions. Companies such as Wayfair, DoorDash, and GoodRX pay Klover to advertise their products to borrowers based on their spending habits.

“What’s remarkable is how willing people are to share their personal information,” says Tim Calkins, professor of marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. “People talk about the importance of privacy, but when there’s a reason to share it, they do. Some people have a certain school of thought that all of my information is available anyway. “

Average borrowers are millennials between the ages of 25 and 35 with an average income of $ 50,000 to $ 60,000 who borrow less than $ 250, Klover says.

“We believe that consumer data is an extremely valuable asset and should be used to their advantage,” Mandelbaum said. “We don’t sell the raw data. (Marketers) come to us to match their customer data with our customers. Most of the time, they want to find new customers. “

Klover plans to double its workforce to 30 by the end of the year. Mandelbaum said the app company raised $ 30 million in equity and $ 30 million in debt to fund advances to customers. He refused to disclose his income. Salt Lake City-based Mercato Partners led the investment round, which included investors from Chicago Lightbank, Starting Line and Motivate Venture Capital.

Mandelbaum, who previously launched a video advertising company called Clearstream TV, says advertisers are looking for better ways to target customers, based on actual purchase data rather than product research. He claims that increased privacy guarantees and the phasing out of tracking cookies by Google are forcing advertisers to find alternatives to reach new customers.

“We’re playing in a space where there are headwinds for marketers: privacy and access to first party data, which is no longer the case,” Mandelbaum said. “Processing negotiated (consumption) data is going very quickly. “