How Debt Selling and Debt Buying Should Be with Ivan and Rolland

Thank you guys for tuning into another In Debt Discussion, season 2.

We’re super excited to have a returning guest back, Debexpert, and two amazing guys, Ivan and Rolland. Debexpert is a global financial technology expert that specializes in buying and selling debt. Specializing in the bidding out market and specializes in running and hosting a successful auction platform. They created a digital marketplace where buyers and sellers can conveniently come together and through their web-based debt-trading platform, easily purchase or sell any other consumer or commercial-related debts swiftly and at the best possible price with immediate turn arounds. They’ve been compared to and called the eBay for debt. I feel like I should have a clapping machine in the background after that.

Rolland: Hey I can give you that Jacqueline, here we go.

Rolland is VP head of lenders relation and portfolio acquisition across the US who has 13 years of experience in selling securities, debt receivables,and financial notes, for profit and helped numerous buyers, lenders, issuers, originators, brokers, and any resellers, loans and lines of credit, receive immediate monetization of their debt receivables or financial notes at the best possible price.

We also have the co-founder as well, one of the heads there, Ivan Korotaev is here.

Tell us a little bit about how you got debexpert started and your vision behind that.

Ivan: Thank you very much. So before starting debexpert, I’ve been doing online auctions, so for now, it’s been 7 years since starting online auctions. Before that, we were able to build with my partners one of the largest, in eastern Europe, online used cars auctions. We auctioned 1000 cars per day so it was a very big venture, we were great experts in technology and we ranked two times in a row as one of the most technological companies in Europe. After becoming an expert in the auction we just started to look for new verticals and in delinquent accounts, we found that this industry is across different countries in Europe and North America as well. There are not that many digital products that could help buyers and sellers purchase accounts transparently, fast, and at a real market price, that’s how we started Debexpert back in 2019. Now we operate across 6 countries, in our full year of operation last year, we sold around 400 portfolios, and gave Debexpert sellers the opportunity to buy and sell delinquent accounts incredibly fast. So essentially we are doing just one hour of the auction and we ensure real a market price for those accounts that were published for sale. And we do it transparently at every step of the transaction and we do it very very efficiently. Providing what buyers actually need and ensuring that sellers get their market price. That's kind of a background on what Debexpert is and where we are right now.

Ok. That's awesome! What type of lenders do you guys look to partner with? And what do you think is probably just key advantage that lenders get from working with you? With Debexpert?

Rolland: I’ll be happy to answer that, so it is my job here to essentially work with lenders. To broaden the US market on the sales side which means we look to work with any direct lenders and originators from the first and traditional sense, so banks, credit unions, all types and sizes, even nontraditional, central, or alternative lenders,private lenders, hard money lenders, any organizations that had diversified portfolios, who are in the business of acquiring or selling debt from the consumer commercial perspective, secured or unsecured, it really doesn’t matter, we are covering all aspects of it. Normally what we look for essentially are lenders that are very volume driven so we definitely look out for any organizations that sell on a monthly basis or forward flow basis because our technology is capable of really helping out in those type of scenarios. In regards to the benefits for a lender, what we found is, we all have decades of experience in the debt industry and are also affiliated with the top accounts receivable management association in the world which allowed us to not just work with, but also be connected, to just about every single private investor, a traditional sense from a collections agency, or a legal law firm, who is in the business of acquiring debt. Regardless, what we found is that the market between the seller, lenders, and buyers, is heavily fragmented. We felt that the process shouldn't be that way. It should be easier, should be faster, and should be transparent. So to fill that void, we created this digital marketplace where a seller and a buyer can very conveniently come together and through our technology, which is an online web-based platform with a mobile application feature, you can very easily buy, sell, or trade any of their consumer commercial debt. The benefits of this is that it essentially takes away the headache behind the bidding process, the diligent process, and doing all the homework that you need, to find a reliable partner that does not pass of any sort of risk upon doing business or upon any sort of of trade. So definitely the ease, convenience, and quickness of it, I would say that it’s probably the top 3 impacts that a lender would see immediately.

Ok, that's great and those are all positive things to why lenders should definitely partner. I love the fact that they have the opportunity to be able to work with individuals that are going to protect their brand. Especially with so much going on right now, with the new laws and stuff that have passed here, and more that judges are trying to push down on to collection agencies and some new factors that lenders are going to have to start putting in their paperwork on the front end, when consumers are looking into, or collection agencies or debt buyers, are looking to purchase that specific debt. Which actually, since you guys have that direct connection with those lenders and something in the industry. I don’t know if you know who Mike Gibb is, but I would like to do an introduction for you guys and a connection with him, he’s on accounts recovery but he does a lot of different webinars#nbsp;and that may be a great connection for you guys to help them with some of the new regulations that are coming into place with the debt buyers, collection agencies, and lenders. And everyone working together to make sure that they are protected within the information that consumers are signing on the front end.

Rolland: That would be fantastic. We would very much appreciate getting the opportunity to speak with Mike and being a part of his news and information platform, I think it’s something we’d be very much interested in being a part of, so thank you so much for offering that introduction.

No problem.

So is there anything exciting? You guys have a lot of new stuff coming up at Debexpert, like what's going on?

And Ivan I’m curious to know about, how you guys work there? First of all, when we first talked, I didn’t realize that Russia was so open and my mind was like back in the eighties and stuff like that but I’ve never been there. I think it’s awesome that you guys have the ability, just like us, to be able to grow, develop, and be entrepreneurial, and create these amazing businesses and have such a positive impact, and not only on your country but across the world actually. You guys have grown so fast, that's outstanding and just as a testament to the value that you guys are bringing to the industry. So how is it working with some other countries? Or maybe in the United States when there is some type of contention? Does that ever affect you guys at all or not, in terms of doing business?

Ivan: To be honest, we started our business in Russia back in 2019 but since that time, we migrated, and our company migrated, to Europe. So right now we’re a European-based company and we incorporated in the US and the whole team, the whole operational team, sales team, they are all in the US. So my role right now is to just be a provider of the technology. You know, I’m a technician in fact, all the money that we’re making across the globe, we invest in the technology. Of Course, our investors are not a big fan of that but at least we raised them. I truly believe that technology wins. And for us, being a global player, and operating in the countries, from the Philippines to the US, so that’s our demography. Each market, I would say, is separate, not integrated. My role in this play is to make sure that I provide the best technology, the best practices, from each and every country and spread it and provide professional debt buyers and sellers with the best technology to buy and sell debt. So with this kind of approach, I have great partners in the US., Rolland is my sales partner, he’s working with lenders. To be honest, I’ve never faced any problems with that but that’s just my experience in working in many different countries across different geographies and time zones so it is very well accepted, the things that we are doing across the globe.

Rolland: And just to add to that very quickly, Ivan’s very right in this regard. Our technology is digital by nature so because we’re digital we are capable of being anywhere in the world 24/7 where you’re capably accessing the internet. Because of that our reach is essentially limitless and just upon joining our network, their network growth is expediential but are separated in that regards. So I do sit here as the US partner so my job is to work with US-based entities who look to acquire and sell US-based assets only and nothing else in regards to that. And then the US business, who still shares the technology, because again it’s digital.

Ok. I think that’s so fantastic. I feel like there are some things in this world that can really just bring us all together, all different backgrounds, nationalities, with everything. Technology is definitely one of them, music is another, and dancing. But definitely technology in the business world, we have the ability, with Zoom and all its glitches, and Skype, or whatever, we all have the opportunity to communicate, talk to individuals, at no additional cost, across the world where as back in the day, it’ll cost an arm or leg just to call someone in another county – let alone talk to someone in another country or do business with individuals all over the world.

So on the commercial side, you guys also do a lot of commercial, so you work with commercial lenders as well, right?

Rolland: Yeah, that's correct. We do everything under the realm of debt. So on the commercial side, we’ve started with small business loans, emerging cash advanced type of products, term loans, business lines of credit, then we kind of went to the more secured side, the equipment finance and then gradually kept growing the market to be a corporate credit commercial type of loans and assets as well.

Ok, consumers are always such #nbsp;a larger market but I think it’s great that you guys offer the spectrum on both ends of it, and I love talking with you guys. You guys are just so much fun to talk to but you’re also so professional. And you guys have really grown Debexpert to be, wow, just like in several countries across the world, and you guys are growing so quickly. I think that’s fantastic.

And one other thing that I’d say is, probably Ivan is, even though he’s mister technology, you really are the vision behind the ultimate connector, where you’ve just been able to bring people together. Has anyone ever said that to you before?

Ivan: No. You’re the only one who told me that so thank you very much. Great compliment.

Yeah, you’re bringing lenders and buyers together. Do you guys also work with collection agencies? Like, if they wanted to just get a portfolio that they could work on a contingency with the lenders.

Rolland: Yes, absolutely. We’ve worked with a lot of collection agencies, on both the buyer’s and seller’s side. A lot of our collection agencies are more asset hungry, they look to acquire these types of assets, so most of the time they’re on the buy-side, as a buyer. There are instances where they can be a seller as well, and switch on both sides of the market and have that opportunity as well, where a collection agency decides to become a seller and has a portfolio that needs to be acquired from an originator and they look to maybe structure or resell and kind of use it as an exit strategy.So yeah, we work with a collection agencies on both ends. In most cases, they do come across as asset hungry, as a buyer, but once in a while we do have them jump to the other side of the market as well.

Ok,so working as strategic partners, companies that could help you guys grow debexpert. What does that look like for you?

Rolland: We’re always looking out for some new partnerships. It’s nice to hear, that we’ve been called, and compared to, more familiar types of platforms, like the Robin Hood and the eBay for debt. So in that regard, the way we see it, it's just really a matter of time before anyone in this industry or in this line of business would utilize that platform, everyone’s used eBay at least once to come across a good deal or a consumer item. We’re seeing the same type of results or future outcomes for us and our platform in this industry. So we are always looking for not just members, but other partners, and affiliates, who will help us grow but also where we can pay it forward and also pay it back to them, #nbsp;where we can all grow together as partners, we’re very integrated, we’re customizable, we’re a very flexible organization. We are always looking out for new partners and affiliates, who may not need more of a direct buyer or selling #nbsp;member of ours, but more of a partner on a referral basis, on a integrable basis, or where we can utilize them to help our direct lenders, originator, or debt buying institution, do their jobs more streamlined, more automated, just more efficiently. So we are always looking for partners in that regard as well.

Ivan: It’s great that you touch these questions because one of the things that we’re going to announce shortly, is that we’re also going to expand and have a partnership with one of the well known servicers in the U.S. and Debexpert will provide, not just an opportunity to buy and sell accounts but at the same time, an opportunity to service those accounts to a very reputable and experienced servicer and insuring even greater customer experience in terms of speed of transaction, safety, and compliance. That’s one of the things that is currently on our agenda and that's kind of a new feature that we’re going to offer in the US market.

So are you going to be the servicer? Or are you going to work with the servicer?

Ivan: We're going to work with the servicer so it’s going to be kind of a joint product that we're going to offer.

Oh cool. That's exciting. You definitely have to keep us on the seat of our pants for that Ivan and keep us updated about it once it’s launched, I appreciate the snippet on it.

So Rolland, you had mentioned something about Robin Hood. I didn’t hear exactly what you said. What did you say?

Rolland: Yes, Some of the comparisons that what we’ve been getting to other more familiar or well known technologies, that is not as new as our technology, is the eBay or the Robin Hood for debt. I mentioned Robin Hood because Robin Hood has a very good application feature, where not only could you conduct and trade but you can buy or sell, in their case, securities, on a desktop, laptop, or simply directly from your mobile phone. We’re the only company in the world, in this industry, that focuses not on the securities, but on debt, that provides this mobile application feature where any of our originators can go on and have full access to the entire platform from the convenience of their smartphone. No matter where they are, they could be sipping a pina colada in Cancun, Mexico, and upload, and publish with a snap of their fingers, any of their portfolios, and set up an auction date and begin the sales process very easily. The same goes for any buyers out there, who in this regard, timing is of the essence, where you’re running your due diligence, putting in your offers, it’s all very time restrained and restricted. So it's important that even when you are on the go, you have the opportunity to place a bid, put an offer, and make sure that you’re winning the portfolio that you want, and that you're not missing out on that action. And you are capable of taking that anywhere with you, anywhere you have access to the web. So that’s why I mentioned Robin Hood and this is just taking words out of our clients mouths, this is something we heard recently and we loved it. It really registered, we see the energy and resemblance in that regard. This is all about the mobile application feature and we are the only company that provides that technology right now for the debt realm.

Ok, so there are two spinoffs I want to talk about. So one is, imagine if people can go in and buy like fractional, like with the servicing piece that you have, where a consumer, smaller business owner, or whatever, could go in and buy fractional shares of some of those portfolios, as you guys are collecting on it, it’ll either go up or down. I know that is all SCC related, probably stuff like that, but once you’ve talked about the servicing, I thought that could be kind of cool, if you could buy fractional shares of portfolios that you can Robin Hood, or something like that.

Rolland: Yeah that's a good point and to be honest, there’s something that you actually can do. There are buyers of all sizes and one thing that we made sure we did is that they’re credited, they’re licensed, they’re reliabile, there are no red flags and there’s no previous past issues in that regards. That is something that is very important to us, looking at other organizations that hold their reputation very highly, just as we do. That has to be a perfect match there. But there are all kinds of buyers, there are companies out there that are a bit more on the mom-and-pop type of shops, where you don't have a family office backing or a hedge fund, you are not sitting on millions of dollars or multimillions of capital, and want to pick up maybe#nbsp;a pool or a lot, just to start out and see what you can generate, so we offer that opportunity. So it is kind of like what you’ve mentioned, where a consumer can go and just get a fraction, a piece of a share, or a smaller portion of a pie. You’re capable of doing that with us too, so it does cater to a lot of the underserved and underappreciated markets and businesses.

One of the things I could see with your app is that once that person wins that portfolio, if you have some type of API that’s connected to their collection software, or whatever it is, that they want to have that sent to, that automatically have that uploaded, and that they were able to do that directly through the app and they’re able to connect directly to their phone, automatic dialer, or even to their online negotiation platform, right? Where as in the IP uploaded directly into that or right to the app. They would be able to just start sending out messages and start negotiating that debt and get people to start paying it off and have it.

So like you said, they can be sitting on the beach drinking pina colada, and then they have won a bid, they have uploaded it into the negotiation platform, and then on the backend, that person is able to send out communication and automate the whole thing for the consumers to just start getting back into good standing with that organization.

Rolland: Yeah absolutely. These are all types of integrations and possibilities that we’re always looking out for and we’re always looking to incorporate into our platform as the demand comes to fruition. We’re looking to figure those things out, from the API to ACH, to even, we’ve had conversations about even adding some type of AI into the mix. So all of this is definitely possible, and that’s something that Ivan can touch on a bit more but one thing for sure that we’ve heard, especially about file transferring,what we’ve heard through the grape vines, is that a lot of these older platforms, compared to our file transferring, are much more archaic. Their file transferring is out of date, not easy to use and manage, so we looked into that, we’ve listened to our clients, we’ve listened to the market, and we’ve incorporated those things already so a lot of those features that make the convenience of file sharing and transferring of ease is already there. But you’re absolutely right, those are things we are always looking to make improvements in and those are the types of integrations and improvements that we’re always looking out for, but Ivan can definitely touch on that more.

Ivan: What you’re referring to, that is something that we call internally lending club but for delinquent accounts, it is a service retained and performed by a professional platform, professional service provider, that is doing it compliantly and making sure that sellers don’t have any risks on that. So that is something that we currently have on our agenda and our research development department is working on it right now, this type of prototype from the technological perspective, so you’re exactly right.

That’s awesome. I am so excited about some of these things, there were just some stuff that popped into my mind that I had to share it while it was still in there, but are there any last comments or things like that, Ivan or Rolland, that you guys would like to make in our last few minutes together.

Rolland: I guess I just want to say to anyone that’s listening that if you have any debt receivables, not performing loans, or any financial notes that you’re looking to consider selling, give me a call and let's make some money together.

Ivan: From my side, I just wanted to add to that, being a highly IT driven company, we look forward to partnerships, any collaborations, so at anytime just reach out to me for that aspect of the business and I look forward to hearing about this at anytime.

And how could people get more information about you? How can they find your site? Any social media or anything like that?

Ivan: Sure, so Debexpert.com, that is our landing page. You can also follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Thank you guys so much for coming on to In Debt Discussion. I really appreciate it and I look forward to seeing the growth and all the success that you guys have and the positive impact you're going to make on thousands of lives.