Meet Amy McKechnie, Co-Founder at Car Finance Start-Up: Carmoola

Carmoola is the simple, flexible and new way to pay for a car in just three easy steps. Empowering consumers with a budget and a finance decision in sixty seconds, giving them the freedom to buy a vehicle instantly online or at the showroom.

We cut out the middleman, saving buyers money with better value finance and discounts for choosing green cars. Carmoola also breaks the rigidity of traditional contracts, allowing customers the flexibility to adjust terms and payments simply in the app.
 
 

 

How did you come up with the idea for the company?

 
During the first half of 2020, and we all know what happened then, Aidan and I decided to take an extended break in Mallorca. As we planned to stay for a couple of months, and with the pandemic in full swing, it made sense for us to drive from the UK and catch the ferry from mainland Spain to the island, so we could take our two sausage dogs along.

What should have been a simple process of upgrading our car turned out to be a slow and confusing consumer experience. With all the tech innovation available to consumers in banking and buy now pay later, we questioned why car finance has remained unchanged and complicated for so long.

We quickly identified the main problems: the administration was slow and filled with paperwork, consumers didn’t have a clue about the amount they could borrow, and interest rates were expensive. Traditional lenders weren’t tech driven, credit scores and under-writing were done manually, and these inefficient processes and unnecessary costs were clearly being passed on to the consumer.
 

 

How has the company evolved over the last couple of years?

 
It’s been an incredible journey since our launch back in March 2021 followed by the opening of our offices in London and Lviv. We’ve recently completed a successful funding round and launched the app. It’s safe to say we’ve been busy, but this is always the best bit… seeing how real customers use the product “out in the wild”.
 

What can we hope to see from Carmoola in the future?

 
In the coming months we’ll be launching our Green Discounts to reward customers for choosing sustainable transport – which we know can be expensive at the outset.

Further than that, look out for new products, new markets and even better value for our customers!