Latest / Best of Business / Tom Aitken: Amico creator on the new app designed to formalise loan agreements between family and friends

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Tom Aitken: Amico creator on the new app designed to formalise loan agreements between family and friends · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talk zed B.
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  Speaker 1: iHeartRadio Bryan Bridge.
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  Speaker 2: If you've ever lent some money to a friend or
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  Speaker 2: a family member and never seen your cash again, this
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  Speaker 2: next story might be of interest to you. Ammiko is
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  Speaker 2: a new app that will draw up a proper formal
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  Speaker 2: loan agreement that you can use whenever you leand a
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  Speaker 2: small amount of money to anyone. The app was created
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  Speaker 2: by former banker and hawks by farmer Tom Aiken.
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  Speaker 3: He's with me tonight, Hey Tom good a Ryn. So,
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  Speaker 3: who ripped you off?
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  Speaker 4: No one? No one got the I got the idea
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  Speaker 4: when I was weaking for a Big four at a
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  Speaker 4: university and just saw such a such a good idea.
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  Speaker 4: And it took me a few years to get there
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  Speaker 4: and draw it out and bring it to life.
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  Speaker 3: So how does it actually work?
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  Speaker 2: If I, you know, my brother wants to borrow money
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  Speaker 2: for example, or something like that, how do we do it?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah? Great question. So you can download it on the
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  Speaker 4: Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. Download it
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  Speaker 4: from there. You just create an account and then you
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  Speaker 4: go in. Now, whether or not you're the lender or
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  Speaker 4: the borrower, either one of you can actually set up
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  Speaker 4: the loan terms, and so that kind of punches in
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  Speaker 4: the likes of an interest rate, whether it be zerubsent
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  Speaker 4: interest rate, weekly repayments, fortnightly, monthly, even near the repayments.
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  Speaker 4: And then you can send it to your so your
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  Speaker 4: brother in this case, or your peer or family member.
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  Speaker 4: They can have a look at it and as set
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  Speaker 4: the terms, negotiate. If they're happy with it, they can
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  Speaker 4: sign on the app and then it gives you, guys
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  Speaker 4: a loan documentation which formalizes everything. You know. It kind
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  Speaker 4: of turns those I guess good intentions into good agreements.
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  Speaker 3: And is this legally enforceable?
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  Speaker 4: Yes, it is, yep, And so I think ninety nine
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  Speaker 4: percent of people are good baggers. But you know, some things,
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  Speaker 4: some things just go wrong. But less this way here,
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  Speaker 4: everything's kind of documented. It's black and white. There's nothing
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  Speaker 4: left to argue about.
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  Speaker 2: Really, is there an amount would you say, useless app
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  Speaker 2: a few lending fifty dollars or if you're learning five
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  Speaker 2: hundred thousand, I mean, is it legally enforceable? So presumably
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  Speaker 2: it doesn't matter how much you're lending.
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  Speaker 4: Correct, But we have we have kept it at a
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  Speaker 4: million dollars and were just thinking anything more than that
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  Speaker 4: you should be getting a lawyer, a lawyer involved there.
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  Speaker 4: But you know this is designed for, you know, to
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  Speaker 4: help a mate out start a business, for example, whether
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  Speaker 4: it not be five grand, help out to the next payday,
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  Speaker 4: or to even help your kids into their first home.
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  Speaker 2: Is this going to start a whole lot of arguments
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  Speaker 2: like how am I going to look really stingy if
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  Speaker 2: I'm trying to force someone to sign it, you know,
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  Speaker 2: sign here on the dotted line before I'll give you
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  Speaker 2: this twenty dollars.
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  Speaker 4: I don't think you're I think you just came across stingy.
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  Speaker 4: I think the thing is a Miko can kind of
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  Speaker 4: take out any of the awkness of you know, figuring out, well,
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  Speaker 4: are you going to charge me interest or not on
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  Speaker 4: that money when you actually want to have paid back.
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  Speaker 4: You know, everything's documented out and laid out, and it's
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  Speaker 4: just I guess it just makes it easy for everyone.
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  Speaker 4: You know, there was a sudden everyone's on the same page,
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  Speaker 4: and it's not so much about signing, it actually just
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  Speaker 4: working out terms of best suit you as the lender
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  Speaker 4: or the borrower.
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  Speaker 2: What happens if you find yourself in the situation where
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  Speaker 2: they don't pay you back, do you take presumably you
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  Speaker 2: engage a lawyer at that point, do you how do
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  Speaker 2: you how do you resolve it?
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  Speaker 4: Yep, so at least you know there's so much undocumented
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  Speaker 4: peer to peer loans, At least by I guess using
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  Speaker 4: a miko, you do have I guess level grounds to
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  Speaker 4: take further further legal action and go onto deck collection.
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  Speaker 4: But you are hoping, I mean it is your family
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  Speaker 4: and friend member that you are hoping that that you
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  Speaker 4: will get repaid regardless.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, of course, all things going well, what are you
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  Speaker 2: how are you pronouncing that? So it's a m I CEO?
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  Speaker 2: How are you pronouncing it a miko amiko? Where did
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  Speaker 2: that come from? And why didn't you just go with iou?
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  Speaker 4: Oh, trademark. Trademark is the issues there. But amiko is
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  Speaker 4: actually Italian for friend I guess, which leans into what
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  Speaker 4: we're trying to achieve here. It is all about helping
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  Speaker 4: out your family and friends, whether it not be get ahead,
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  Speaker 4: make it the next payday, or buy their first house
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  Speaker 4: for existing or car.
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  Speaker 2: I can see a lot of parents liking this because
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  Speaker 2: it really ties them down. How does what's the revenue
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  Speaker 2: model here? How do you actually make money?
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  Speaker 4: So right now, we don't take any any fees on
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  Speaker 4: interest rates or anything like that. That is solely between
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  Speaker 4: the lender and borough. So the banker, Mum and dad
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  Speaker 4: or two mates staying for business venture, we just charge
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  Speaker 4: a fifteen dollar documentation fees and that's parish to do
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  Speaker 4: all the calculations for you as well as give you,
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  Speaker 4: guys illegally agreement legally buying agreement that clearly states out
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  Speaker 4: your obligations as the linder and.
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  Speaker 2: Borrower's fifteen dollars for every no matter what the amount is,
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  Speaker 2: it's fifteen dollars for anyone who wants to have a.
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  Speaker 4: Correct correct and they're just trying to make legal like
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  Speaker 4: I guess, make it make it so so cheap that
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  Speaker 4: you know, whether it's two grand loan, you're not going
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  Speaker 4: to go to a lawyer and they're going to charge
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  Speaker 4: you up a few hundred dollars to write up an
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  Speaker 4: agreement that's kind of true vible. So at least by
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  Speaker 4: using a miko you can.
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  Speaker 2: It also makes it also makes my twenty dollars loane
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  Speaker 2: non viable.
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  Speaker 4: That yes, correct, correct, But hey, look if you need
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  Speaker 4: a twenty dollar loon mate just singing, I'm sure I
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  Speaker 4: can spot you well.
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  Speaker 2: I guess it depends on how well this goes for you,
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  Speaker 2: Tom exactly hopefully very well. Yeah, good luck, Thanks Ron,
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  Speaker 2: appreciate it.
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  Speaker 3: Tom making Amico founder.
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