Groupon Exec Simon Goodall Named CEO of Caribou Financial

Caribou Financial has a new CEO, one focused on expanding the lender’s auto loan refinancing presence.

“It’s a pretty simple business and it’s just a huge opportunity,” Simon Goodall, formerly Groupon’s chief commercial officer, told Bloomberg News in an interview Monday (Sept. 25).

He is taking the job immediately, and replaces Kevin Bennett, who announced he was stepping down next month, the report said. PYMNTS has contacted Caribou for comment but has not yet gotten a reply.

According to Bloomberg, Goodall argued that — with car payments still high — there is a “massive” market potential for auto loan refinancing.

The resumption of student-loan payments could also be a factor for American consumers to consider auto loan refinancing, Goodall added in the interview, as lower car payments can help people ease the additional burden on their monthly budget.

And consumers are feeling burdened, as joint PYMNTS and LendingClub research has shown. As of June, more than 60% of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck, a trend that Amber Carroll, senior vice president of membership and lifecycle strategy at LendingClub, told PYMNTS is here to stay.

“The paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle is beginning to be the norm,” Carroll said, citing data that shows that even high-income households that make upwards of $100,000 per year are feeling the pain of inflation.

In all, the harsh economic climate has fueled a decline in consumer purchasing power, no matter their earnings, with a growing number of households choosing to focus their spending on essentials, which prevents them from growing their savings.

“Consumers are adjusting their spending behaviors, but this is allowing them to tread water, not get ahead,” Carroll said.

According to Bloomberg, Goodall points to an early career experience selling cars in Elgin, Illinois, as one of the reasons he was attracted to the chief executive job at Caribou.

“It’s so much about the monthly payment — ‘How can I afford this?’” Goodall said, recalling something he learned in his auto sales days. “It is a necessity, it is not a luxury product, for most Americans.”

Founded in 2016, Caribou previously was called MotoRefi, and connects car owners with lenders, like credit unions and community banks, that can provide better interest rates, and gives car shoppers a tool to compare insurance policies. The company was valued at $1.1 billion last year following a $115 million Series C round.