OnDeck Australia outpaces fintech industry for gender diversity

Leading small business lender OnDeck is also leading the way in workplace gender diversity, with 40% female leaders and 30% female workplace participation – figures that far exceed the fintech industry average.

• Female workplace participation across the fintech sector as a whole is around 20%. OnDeck has achieved 30% female workplace participation, and 40% of OnDeck’s business leaders are female.
• In a male-dominated industry, OnDeck is bucking the trend by taking active steps to attract and retain female talent. This has contributed to OnDeck being named one of Australia’s Best Places to Work.

 

Sydney: As Australians prepare to celebrate International Women’s Day, leading small business lender OnDeck Australia is punching above its weight for female engagement in the workplace.

 

Ms Charlene Batson, OnDeck’s Chief Operating Officer, said, “We know there is a real gender imbalance across the finance broking sector. This reflects many factors, some of which are complex – from the culture of the industry through to the nature of workplaces. 

 

“But OnDeck is committed to making strong progress to build a truly gender diverse workplace, and we are proud to be a strong supporter of the Women in Finance Broking initiative, introduced by the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA), to increase female participation in the broking industry.”

 

OnDeck is also taking important steps of its own to attract women to finance broking.

 

Ms Batson said, “OnDeck is focused on building a workplace where women can thrive by setting the right kind of goals for women to work towards, offering workplace flexibility to support women, writing job descriptions that connect with women, and setting KPIs that nurture long term success.”

 

OnDeck’s efforts are bearing fruit. Across the small business lender, women fill 40% of leadership roles, and one in three roles business-wide are held by women. 

 

“This is considerably higher than the fintech sector as a whole,” explained Ms Batson. “On an industry-wide basis, female participation is closer to 20%.”

 

OnDeck’s commitment to gender diversity has been a driver of other benefits. OnDeck is ranked as one of the Best Places to Work in Australia. In a survey by global research and consulting firm Great Place to Work, 92% of OnDeck’s employees agreed that the company is a great place to work – above the financial services industry average of 86%¹. 

 

Ms Batson noted, “We are very proud that 98% of the OnDeck team say they can be themselves at work, and employees at OnDeck are treated fairly regardless of their age, gender, sexual orientation, race or ethnicity. 

 

Ms Batson acknowledges that there have been times in her career when she has experienced unconscious gender bias.

 

“There have been occasions when I’ve felt a man gets a different response to the same thing a woman may be saying. This is something both men and women are guilty of in different settings. The main point for the OnDeck team is that we are encouraging everyone to be aware of this across the business.

 

“I’m very proud of the diversity we have achieved to date. It’s a plus for our business – and our clients, who are gender diverse, and 2023 is shaping up to be even better,” concluded Ms Batson.

 

About OnDeck 

OnDeck Australia is the proven leader in transparent and responsible online lending to small business. Since launching in Australia in 2015, OnDeck Australia’s focus has always been on supporting small businesses with access to fast, efficient unsecured finance.

 

Today, OnDeck Australia offers a wide range of term loans customised for small business owners’ needs. OnDeck Australia is focused on taking the friction out of business lending offering unsecured business loans from $10,000 – $250,000 across 6 – 24-month terms. We’ve helped thousands of small businesses across a range of industries access funding quickly and easily, while maintaining a 5-star TrustPilot rating. 

 

In 2021, OnDeck Australia launched The KOALA Score risk-prediction model that draws on big data, predictive analytics, plus data from multiple credit reporting agencies to enable more Australian small businesses to be approved for a commercial loan.

 

In 2021, OnDeck Australia also launched Lightning Loans, which enables the decisioning of loans up to $150,000 in as fast as 30 minutes, and funding in as fast as two hours. For more information, visit www.ondeck.com.au

 

^{[ 1 ] https://www.ondeck.com.au/press-releases/ondeck-ranks-among-australias-best-companies-to-work-for-92-of-employees-say-ondeck-is-a-great-place-to-work/}