General - Sir Richard Branson - Not a Virgin Any Longer
I had the good fortune recently to meet Sir Richard Branson in Boston at the launch of his great new company, Virgin Money. Well, not an entirely new company, it's really Circle Lending re-branded as a unit of the Virgin Empire. You should check out their site at www.virginmoneyus.com.
I have been working with Circle Lending for quite a while. For most of the time that I have known them they have been a sleepy little company with a great idea that was hard to communicate to the always cluttered marketplace. In simple terms, Virgin Money documents loans between family and friends. When I first heard of their business model I thought that it was an act against nature. Seriously, how many people borrow money from their mother with the intention of actually paying her back? Let alone with interest.
Virgin Money US is counting on lots of people to start making their intrafamily loans legit. So Sir Richard and I got to hang out and discuss the status of AIDS in Africa, the British banking system's need for increased consumer confidence in an unsettled world economic setting and the use of biofuel in his Virgin Atlantic 747's to reduce emissions.
Ok, we didn't reach all the topics that I had hoped to, but he was a charming conversationalist and a genuinely nice human being. Virgin Money is looking to help ordinary Americans get access to sophisticated loan products, including the classic Circle Lending family loans, but also complex loan products that should dramatically change the borrowing landscape and particularly hit the traditional banking business square between the eyes. A wake-up call is just what the American banking industry needs. Loans should be made to people who can pay them back. Real terms for real people. Virgin Money gets it. Richard Branson gets ordinary people. He knows that his brand only has value if it delivers unique and true value to consumers. Richard Branson and Virgin do not fake it.
