Right before the pandemic hit, the leaders at Eden Prairie-based Ready Credit thought their business was about to fly to new heights. Having generated $19 million in 2019, they were eager and ready to grow.

Through their patented kiosks, ReadySTATION®, Ready Credit loads cash to a Mastercard® or Visa® prepaid debit card. This allows consumers to instantly convert “cash to cards” so they can experience the convenience of electronic payments for rapid and safe transactions.

Nearly every major North American airport has chosen to be cashless. Ready Credit also serves more than 150 sports stadiums, amusement parks, entertainment venues, and more. Their services are especially helpful to the estimated 30% of consumers who are cash dependent and don’t have a credit or debit card. In addition, their clients save money and provide a better transaction experience by not having to process or handle cash while speeding transactions and providing a measure of safety in doing so.

Just as they were gathering speed and adopting new venues, 2020 served up a pandemic and Ready Credit hit turbulence as Covid shut down their growth industries, such as travel, transportation and entertainment venues across the country.

“Basically overnight, all those channels we were growing in nearly shut down”, said Tim Walsh, who founded Ready Credit in 2004. “That created a unique challenge for us.”

The pandemic appeared to threaten everything they had built. But that’s when they turned to their long-time banking partner Crown Bank. The bank supported Ready Credit by offering to consolidate higher-cost debt while deferring principal and interest payments.

“They gave us a lot of relief, which demonstrated they really believed in our business,” Ready Credit President and CEO Brian Hedberg said. “They knew we would get to the other side. We just needed a bridge.”

With Crown Bank behind them, Ready Credit was able to emerge from the pandemic and support a significant stage of growth as they acquired a large number of new customers, made a strategic acquisition and purchased hundreds of new kiosks.

With Crown Bank behind them, Ready Credit was able to emerge from the pandemic and support a significant stage of growth as they acquired a large number of new customers, made a strategic acquisition and purchased hundreds of new kiosks. Again, Crown Bank saw the vision and figured out a way to provide financing to support Ready Credit’s growth needs.

“We knew they had a smart business model and vision for growth and that their unique concept would continue to gain momentum as venues started opening up again,” said Crown Bank Senior Vice President of Commercial Lending, John Welle. “They needed a partner that would share that vision and be able to help them figure out the financing to scale their kiosk inventory.”

“The folks at Crown Bank understood that the pandemic was going to pass. They could see the growth trajectory of our business, both by talking to us and doing their own research,” Hedberg said.

Pictured from left to right: Tim Walsh, Founder of Ready Credit, and President and CEO Brian Hedberg.

Hedberg does not expect growth to slow down anytime soon. As the company’s trajectory travels upward, Hedberg and Walsh said the leaders at Crown Bank serve as true business partners that help with solving problems unique to their company.

“The people at Crown Bank are very forward-thinking,” Hedberg said. “They’re thinking of taking control of the future as opposed to being guided by the past.”

Ready Credit leaders are excited about what is to come for their business. Whether their growth ride feels like a smooth flight, a rollercoaster ride or a game-day celebration, they are ready.

With the help of creative problem solving from Crown Bank, Ready Credit made it through the uncertain year and emerged with a vengeance. Today, the company is poised to bring in $27 million in revenue. They’ve more than tripled the number of kiosks installed around the country, and their staff has grown by 65%.

“We’ve seen a dramatic resurgence in growth this year and it’s gratifying that we were able to emerge from 2020 in a position of strength,” Walsh said. “We couldn’t have done that without the support of Crown Bank.”

At Crown Bank we make the possible, possible. To see more stories about what we do for our customers go to crown-bank.com.

Founded in 2000, Crown Bank is a trusted source for community banking. Crown Bank has been named a top 20 lender nationwide by the Independent Community Bankers of America and “Best Bank” in 2021 by the Edina Sun Current readers.