Asset rich but cash poor? Maybe it's time to rethink pawn

Charles Meyerowitz

It’s no secret that small businesses – and the individuals behind them – are cash-strapped in the current environment. Finding the liquidity to fund growth and operations is increasingly tricky as access to credit becomes tighter – but the answer may be sitting in the garage or around your wrist.

Charles Meyerowitz, co-founder, and CEO of Lamna, a specialty asset-backed financier, says that in many cases people hold valuable assets but experience temporary liquidity problems in their business or personal capacity. “People simply have money tied up in luxury assets like cars or watches,” says Meyerowitz. “Collateralised lenders, like Lamna, focus on creating quick, discreet cash injections for people by exchanging high valued assets for loans, all facilitated in a secure online environment.”

“This, amongst other factors, is what sets Lamna apart from the traditional pawn shop industry and it has revolutionised the way that individuals think of the funding method,” says Meyerowitz. “We have essentially taken an established and tainted industry and turned it on its head by taking a digital, discreet and honest approach. Asset-backed lending is fast becoming a dynamic, fresh and tech-savvy approach to alternative lending.”

He says that traditional lenders, like banks, are becoming increasingly hesitant to grant credit and have complicated and onerous application processes in place. “We are increasingly seeing individuals turning to other methods of cash advancement that are quick and effortless and allow them to sweat assets they already have,” says Meyerowitz.

And it does demand a fundamental shift in terms of the way we think about a pawnbroker.  According to Meyerowitz, certain alternative, asset-backed lenders like Lamna are revolutionising the staid, goods-for-cash industry by providing a seamless online experience and catering to high-end clients with the integrity and respect they deserve. “All applications are initially managed discreetly online, there is no shop front and all exchanges are handled confidentially.”

Meyerowitz concludes by highlighting the integral personal relationship building aspect of the asset-backed lending business model, “As a high-end, niche lender – our operation is built on relationships, trust and a holistic approach to our clients.”