'Is there a buffer in the system to absorb unexpected personal expenses?': Neal Desai, Kafene

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Zack Miler, Tearsheet’s editor in chief.  We’ve covered a lot about buy now, pay later over the years. BNPL’s rise was strong, given how it is embedded into a merchant’s checkout process and appealed to younger customers who preferred financing certain transactions and not the revolving credit of a credit card. Honestly, BNPL’s takeup and growth has overshadowed the emergence of other forms of financing. One of those is lease to own – if you’re my generation and grew up in the US, you’re probably familiar with lease to own through Rent-A-Center commercials. In my mind, that always associated lease to own with some kind of shady business to finance subpar pre-owned furniture with cigarette burns. Neil Desai is my guest today – he’s co-founder and CEO of Kafene, which takes a lease to own financing model and embeds itself within in-store shopping experiences of over 1000 merchants. Embedding lease to own opens up new products and experiences for lease to own customers, primarily subprime buyers. Neal and I talk about the difference between BNPL and lease to own and why there’s room for both. Neal feels it’s a better model for many people. We discuss the challenges and opportunities in building out Kafene’s merchant network and the flywheel that Neal feels is kicking in now. We also look at consumer lending in light of what’s happening economically today.  Neal Desai is my guest today on the Tearsheet Podcast.