Propel Secures $150 Million for FreshLine Consumer Credit Product

FinTech Propel Holdings debuted FreshLine, an unsecured personal line-of-credit offering, according to a Tuesday (March 10) press release.

The Toronto-based company also received a $150 million commitment to support FreshLine’s launch and boost Propel’s growth in the United States, the release said.

Propel designed FreshLine, developed in collaboration with Column, to court the near-prime population, which is often overlooked by traditional lenders, per the release.

“With FreshLine now live and backed by the largest commitment in our history, we are entering 2026 with significant momentum to scale this program,” Propel Holdings CEO Clive Kinross said in the release. “FreshLine expands our ability to serve the large and growing near-prime consumer segment, where demand for responsible credit remains significant.”

The announcement came three months after Propel received regulatory permission to launch its own bank. The Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of Puerto Rico allowed Propel Bank to be licensed as an international financial entity governed by the regulator.

Last year, Kinross discussed with PYMNTS his company’s financial inclusion efforts, serving consumers who tend to be ignored by traditional institutions.

“There’s a big distinction between riskier consumers and risky business,” Kinross said, adding that conventional banks see lending to underbanked populations as a high-risk scenario.

Instead, it’s about using the right tools and processes, particularly employing technology like artificial intelligence, to understand and price risk accordingly, he said.

Propel aims to offer “vastly superior credit” to the underbanked population, and lines of credit serve as the company’s primary product, Kinross said.

The typical Propel customer tends to fit into the demographic of an older millennial or younger Generation X, usually aged 35 to 54. Average credit limits are between $2,000 and $3,000, and consumers typically draw down about 70% of this limit, resulting in an average credit outstanding of roughly $1,800.

Meanwhile, the PYMNTS Intelligence report “The Credit Reset: How Unified Platforms Are Replacing Legacy Lending Infrastructure” found that credit “remains a core engine of consumer spending,” PYMNTS reported March 3.

“Installment-based credit is now a powerful driver of usage and engagement,” the report said. Nearly three-quarters of U.S. credit cardholders say they are more likely to use a card that offers installment plans at checkout or post-purchase.”