Web

Pawn Friday will unite 1,000 shops to provide financial lifeline to underbanked

PawnGuru has come up with an alternative way to grant the underbanked financial access by using the pawn industry as an additional option to get cash.

Pawn Friday

The startup has already provided a financial lifeline to its 500,000 users. PawnGuru’s major marketing event launches tomorrow, Friday October 27: “Pawn Friday,” the first pawn shop sales event, offering high-quality goods such as Rolex’s and Xbox’s, at a discount. The event will provide access to over 1000 pawn shops in the country partnered with PawnGuru through their www.pawnguru.com/pawnfriday page.

Jordan Birnholtz, co-Founder at PawnGuru

“Pawn Friday will be an awesome shopping event for consumers looking for great deals, but its purpose is much larger than that,” said co-Founder Jordan Birnholtz in a press release. “Pawn shops provide a critical financial lifeline to underbanked consumers. There’s no need for people to be forced into a never-ending spiral of debt through payday loans and the like when other life-saving financial options, like pawn shops, exist,” said Jordan Birnholtz, one of PawnGuru’s founders.

Thirty million people across America do not have a bank account. With no access to mainstream financial services, checking or savings account, the unbanked population has started to be viewed as an area of the market uncatered to.

The developers of PawnGuru have brought this US$15 billion transaction industry online making the buying, selling and pawning of used goods more available for customers and pawn shops alike. Based in Detroit, PawnGuru has eschewed credit scores, credit cards and loans, and instead allows current and new customers access to America’s leading and local pawn shops.

The online platform allows consumers to receive offers for items they want to sell or pawn from pawn shops in their local area via email or text, and make sure they get the best prices. In turn, pawn shops now have the ability to gain easy access to an entirely new customer base. When taking out a loan isn’t an option, PawnGuru can suggest what items are selling well, and where you can go to sell them, allowing the unbanked access to liquid cash.

Pawn Friday will not only kick off the holiday season, with the best deals, but also shine the spotlight on how the pawn industry can directly help this large group of society with little, or no, access to traditional banking services.

Jess Rapp

Born and raised in Asia, and a global nomad, Jess is always on the look out for the next adventure, and what stories it will bring. She is passionate about solving world issues, and how technology can play a role in this.

View Comments

  • Certainly an interesting idea. I never get a real warm, fuzzy feeling when contemplating pawn shops, but maybe I'm out of touch. Definitely applaud PawnGuru's ingenuity and forward thinking.

Recent Posts

Tony Colon to keynote Articulate conference alongside industry execs, share best practices for leading in an AI-first future

At the outset of 2025, digital workflow platform ServiceNow revealed plans to hire up to…

3 days ago

Digital ID, face scans for age verification are becoming internet passports

Online age checks are not just about children; they're about getting everybody onboard with digital…

3 days ago

15 startup conferences that are actually worth attending in 2025

Big-name expos and star-studded keynotes may grab headlines, but in 2025, it’s the smaller, more…

4 days ago

US wants digital ID for patients, providers & payers

Trump says the system will be 'entirely opt-in,' but HHS is looking to encourage, require…

2 weeks ago

Why a proactive approach to threat exposure pays dividends 

Over the past year, not only has the frequency of cyberattacks skyrocketed across all industries…

2 weeks ago

What Triggered Trump’s Outburst Against Stephen Colbert?

My favorite English teacher got fired. It was during the pre-Late-Show era that Colbert helped…

2 weeks ago