Former Esurance Exec Joins Fintech Startup Credible, Praises 'Disruptive Approach' To Lending Space

Former Esurance CMO Alan Gellman, who’s joining the San Francisco fintech startup Credible as its first chief marketing officer, sees the move as a chance to bring his passion for innovation to a company that makes a difference.

Credible, a personal finance marketplace that provides instant, personalized offers for student loans, recently expanded to include personal loans and announced a pilot credit card marketplace earlier this month.

In the first half of 2017, more than 80,000 people qualified for loan offers through the Credible marketplace, according to the company. The marketplace allows borrowers to get competitive loan offers from multiple vetted lenders.

Gellman, who also previously led digital marketing at Wells Fargo & Co WFC, was announced as Credible’s CMO Aug. 16.

Most Innovative

Gellman was named as one of “The 50 Most Innovative CMO’s In The World” by Business Insider in 2016 while working at Esurance, which is owned by Allstate Corp ALL.

“I want to help build a company that is creating value for consumers, especially in a category that is ripe for disruption,” Gellman told Benzinga in an e-mail.

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Borrowers who refinance student loans through Credible save an average of more than $18,000 over the life of the loan, according to the startup.

“Credible is bringing transparency and simplicity to a category that is anything but,” Gellman said of the company’s work in the student loan space. “Credible has brought clarity, simplicity and savings to consumers in the student lending space with pre-qualified offers delivered quickly, without impacting credit scores and without sharing consumers’ data before they are ready.”

Expand Disruption

Gellman said he’s excited to expand the “disruptive approach” behind Credible’s student loan marketplace to other financial services.

Credible’s partners — including banks, online lenders, credit unions and state student loan authorities — will value Gellman’s experience, Stephen Dash, Credible’s founder and CEO, told Benzinga.

“Alan has built brands and businesses across several categories, including financial services, insurance, health care and packaged goods,” Dash said. “He is a seasoned executive [who] will help us both strategically as well as with his depth of understanding across marketing and communication channels.”

Credible is growing and has job openings in product management, engineering, operations and marketing, Dash said.

Spencer White contributed to this report.

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