Anna Serio is a lead editor at Finder, specializing in consumer and business lending. A trusted lending expert and former commercial loan officer, Anna's written more than 1,000 articles on Finder to help Americans strengthen their financial literacy. Her expertise and analysis on personal, student, business and car loans has been featured in Business Insider, CNBC and the Simple Dollar, and she was recognized as an expert contributor in finance by Best Company in 2020. Anna holds an MA in Near and Middle Eastern studies from the American University of Beirut and a BA in creative writing and Arabic from Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College, CUNY.
Expertise
- Personal, business, student and car loans
- Building credit
- Paying off debt
Experience
- Earned Commercial Loan Officer certification in 2020
- Named an Expert Contributor in Finance in 2020 by Best Company
- Author of more than 1,000 articles on personal and business finance
- Featured on Business Insider, CNBC, U.S. News & World Report and other leading media
- Interviewed key stakeholders in the lending industry, including Lendio Founder and CEO Brock Blake, LightStream Senior Vice President Todd Nelson and SoFi CEO Anthony Notto
Education
- Master of Arts, Near and Middle Eastern Studies | American University of Beirut | 2013–2015
- Bachelors of Arts, Creative Writing and Arabic | CUNY Macaulay Honors College, Hunter College | 2008–2012
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Industry insights from Anna Serio
We asked Anna to flex her expertise by answering a few questions about how COVID-19 has changed personal and business lending.
Do you predict a rise in business loans from both banks and online lenders now that multiple vaccines have been developed?
Experts predict that there will be a rise in business lending over the next 12 months. With a tight labor market and relaxed social distancing rules, businesses need to make adjustments to attract talent and a new set of customers.
Will it be easier for people to qualify for credit, now that credit scores have turned obsolete overnight?
The unreliability of credit scores have generally made it more difficult for people to qualify for credit because of the unreliability. In many cases, you still need to have good credit to qualify for a loan. But you also must have the cash flow, healthy spending and savings habits to get a loan. Lenders have also been more selective about who to work with because recovery is still unpredictable.
What are banks doing to protect information as they shift toward operating online?
While it depends on the bank, many have partnered with tech companies like Plaid to protect the information you submit online. Plaid in particular specializes in secure data transfers and is the reason so many banks have been able to shift to online applications during COVID-19. You've already used it if you've Venmo'd a friend for drinks or bought something using Stripe.
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