Talk:Mpower Financing

Undisclosed paid edits

I have added an {{undisclosed paid}} tag to this article because of extensive editing by a UPE sockfarm, please see Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Mememento for evidence. The article will need a thorough review ensuring due weight, neutral language, and use of reliable sources before the tag is removed. MarioGom (talk) 20:47, 29 August 2021 (UTC)

Addressing the 2 Tags

In June 2020, Cilidus added an “advertisement” tag to this page. In August 2021, MarioGom added an "undisclosed paid" tag.

MPOWER has hired me to fix these issues. I’ve disclosed my COI on the “Talk” pages for both MPOWER and myself.

I can understand why the page was tagged for self-promotion; some of the information here is more important to the company than to the Wikipedia reader. Accordingly, I suggest that we delete the following items, which I’ve organized by section.

Note: I don’t expect that these deletions, on their own, will suffice to remove the tags. Instead, once the below suggestions have been addressed, I’ll then offer recommendations for other changes, including adding better footnotes and changing language.

Thank you for your consideration.

1. Lead

“with offices in New York.”

Explanation: There’s no footnote. Plus, there is no longer a New York office.

2. Lead

“It has been awarded multiple awards, including ‘Growth Company of the Year.’”

Explanation: Such awards don’t seem significant enough to be placed in the lead.

3. Lead

“both of whom attended INSEAD Paris where they met.”

Explanation: This detail doesn’t seem significant enough to be placed in the lead. Plus, it’s repeated in the history section.

 Partly done: 1-3 Happy Editing--IAmChaos 07:48, 22 March 2022 (UTC)

4. Overview

“The company lends to 190+ nationalities, including Americans.”

Explanation: This statistic doesn’t really matter to our readers.

 Partly done: #4 Happy Editing--IAmChaos 07:50, 22 March 2022 (UTC)

5. History

“By the end of 2016, the fintech company had approved loans for close to 500 students for a total amount of $10 million.”

Explanation: These numbers are outdated and don’t reflect MPOWER’s subsequent stature. (The company has since stopped disclosing this data.)

6. History

“In July 2017, MPOWER Financing's services became available in all 50 states due to a partnership between the company and Bank of Lake Mills. In August 2017, MPOWER Financing announced a $100 million debt round in order to offer more student loans. On February 16, 2017, it was reported that MPOWER Financing had received more than $150 million in loan applications. In the Summer of 2017, MPOWER Financing began working with credit reporting agency Nova Credit to simplify the application and underwriting process for international applicants.”

Explanation: Some of these facts aren’t notable, while others are outdated. For the latter, I’ll provide newer numbers at a later point.

 Not done for now: pending your newer numbers Happy Editing--IAmChaos 07:54, 22 March 2022 (UTC)

7. History

“MPOWER belongs to 1776, a D.C. organization working to solve local and global issues. MPOWER works to connect investors with underserved student borrowers in order to provide loans for tuition or living expenses; the company was able to give its first loan of $10,000 in November 2014.”

Explanation: Participation in 1776 (the first sentence) isn’t notable, and info from the second sentence is both out of place here and is provided elsewhere.

 Partly done: 5&7 Happy Editing--IAmChaos

8. Reception

The whole section.

Explanation: The recognitions here, while interesting, seem insignificant and insular.

9. Social Impact

The whole section.

Explanation: The events here, while interesting, seem insignificant and insular — with one exception: The women-STEM scholarships. These were covered by India Today, which, according to Wikipedia, “is the most widely circulated magazine in India.”)

So maybe we can keep something like this:

“In 2019, the company established a Women in STEM Scholarship Program.”

 Trimmed but left slightly more than you suggested, at least for now.

Signed,
BlueRoses13 (talk) 15:14, 13 March 2022 (UTC)

Hey, posting on my alt here, just got kicked out of my building for a fire alarm, so I'm going to put off reviewing the rest of this request for now. My apologies IAmChaos(alt acct - please ping my main) 07:57, 22 March 2022 (UTC)

Hi there, @IAmChaos! Sorry to hear about the fire alarm — I hope you’re ok! Thank you very much for addressing these requests while you were able to. When you’re safe, I’d be grateful for your thoughts on edits #8 and #9. Also, is it appropriate to now remove the WP:UPE tag, since MPOWER hired me, which I’ve disclosed both here and on my “talk” page? Thanks again! Signed, BlueRoses13 (talk) 01:54, 23 March 2022 (UTC)

Hi, @BlueRoses13:, I took a look at the last request. I did remove the one tag, but as I said in my edit summary, I'll let another editor choose what to do with the advert with fresh eyes. I also added a template to this talk page, to preserve your declaration, please edit it if I didn't quite get it right. Happy Editing--IAmChaos 15:49, 6 April 2022 (UTC)

References

Addressing the Advertising Tag

Hello again, On behalf of Mpower, I’d like to submit a second batch of requests. I believe these changes make the text better sourced and more balanced. Taken together — in addition to the previous changes implemented by @IAmChaos — I hope these changes suffice to remove the advertising tag. Thank you for your consideration.

Add Footnotes

Here, I provide footnotes for claims the article makes without proper citations. The names in the subheads (for example, "lead," "overview," and "history") refer to the sections in the article.

1. Lead

“MPOWER Financing is a public benefit corporation...”

Explanation: Go to https://icis.corp.delaware.gov/ecorp/entitysearch/NameSearch.aspx. Enter “MPOWER Financing” in the “entity name” box, then click on the one result, for “MPOWER FINANCING, PUBLIC BENEFIT CORPORATION.” The “entity type” is “Benefit Corporation.”

{{nfn|EP|nfn}} @BlueRoses13: This is a Dab page, please pick a different link. Happy Editing--IAmChaos 18:17, 19 May 2022 (UTC) Oops, I misread - I see that the article does link to a better page. my bad

 Not done Citations not required in the introduction. Duke Gilmore (talk) 02:36, 14 December 2022 (UTC)

2. Lead

“It is based in Washington, DC...”

Explanation: According to Technical.ly (2017), Mpower is a “Dupont Circle-based company.”

The Washington Business Journal (2018) confirms that Mpower is a “District [of Columbia] student-loan startup,” with “headquarters near Dupont Circle.”

 Not done Citations not required in the introduction. Duke Gilmore (talk) 02:37, 14 December 2022 (UTC)

3. Lead

“with an office in in Bangalore, India.”

Explanation: In 2021, the Economic Times of India reported on “Mpower's team in Bengaluru.”

Also in 2021, the Washington Business Journal reported that “Mpower employs about 50 people — 20 in its D.C. office and 30 in Bangalore, India.”

(Note: According to Wikipedia, “Bangalore [is] officially known as Bengaluru.”)

 Not done Citations not required in the introduction. Duke Gilmore (talk) 02:37, 14 December 2022 (UTC)

4. Lead

“It was founded by Manu Smadja and Michael Davis in 2014...”

Explanation: The Washington Business Journal (2020) says the company was founded in 2014 and refers to Smadja as “CEO and co-founder.” The Washington Business Journal (2018) refers to Davis as “co-founder and Chief Investment Officer.”

Also, if you go to https://icis.corp.delaware.gov/ecorp/entitysearch/NameSearch.aspx and enter “MPOWER Financing” in the “entity name” box, then click on the one result, for “MPOWER FINANCING, PUBLIC BENEFIT CORPORATION,” you’ll see that the “incorporation date/formation date” is April 1, 2014.

Finally, one more source: CNN, in an article from November 3, 2014, said that Mpower was “founded only six months ago.”

 Not done Citations not required in the introduction. Duke Gilmore (talk) 02:38, 14 December 2022 (UTC)

5. Overview

“Mpower Financing offers its student loans to students who cannot typically qualify for a loan from other banks or lenders unless they have a co-signer or collateral.”

Explanation: According to Insider (2021), “You don’t need a cosigner, collateral, or a credit history to apply for a[n Mpower] loan.”

6. Overview

“Mpower Financing lends to students who are within two years from graduation.”

Explanation: The source for this claim is https://technical.ly/2015/11/09/mpower-financing-shares-big-dreams/, which is a trade pub. Here’s a better source: According to Insider (2021), “Mpower Financing only offers loans if you’re beginning a one or two-year program, or if you will graduate from school in the next two years.”

Similarly, Forbes, in a 2017 article written not by a contributor but by a staff writer (per WP:FORBES), says, “Mpower will only consider upperclassmen at eligible schools who will be finished with their studies (and ideally gainfully employed) in two years or less.”

 Done Cheers. Duke Gilmore (talk) 02:45, 14 December 2022 (UTC)

Change Language

Here, I suggest changing the wording of certain sentences. The names in the subheads (for example, "overview" and "history") refer to the sections in the article.

7. Overview

Let’s change this sentence:

“Students who benefit from these services typically are international students or domestic students whose parents do not have the credit history to cosign, as well as recipients of DACA.”

to this:

“Many recipients are international (non-American) and DACA students.”

Explanation: According to Insider (2021), “Mpower Financing offers undergraduate and graduate student loans to international students, US citizens, permanent residents, and DACA students.”

Fast Company (2017) confirms this, describing Mpower as a “lender serving low-income domestic students, students here under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and international students who don’t fit traditional credit criteria.”

One more source: Study International (2019) says, “The Mpower Global Citizenship Scholarship aims to be ‘widely accessible’ to international and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students accepted or enrolled at an Mpower partner university.”

 Done Cheers. Duke Gilmore (talk) 02:50, 14 December 2022 (UTC)

8. Overview

Let’s change this sentence:

“Mpower Financing’s services are available at 350 university and college programs as of March 2018.”

to this:

“As of 2021, Mpower’s services are available at almost 400 universities and colleges in the United States and Canada.”

Explanation: According to the Economic Times of India (2021), Mpower “works with over 370 top universities and colleges across the US and Canada to provide financing to students from over 200 countries.”

9. History

Let’s change this sentence:

“The company launched officially in May 2015 with Harvard as its first university partner.”

to this:

“The company launched with Harvard as its first university partner.”

Explanation: The current footnote (an article in Forbes) doesn’t say 2015. That’s because, as documented elsewhere in this Wikipedia page, Mpower was founded in 2014.

 Done Cheers Duke Gilmore (talk) 02:52, 14 December 2022 (UTC)

10. History

Let’s change this sentence:

“As of April 2019, it was reported that Mpower Financing had received over $1 billion in loan applications.”

to this:

“As of 2021, Mpower has received $2 billion in requests for loans.”

Explanation: According to the the Washington Business Journal (2021), “The startup … provide[s] loans to students from more than 200 countries, amounting to more than $2 billion in loan applications.”

11. History

Let’s change this sentence:

“In October 2016, Mpower Financing announced that it raised $6 million through the assistance of Zephyr Peacock India.”

to this:

“As of 2021, Mpower has raised $160 million in equity funding and $200 million in debt financing. Investors include Goldman Sachs, King Street Capital Management, and Gray Matters Capital.”

Explanation: According to the Washington Business Journal (2021), “Mpower’s total raise to date [is] $160 million.” That’s equity funding.

According to the Economic Times of India (2019), “Mpower has now raised an estimated $200 million in loan financing capital.” That’s debt financing.

As for the inventors, the Washington Business Journal name-checks King, while the Economic Times name-checks Goldman and Gray.

 Done Cheers Duke Gilmore (talk) 03:01, 14 December 2022 (UTC)

Add New Language

Here, I propose adding additional content.

12. History

Let's add this:

In 2016, MPOWER opened an India office, in Bangalore.

Explanation: India is Mpower’s biggest market, and the company’s India office is its biggest outside Washington, DC. Therefore, its opening seems significant.

According to the Economic Times of India (2016): “Private equity fund Zephyr Peacock ... is helping [Mpower] ... to set up an India base in Bengaluru. MPower’s entry into India is expected to help Indian students for whom funding the astronomically high tuition fees in the US has been an ardent task."

Signed,
BlueRoses13 (talk) 17:34, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

 Done Cheers. Duke Gilmore (talk) 03:11, 14 December 2022 (UTC)

@BlueRoses13 Implemented several...see notes above. Removed the advertising template. Cheers. Duke Gilmore (talk) 03:16, 14 December 2022 (UTC)

@Duke Gilmore Thank you very much! Cheers to you as well — and happy holidays! Signed, BlueRoses13 (talk) 12:20, 14 December 2022 (UTC)