Refin.online

Refin.online is an online mortgage management service launched in May 2020, operating on a one-stop shop basis without visiting bank branches (all issues are agreed upon by phone or chat). Through the platform, you can get approval from the bank, organize an assessment of the apartment and choose an insurance policy. By May 2021, Refin.online is a partner of the top 20 banks and operates in all regions of Russia. The service works free of charge for borrowers, as it receives commission fees from banks for paperwork.

History

2021

Working with TalkBank to mortgage the self-employed

On December 30, 2021, the Russian online mortgage management service Refin.Online and the TalkBank fintech platform announced a partnership aimed at simplifying the mortgage lending process for the self-employed. Under it, TalkBank customers with the appropriate status will be able to get a mortgage or refinancing faster at better rates through Refin.Online.

to data RBC Russia According to, 3.5 million self-employed have already been registered in. Frank RG forecasts that their number will increase to 8.4 million people by 2024. This regime taxation allows individuals to secure their activities and work officially in accordance with the requirements of the law.

TalkBank became the twelfth Russian bank approved by the Federal Tax Service to register and provide banking services to the self-employed, and also became a bank capable of conducting the status procedure through a messenger, without visits to the bank branch and the tax office. As of December 2021, the bank operates with more than 50,000 self-employed.

According to Refin.Online and TalkBank, self-employed people who try to get a mortgage on their own spend two to three months on average and face a high risk of refusals from banks. According to companies, the integration of Refin.Online and TalkBank services, combined with the optimal selection of bank offers and taking into account the individual credit history and borrower rating, will reduce the time for obtaining mortgages for the self-employed by an average of 30-50%.

Despite the increase in the number of self-employed, they are still perceived as a high-risk category for most banks. Floating income, the possibility of changing activities, as well as the risk of losing earnings complicate the possibility of obtaining a mortgage for such borrowers. Within the framework of the partnership, we plan to simplify and speed up the process of obtaining mortgages for those small entrepreneurs who face difficulties in interacting with banks, - said Mikhail Chernov, CEO of Refin.Online.

TalkBank is a virtual bank aimed at making the use of banking products even more convenient. This is especially true for such a category as self-employed. Most often, these are small business entrepreneurs who do not always understand how to organize their activities correctly. Partnership with Refin.Online will also allow us to help them with mortgage lending issues, and we hope that in the future we will be able to further expand our ecosystem of additional services, "said Mikhail Popov, CEO TalkBank.

Raising $360,000

On October 21, 2021, Refin.Online announced an investment of $360,000. Several business angels have invested in the mortgage management service, including Ivan Milekhin, manager of the advertising association GruppaMilekhin. The rest of the participants in the funding round were not disclosed, as well as the shares of investors in the startup.

The team intends to spend the funds received on the development of its own channels for attracting customers and expanding the options of the digital mortgage management service.

Refin Online invested $360 thousand in the Russian mortgage management service.

As an investor, I am always interested in disruptive startups that change the market and create new consumption patterns for products and services. Refin.Online is just such a service, says Ivan Milekhin, explaining the reasons that prompted him to invest in this startup. - I have been observing the project for a long time, which shows stable growth and has potential in foreign markets, and I believe that the team will succeed with competent implementation of the strategy.

Refin.Online CEO Mikhail Chernov, in turn, noted that mortgages are the longest subscription in a person's life, so it is very important to choose a bank with optimal conditions at the very beginning, as well as be able to change them throughout the period of payments. The service will be even more convenient and focused on such characteristics as availability and automation of processes, he said.

As noted in Refin.Online, the mortgage lending market is booming. The volume of mortgage issuance in the first half of 2021 increased by 76% compared to the same period in 2020. At the same time, the segment retains a huge growth potential, given that Russia occupies only 35th place in the ranking of countries with the corresponding credit burden.

According to Refin.Online's own data, with the help of the service for 2020-2021, borrowers across the country saved about 1 billion rubles.

Attracting 35 million rubles of investments

At the end of May 2021, it became known about the attraction of Refin.online investments in the amount of 35 million. The rubles financing was attended by Moscow Seed Fund the investment company Kama Flow, business angels: founder of the Exbico Group - resident "Oleg Skolkovo Popov, founders RDP.RU and". Ecotelecom" Nikolay Guzakov Sergey Nikulin

As specified on the Moscow Seed Fund website, the fund's investments in Refin.online amounted to 8 million rubles. Investments of other investors were not disclosed, as well as their shares in the project.

Russian mortgage management service Refin.online raised 35 million rubles

The sphere fintech seems to us extremely interesting and promising. The project team aims to solve a serious problem of simplifying the procedure for interaction between banks and people who want to take out a mortgage loan on the best terms, - said the executive director of the Moscow Seed Fund. Alexey Kostrov

In the period from August 2020 to May 2021, the Refin.online service helped borrowers save more than 630 million rubles on interest overpayment, the creators of the project say. According to Mikhail Chernov, co-founder and head of Refin.online, the company strives for mortgages to become flexible, like a mobile operator's tariff or an online cinema subscription. At the same time, mortgage management should be fast and transparent for the borrower, he added.^[1][2]

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