Peter Maher: Can Cash-Flow Beat Broken Credit?

When the System Isn’t Built for You

Most entrepreneurs—especially first-generation founders, gig workers, and early-career professionals—know the feeling: you're doing everything right, working hard, managing your money well… but one outdated metric keeps shutting doors.

A credit score.

Peter Maher, CEO leading Ovanti’s U.S. expansion (formerly branded as Float for their BNPL offering), experienced this first-hand. At 19, one naïve financial mistake wrecked his credit and shaped the next decade of his life.

“I was declined for apartments I could afford because my credit score wasn’t good enough,” he recalls. “Credit score is not an indicator of affordability.”

Today, Peter and his team are building a new model that challenges this systemic barrier—one rooted in real cash flow, not decade-old data. For anyone navigating money, building a business, or trying to access basic financial tools, his story hits home.

Why Is the Credit System Failing So Many People?

Across the U.S., over 50% of adults cannot access traditional lending—not because they’re irresponsible, but because credit scoring hasn’t kept up with the workforce, inflation, or modern financial realities.

Peter puts it plainly:

“The majority of the U.S. adult population doesn’t have access to traditional financing… because of the broken credit scoring model.”

This hits especially hard for:

• Gig workers with variable income

• Young adults who haven't built credit

• First-generation professionals navigating the system alone

• People who avoid credit after past hardship

• Entrepreneurs who reinvest their cash rather than maintain “perfect utilization ratios”

  
  

In short: good people, managing their lives well, are locked out of opportunities simply because the system mismeasures them.

How Cash-Flow Based Lending Works

Ovanti’s core philosophy is simple: judge people by their actual financial behavior, not their past.

Instead of retroactive scoring, they use:

• Verified bank account data

• Real-time cash flow analytics

• Patterns of deposits vs withdrawals

• Account age and stability

• Spending rhythm and average daily balance

  
  

This model allows them to approve the half of America that traditional lenders ignore.

“We’re the first buy-now-pay-later that judges consumers based on their actual affordability and cash flow circumstance.”

It’s finance that reflects how real people live today—not 20 years ago.

Why Trust Is the Hardest Currency to Earn

Even the best innovation hits a wall of skepticism—especially in finance.

Consumers have been promised “better options” before, only to be hit with hidden fees or predatory terms later. Peter acknowledges this head-on:

“People have been given false promises… One of our biggest hurdles is proving we really are different.”

This is where Peter’s leadership DNA shows. His decades of relationship-building in fintech directly accelerated Ovanti’s launch:

“When we hit go, we had people on the other end who would take our call. That alone accelerated our growth by months.”

Trust compounds. And for founders, credibility is often the real competitive edge.

Founder Reality Check: What Early-Stage Entrepreneurship Actually Feels Like

Peter doesn’t sugarcoat the chaos:

“It’s 24/7. For every obstacle you solve, two or three more are waiting.”

From funding setbacks to technical forks in the road (build vs buy), and from skeptical partners to banks unwilling to “give founders the float they’re giving customers,” the journey is messy.

But he offers two powerful founder lessons:

1. Don’t Boil the Ocean

If you're building something meaningful—whether it’s a fintech model or your own career pivot—thinking about the entire journey will crush you.

“Just focus on the next milestone… Find the next corner and get there.”

This mindset applies equally to:

• Early-career professionals learning new skills

• Gig workers scaling a side hustle

• First-generation entrepreneurs building from scratch

• Startup founders fighting uncertainty

Think micro-steps, not master plans.

2. Your Team Must Be Mission-Driven

In early stages, everyone wears multiple hats.The founder’s role is to keep the mission visible:

“You have to remind them what the ultimate destination is.”

This matters for inclusion: diverse teams often juggle extra responsibilities—caregiving, immigration stress, side jobs. Clear purpose helps unify people with different backgrounds and lived experiences.

Can Innovation Avoid Exploitation?

This is where Peter’s philosophy stands out, especially for readers concerned about ethical tech:

“Innovation does not have to mean exploitation.”

It’s a bold stance in a sector where fees, penalties, and predatory practices are normalized. Ovanti’s mission is not just financial access, but responsible access.

For underrepresented entrepreneurs and workers who’ve traditionally been exploited by financial products, this shift matters.

What Can Readers Learn from Peter’s Journey?

1. Your Past Doesn’t Dictate Your Financial Future

A single mistake at 18 or 19 shouldn’t define a lifetime.But you can redefine the game by choosing models that reflect the present, not the past.

2. Use Your Relationships as Strategic Capital

If you’ve built credibility—especially across diverse life experiences—it becomes your most valuable asset.

3. Focus on One Step at a Time

This applies whether you're:

• Building a startup

• Switching careers

• Managing inconsistent cash flow

• Returning to the workforce

• Scaling a freelance business

  
  

Next step → next corner → next horizon.

4. When You Build, Build With Purpose

If your idea succeeds, who does it help?

Who does it protect?

Who does it empower?

Impact starts with intention.

Conclusion: The Future Belongs to Real-Time Affordability

Peter’s story isn’t just about fintech—it’s about fairness, second chances, and designing models that serve real people.

For anyone frustrated by outdated systems—credit scoring, gate-kept industries, or rigid career pathways—this message resonates:

You’re not broken.

The system is.

And better models are being built.

Challenge for the reader:Identify one area of your financial or entrepreneurial life where you're still reacting to old metrics or outdated “rules.” What would your next step look like if you measured yourself by present capability—not past mistakes?