![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Yendo-Kevin-Bird-and-CMO-NIzar.jpg\")
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Yendo’s new Chief Product Officer Kevin Bird, left, and CMO NIzar Rana. [Photos: Yendo]<\/p>\n
Yendo\u2014a Dallas company offering the \u201cfirst-ever\u201d credit card secured by its customers\u2019 vehicles\u2014has appointed Kevin Bird as chief product officer and Nizar Rana as chief marketing officer. The hires come at a key inflection point for the company with the launch of its new unsecured card, which completes its innovative credit card suite, and a stronger focus on using AI to help \u201cmain street Americans\u201d access financial services, Yendo said.<\/p>\n
With decades of experience scaling consumer fintech products to tens of millions of customers, Bird and Rana\u2019s combined expertise, including Bird\u2019s hands-on experience building AI applications, equips Yendo to grow its platform and speed its use of AI to streamline lending decisions, lower the cost of services, and pass those savings directly back to customers in better rates and faster access to credit, the company said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMain street consumers have never had a real menu of options when it comes to borrowing\u2014they either accept high cost, low borrowing power, or go without,\u201d said Yendo Co-Founder and CEO Jordan Miller.<\/p>\n
\u201cKevin and Nizar have spent their careers building financial products that actually work for people the system has overlooked,\u201d Miller added in a statement. \u201cAs we complete our card suite and look toward the next phase of growth, their leadership will be essential to putting these products in front of every American who deserves a better option.\u201d<\/p>\n
AI-powered lending lowers cost and speeds approval<\/p>\n
Bird joins Yendo from Elicit, an AI-powered research platform where he led the product from pre-revenue to serving marquee customers including Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, Google, and others. Prior to Elicit, Bird spent eight years at Nubank, the world\u2019s largest neobank, as its first product manager, helping boost the company from 45,000 customers to more than 60 million and growing the product organization to over 300 product managers.<\/p>\n
\u201cAI is a genuine unlock for what we\u2019re building at Yendo,\u201d said Bird. \u201cLegacy lenders rely on outdated infrastructure and bloated cost structures that make serving nonprime consumers feel like a risk they can\u2019t afford to take. By using AI to streamline lending decisions and drive down our cost to serve, we can offer this demographic something they\u2019ve rarely been given\u2014competitive rates, fast approvals, and a product that actually works in their favor. That\u2019s what gets me excited about joining Yendo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Proud to help tell that story\u2019<\/p>\n
Most recently, Rana served as head of growth at OnePay, one of the largest consumer fintechs in the country, where he led growth and helped scale banking services to millions of customers. Previously, Rana managed a $150 million acquisition budget at LendingClub and held marketing leadership roles at Metromile and Wells Fargo, after beginning his career as a business analyst at Capital One.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis product genuinely doesn\u2019t exist anywhere else\u2014no one else is offering nonprime consumers a real choice between secured, asset-backed, and unsecured credit, all with fair pricing and no predatory fees,\u201d said Rana. \u201cMy job is to make sure the tens of millions of Americans who need these products know they exist. Yendo is doing this the right way, and I\u2019m proud to help tell that story.\u201d<\/p>\n
Financial partner to underserved Americans<\/p>\n
The two appointments are part of Yendo strengthening its leadership bench to support its next phase of growth, the company said. With Bird leading product and Rana driving marketing, the company said that it is equipped to grow its platform and achieve its goal of \u201cbecoming the most trusted financial partner for nonprime Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last fall, Yendo announced a $50 million Series B funding round<\/a> that included investors Spice Expeditions, Autotech Ventures, FPV Ventures, Pelion Venture Partners, Mark Cuban, and Clocktower Technology Ventures, among others. The company landed the new funding to accelerate its expansion beyond secured lending to build an \u201cAI-powered digital bank\u201d for the millions of Americans underserved by traditional financial institutions.<\/p>\n As inflation and rising debt levels continue to squeeze household budgets, Yendo said it\u2019s redoubling its efforts to make affordable, intelligent credit more accessible to the people who need it most.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t miss what\u2019s next. Subscribe\u00a0to\u00a0Dallas\u00a0Innovates.<\/p>\n Track Dallas-Fort Worth\u2019s business and innovation landscape with our curated news in your inbox Tuesday-Thursday.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \tR E A D\u00a0\u00a0 N E X T\t<\/p>\n \t Ash Spiegelberg will work with Disruptive’s founder and CEO Alex Davis and the global team on refining strategy, investing, and close engagement with portfolio companies and their founders.<\/p>\n Since joining the nonprofit in 2015, Dawn Townsend has played a pivotal role in advancing the organization’s mission and visibility, originally leading its marketing and communications efforts, the foundation said.<\/p>\n \t Rebecca Cottrell will support strategic alignment in governance, talent, and business priorities as RGP continues to execute its strategy and guide clients in positive transformation, the Dallas-based firm said.<\/p>\n \t James Franks returns to Unleashed Brands after serving as Head of Franchise Growth for WellBiz Brands. During his previous stint with Unleashed Brands, he helped grow franchise recruitment efforts throughout the platform, awarding more than 330 franchise locations and supporting the company’s evolution into a multi-brand youth enrichment organization.<\/p>\n \t Alena Brenner will oversee all legal, risk management, government affairs, compliance, corporate social responsibility, and insurance functions for the Irving-based company, and serve as the primary legal advisor to the Builders FirstSource board.<\/p>\n \t With 30 years of hospital pharmacy leadership experience, Rick Couldry\u2019s deep expertise will help ensure Omnicell\u2019s solutions reflect real-world clinical and operational needs with the goal of improving outcomes in complex care environments, the Fort Worth-based company said.<\/p>\n Russell Weaver will lead Embark’s talent acquisition and people strategy, guiding the optimization of people, process, and technology for faster hiring, excellent quality of talent, and diversity within the firm’s growing workforce, Embark said.<\/p>\n \t Tyler Affolter will oversee Plano-based Diversified\u2019s commercial organization, helping to boost growth across the company\u2019s established media, collaboration, and digital signage businesses while utilizing core strengths to expand in broadcast and experiential AV.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ash-Spiegelberg-chief-strategy-officer-at-Disruptive-Photo-Disruptive.jpeg\")
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