Aura Financial has poached one of Walmart’s executives, naming Anne M. Myong as its new Chief Financial Officer.
Myong had been with Walmart since 2011, coming onboard as Chief Administrative Officer of its retail operation in China and becoming Senior Vice President and CFO for Walmart’s Global eCommerce business the following year. In that role, she led finance, accounting, strategic planning, M&A and integration activities. Myong also served as a member of the board of directors of Walmart Mexico and was a member of the CEO’s advisory board of women leaders.
Myong explained that she moved to Aura because of the company’s work in “providing affordable, credit-building loans to the underbanked.”
“This is about more than a business for me. It’s about supporting families that are often ignored and overlooked. It’s about helping borrowers achieve financial independence. And it’s about helping our borrowers become educated consumers so they can achieve their dreams and their long-term financial goals,” she said.
Founded in 2012 by James Gutierrez, Kevin Kang, and Randy Wong, Aura uses a cloud-based lending technology to provides small loans to working families in America, aiming to provide financial services to the country’s 66-million underbanked and unbanked. The company boasts that its loans have saved clients over $475 million in additional fees and interest, while two-thirds of Aura’s borrowers have grown their credit score by an average of 312 points after two loans.
Aura’s services are currently available in more than 1,000 locations across California, Texas, Illinois and Arizona, providing approximately $750 million in loans to nearly 344,000 borrowers. There are plans to move into other states, with the company announcing earlier this month that Bridge Bank had extended a senior loan to the company so that it can continue its expansion. It also closed a $130 million asset-backed revolving credit facility with Varadero Capital back in October.
And last year, the company received a $10 million investment from Prudential Financial. Aura has raised $100 million in equity funding to date.
Myong will report to CEO Gutierrez and oversee Finance and Accounting, HR, Risk and Collections.
