{"id":617205,"date":"2024-04-17T16:36:40","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T13:36:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/i-help-immigrants-build-new-lives-and-credit\/"},"modified":"2024-04-17T16:36:40","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T13:36:40","slug":"i-help-immigrants-build-new-lives-and-credit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/i-help-immigrants-build-new-lives-and-credit\/","title":{"rendered":"#I Help Immigrants Build New Lives (and Credit)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3364fd38751\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3364fd38751\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/i-help-immigrants-build-new-lives-and-credit\/#Get_the_Best_of_Macleans_straight_to_your_inbox\" >Get the Best of Maclean\u2019s straight to your inbox.<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>I\u2019ve wanted to <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">travel<\/a> the world since I was a teenager. In 2009, after studying mechanical engineering at a university in Nigeria, I got a job with an oil and gas company that sent me to Texas. Three years later, I moved to India for work and, since then, I\u2019ve lived in 15 countries. During all that globetrotting, I met and married my wife, Bola, and we had two children. For years, Bola and the kids were going back and forth between Nigeria and wherever I was located at the time. Eventually, I realized how much my jet-setting life disrupted our family, so Bola and I decided to find a permanent place we could call home. She suggested Canada.<\/p>\n<p>In August of 2019, the four of us arrived on Bola\u2019s student visa. She was studying business at Conestoga College in Kitchener, Ontario, while I worked remotely for a company in Europe. We had already lived in so many countries, so I didn\u2019t think that anything would go wrong. Then everything did.<\/p>\n<p>Upon landing, my Uber <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a> didn\u2019t work because I didn\u2019t have a Canadian credit card. We\u2019d only brought debit cards: Nigeria, and all the countries I\u2019ve lived in, operated on debit. We ended up paying cash for a cab to take us to our hotel. There, the front desk said they couldn\u2019t honour our reservation without a credit card, so we paid a deposit equivalent to a three-night stay before they accepted us. I also couldn\u2019t rent a car without a credit card, so I walked for an hour to the house I wanted to lease. There, the landlord asked me for six months of credit history in Canada to secure the place. Finally, I walked to a bank to ask for a credit card, where the teller told me I\u2019d have to open an account first\u2014but to do that, I\u2019d need a home address.<\/p>\n<p>I was frustrated. We were stranded on arrival. I shared my qualms with a friend in Nigeria, who then connected me with his friend\u2014another Nigerian, named Catherine, who\u2019d been in Canada for many years. The next day, she drove over, rented us a car in her name and co-signed the lease for our apartment. We moved into our new place after a week in the hotel.<\/p>\n<p>I didn\u2019t understand the concept of credit at the time. Back home, debt is a bad thing: no one wants to owe anyone money. But in Canada, credit underpins much of daily life, allowing banks and landlords to assess your risk profile. This creates a gap in the immigration system: the only way a person can start a life here is with a credit history, which newcomers don\u2019t have. I\u2019ve met many immigrants who faced the same hurdle. One person told me they landed in Canada as a permanent resident and got a job at a bank, but they were turned down for a credit card from the same bank that employed them because they didn\u2019t have a six-month credit history.<\/p>\n<p>I wanted to solve this problem. I reached out to an engineering friend in Alberta to help me start an online banking app for new immigrants. Together, we bootstrapped the software with our own funds and incorporated in August of 2020. Five months later, we launched the app, which we called Expedier. Our first phase was to leverage open banking to give immigrants instant access to their money from international banks, pulling their funds into a Canadian bank account. Then we launched a debit card where users could load money and spend it in Canada.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re now in phase two of Expedier\u2014the credit-building phase. This summer, we\u2019ll start reporting our clients\u2019 rental payments to credit bureaus so users can establish and strengthen their credit history in Canada. In phase three, next year, we\u2019ll launch a credit card for newcomers. My initial Canadian card had a $500 limit due to my lack of credit history. We\u2019ll give our users higher limits based on their international credit history.<\/p>\n<p>Our app has been downloaded about 10,000 times, and we now have about 8,000 active users. I recently heard from a student who was only able to pay their tuition in Canada after signing up for Expedier and accessing their money from Nigeria. Last year, we raised around $300,000 from a family and friends campaign and began working with the Google startups accelerator. We want to keep growing the app\u2014and to continue helping newcomers build their lives and credit.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium is-resized\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/canadianmags.ca\/products\/macleans-may-2024\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/cms.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Cover_0524_FINAL-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1261039\" style=\"width:300px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>This story appears in the May issue of&nbsp;<em>Maclean\u2019s<\/em>. You can buy the issue&nbsp;<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/canadianmags.ca\/products\/macleans-may-2024\">here<\/a>&nbsp;or subscribe to the magazine&nbsp;here.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-macleans-newsletter-signup newsletter-signup default flex\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-left\">\n<h2 class=\"newsletter-title text-red\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Get_the_Best_of_Macleans_straight_to_your_inbox\"><\/span>Get the Best of Maclean\u2019s straight to your inbox.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"newsletter-subtitle text-black\">Sign up for <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>, commentary, analysis and promotions. Join 80,000+ Canadian readers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"newsletter-right\"><button class=\"newsletter-submit btn bg-black\" type=\"submit\">Subscribe<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-macleans-related related-posts\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-macleans-post-selector\">No posts available<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-macleans-post-selector\">No posts available<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-macleans-post-selector\">No posts available<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-macleans-post-selector\">No posts available<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/macleans.ca\/society\/i-made-a-banking-app-to-help-newcomers-build-their-lives-and-credit-in-canada\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019ve wanted to travel the world since I was a teenager. In 2009, after studying mechanical engineering at a university in Nigeria, I got a job with an oil and gas company that sent me to Texas. Three years later, I moved to India for work and, since then, I\u2019ve lived in 15 countries. During&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":617206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cms.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Cover_0524_FINAL-300x300.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-617205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=617205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/617206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=617205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=617205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=617205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}