A thriving community focused on customer-centered embedded lending
We enable lenders and merchants of every size elevate their brand, expand their customer base, and power new business growth through embedded lending and point-of-sale financing.
Read on to learn more about why we were founded, and what makes us who we are.
LOANSTAR BY THE NUMBERS
$1.2 billion in total funding during 2023.
60+ lender clients and growing every day.
8,000 merchant relationships.
12 fintech
partnerships.
The LoanStar story.
LoanStar Technologies was established in 2015 by Andy Turner and Craig Haynes. Our founders aimed to revolutionize banking technology after recognizing a hole in the market—financial institutions preferred their branding on products and wanted control over loan underwriting and servicing. The duo then developed what is now the MerchantLinQ platform. Today, we are proud to offer an innovative system that allows lenders of every size to offer instant point-of-sale finance through local merchants, while connecting to existing bank systems.
At first facing initial resistance due to banking industry regulations, Andy, Craig, and their new team built credibility by assembling a network of lenders. Our Chief Software Architect, Frank Schafer, and Executive Product Manager, Donna Wishnie, played crucial roles in creating a compliance-friendly platform on a limited budget during the company’s infancy. Initially targeting home improvement lending, LoanStar capitalized on a $350 billion annual market. Over eight years, our team has enabled lenders to diversify loan origination strategies—offering competitive rates against high-interest loans and credit cards. With nearly 70 lenders in our network, we are proud to be a recognized entity in the lending space today.
Despite challenging market conditions throughout our company journey, LoanStar’s robust business model has sustained significant loan adoption. Our team now focuses on scaling operations by refining acquisition strategies, maintaining customer relations, and expanding into new markets. Here at LoanStar, we are committed to excellence and continue to ensure the company remains a trailblazer in the financial technology landscape.
Our client community demonstrates the strength and versatility of our embedded lending solution.
Today we’re proud to support 60+ lenders and leverage 8,000+ merchant relationships.
Embracing the power of partnership to advance our mission.
We believe in the power of community, which is why we actively embrace partnerships that help us strengthen our offerings and advance our mission. Meet our technology partners, who share our commitment to great technology and customer-first service.
Meet our leadership team.
Our winning culture begins at the top. LoanStar’s leadership team includes seasoned financial professionals and technologists who are passionate about embedded lending, point-of-sale finance, and customer success.
David Haslam is the Chief Operations Officer at LoanStar Technologies. His deep FinTech experience includes executive roles at NCR/Digital Insight, Fiserv, Intuit, and Apiture. His knowledge has been instrumental in building operations that deliver amazing support, powerful customer engagement, and strategic services that focus on wowing our customers. His contributions are crucial to our operation’s future scalability.
David Haslam
Chief Operating Officer
Eric Snyder is the Chief Revenue Officer at LoanStar Technologies. Prior to working at LoanStar, he was a critical part of the success that Splash Financial has had with credit unions in Fintech lending and led sales for Temenos USA. He was a member of the executive team at Akcelerant Software where he created one of the best-known brands for quality and customer satisfaction. Eric’s ability to navigate large strategic sales and partnerships, while juggling and scaling a sales organization is second to none. He is passionate about developing relationships that grow exponentially, and genuinely thinks of partners as his friends.
Eric Snyder
Chief Revenue Officer
Scott Stiegler is the Chief Financial Officer at LoanStar Technologies. He brings over 25 years of finance and accounting experience to LoanStar, having started his career in public accounting before moving on to be an investment banker in the financial technology sector and then most recently leading corporate development for a global financial technology company. He brings a strong operational mindset having previously led global mergers and acquisitions, corporate venture capital efforts, and finance teams. As CFO, Stiegler is responsible for overseeing the company’s financial strategy and operations.
Scott Stiegler
Chief Finance Officer
Donna Wishnie is LoanStar’s Chief Product Officer. She leads the product organization and oversees the maintenance and development of LoanStar’s MerchantLinQ platform. Her extensive experience in operations and analytics aids our team in defining product requirements and developing new products.
Donna Wishnie
Chief Product Officer
Meet our board members.
Boasting years of fintech experience, LoanStar’s board members recognize the value in our technology and work to push continual growth to the benefit of our partners and customers.
Andy Turner is the Chief Executive Officer of LoanStar Technologies. Andy is a software management professional with substantial product management, sales, and implementation experience. He possesses a high focus on generating creative new solutions to automate processes and facilitate communication. Andy’s vision, direction, and leadership are the driving force behind LoanStar’s success.
Andrew Turner
Chief Executive Officer
Craig Haynes is the President and Chief Innovation Officer of LoanStar Technologies. He accumulated 15 years of experience at TD Bank in various roles directly engaged with vendors in retail automotive, RV, powersports and marine. In his previous role, Craig was responsible for building out a dedicated Recreational Products finance program and hiring a national sales team to support the TD Auto Finance expansion into the recreational products markets. As the Chief Innovation Officer, Craig’s multifaceted role is highly conducive to business development and sales creative side, whether it be advertising, marketing or product design.
Craig Haynes
Chief Innovation Officer
Mark Brewer is a Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Launch Credit Union in Merritt Island, Florida. In this role, Mark leads the Information Technology and Project Management teams. He is also the Chief Executive Officer of Launch CUSO Holdings, LLC., a wholly owned subsidiary of Launch Credit Union.
Mark Brewer
Board Member, CUSO CEO
Scott Stuart is a Founding and Managing Partner of Sageview Capital, a growth equity firm with over $1.5 billion under management that partners with leading tech-enabled businesses with ambitious management teams to help create industry leaders. In his role, Mr. Stuart is responsible for all aspects of Sageview’s business and sits on the firm’s Investment and Portfolio Committees.
Scott Stuart
Founding Partner Sageview Capital
Become part of LoanStar’s mission.
Interested in advancing your career while making a meaningful impact on local and national communities? Check out our careers page for current job openings.