Press release

From cooking to collections

Meet Alex Sethi, Harmoney collections officer and former chef

, 30 May 2019

for linkedin 08113

“I think the thing the two jobs have in common, is being able to deal with people,” says Alex Sethi, a professional chef turned Harmoney collections officer.

So how do you go from being cooking to collections? “Hospitality is hard work - and you work when everyone else is socialising. I think by the time you get to 40 you need to be doing something else - unless you’re a successful celebrity chef!

“I’m only 26 but I could see that I needed to try something else; get some experience in a different area. His flatmate Sahil, who was already working for Harmoney, suggested Alex give collections a try.

“I really like it. I wasn’t sure about being in a more corporate world after being a chef, but Harmoney is great; way more relaxed than being in the kitchen!

“Some days everyone you have to call is in a good mood, even though your calling from collections, and other days you can get a lot of people who are upset. But you get to talk to a lot of different people in a lot of different situations.

“I think that’s where having been a chef has helped me in this job. I know when I have to be firm or tough with people, and I know when to be super polite and listen.”

Though he doesn’t cook a lot these days, (“After years of being a chef and eating whatever was around, I’m now trying to keep to a much more strict diet!”)  Alex is dusting off his apron to cook for the Bright Foundation’s Bottomless Brunch, being held in Glen Eden, Auckland on June 9, raising funds to provide school supplies for underprivileged children.

“I remember being at school and not always being able to have the things other kids had. It’s really good to be able to help”.

 

For queries please contact:

Investors

David Stevens
CEO & Managing Director
investors@harmoney.co.nz

Media

Courtney Howe
+61 404 310 364
courtney@domestiqueconsulting.com.au

About Harmoney

Harmoney is an online direct personal lender that operates across Australia and New Zealand providing customers with unsecured personal loans that are easy to access, competitively priced (using risk-adjusted interest rates) and accessed 100% online.

Harmoney’s purpose is to help people achieve their goals through financial products that are fair, friendly, and simple to use.

Harmoney’s proprietary digital lending platform, Stellare™, facilitates its personalised loan product with applications processed and loans typically funded within 24 hours of acceptance by the customer. Stellare™ applies a customer’s individual circumstance to its data-driven, machine learning credit scorecard to deliver automated credit decisioning and accurate risk-based pricing.

Business fundamentals

  • Harmoney provides unsecured personal loans of up to $70,000 for three or five year periods to customers across New Zealand and Australia
  • Its direct-to-consumer and automated loan approval system is underpinned by Harmoney’s scalable Stellare™ proprietary technology platform
  • A significant percentage of Harmoney’s originations are “3R” (repeat) customers, with losses on repeat loans approximately 40% lower than first time loans
  • Harmoney is comprised of a team of 69 full-time employees across Australia and New Zealand, over half of whom comprise engineering, data science and product professionals
  • Harmoney is funded by a number of sources including two “Big-4” bank warehouse programs across Australia and New Zealand and a facility from M∓G Investments

Recent press releases