Enerflo Announces Strategic Partnership with OneEthos, Powered by Climate First Bank
'This collaboration between Enerflo and OneEthos represents a major leap forward in making affordable solar financing the new standard.' — Marcio deOliveira, Founder & CEO of OneEthos
HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA, CA, UNITED STATES, April 10, 2025 / EINPresswire.com / -- Enerflo, the premier residential solar sales and installation software platform, has announced a strategic partnership with OneEthos, powered by Climate First Bank, to transform the solar financing and installation experience. OneEthos provides solar installers and homeowners with access to the nation's most ethical solar financing platform and is one of the only fintechs in the United States regulated by the Federal Reserve Bank. This collaboration enables residential solar installers and homeowners across the nation to benefit from a seamlessly integrated and affordable financing solution - helping accelerate the transition to a more sustainable future.
Through this partnership, Enerflo users can offer homeowners access to solar financing with no dealer fees, a 30.5-year term*, and no prepayment penalties, making it the most affordable ethical solar financing option in the nation. Loan origination and processing are provided by Climate First Bank, the world's first FDIC-insured digital community bank founded to combat the climate crisis, and the fastest growing new bank in the United States since 2009. This integration simplifies the financing process for installers while ensuring homeowners receive affordable solar loan options. Financing is available to all Enerflo partners now - Enerflo partners can access the offering by becoming an approved installer with OneEthos.
Key Benefits for Installers and Homeowners
No Dealer Fees Means Affordable Solar Financing
OneEthos never charges a dealer fee, saving your client up to 30% when financing solar and making the product the most affordable on the market. OneEthos also boasts no prepayment penalties and a 30.5-year term* - maximizing affordability and long-term savings.
Affordable Solar from Day One
By eliminating dealer fees from project costs which can add up to 30% to the cost of solar, the 30.5-year* loan is designed to lower monthly payments, making solar more accessible than ever before. In many cases, homeowners start saving on day one, making it one of the most cost-effective loan options available.
Faster Approvals & 100% Financing
Enerflo's seamless integration with OneEthos eliminates friction in the loan process—installers can offer 100% financing, and most homeowners receive real-time loan decisions in as little as 30 seconds, accelerating project timelines.
Streamlined Sales & Install Experience
Installers using Enerflo benefit from an all-in-one sales and installation workflow, removing inefficiencies that typically delay solar projects. The financing process is now built directly into the Enerflo sales platform, reducing administrative work and keeping projects moving.
Nationwide Network of Vetted Installers
Homeowners can choose from a trusted network of accredited solar installers, ensuring quality installations that align with the mission of sustainable, responsible energy adoption.
Driving a More Sustainable Future, Together
'We're excited to partner with OneEthos, powered by Climate First Bank to make affordable solar financing more accessible,' said Spencer Oberan, Co-Founder of Enerflo. 'This integration allows installers to focus on what they do best—delivering solar solutions and closing deals—while giving homeowners a seamless and affordable financing experience.'
'This collaboration between Enerflo and OneEthos represents a major leap forward in making affordable solar financing the new standard,' said Marcio deOliveira, Founder & CEO of OneEthos. 'Our model provides the nation's most competitive ethical solar financing program and together, we're empowering installers to provide their clients with an affordable lending option, creating a more sustainable future for all.'
Beyond the technology, the partnership will also include community outreach and education initiatives to drive awareness about sustainable energy solutions and their role in fighting the climate crisis.
*As an example, on a $80,000 loan a homeowner might pay $586.96 per month over 366 months at 8.00% APR. Loans are provided by Climate First Bank, Member FDIC, and are subject to credit check and approval.
About Enerflo
Enerflo is the only Lead-to-PTO, open API Solar Platform, designed to streamline operations for Residential Solar Installers, EPCs, and Sales Dealers. By cutting soft costs, reducing project timelines, and automating workflows, Enerflo helps solar companies deploy more solar efficiently.
Enerflo connects the entire solar sales and installation process into one cohesive, data-driven platform, optimizing lead management, proposals, financing, permitting, and installation. As the backbone of top solar providers, Enerflo powers billions of dollars in solar sales, delivering a fully connected workflow from lead to PTO.
For more information, visit: www.enerflo.com.
About OneEthos
OneEthos is a Certified B Corp, mission-driven fintech company. The company operates at the intersection of financial technology (fintech) and traditional banking with the objective to accelerate the delivery of sustainable and inclusive financial services to all segments of the population. OneEthos is one of the only fintech companies specializing in climate finance in the United States and regulated by the Federal Reserve Bank. The company's mission is to enable Community Banks, Credit Unions, CDFIs, and Green Banks to grow their loan portfolios profitably and responsibly, providing access to banking products and services that have a positive impact on people, communities and the environment.
For more information, please visit: www.oneethos.com.
About Climate First Bank
Recognized as one of the fastest-growing banks in the country, Climate First Bank is the world's first FDIC-insured, values-based, digital community bank founded to combat the climate crisis. A Certified B Corp, 1% for the Planet member, and operationally net-zero since it opened its doors in June 2021, the Bank offers a complete, full-service portfolio of simple and easy-to-use traditional banking products powered by technology to meet the expectations of today's consumers. In addition to offering standard banking services, the company places a special emphasis on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and businesses committed to sustainability. Eco-conscious customers will find dedicated loan options for solar photovoltaic (PV), energy retrofits and infrastructure to help combat the climate crisis. The Bank reports annually on its impact in line with corporate social responsibility goals; read the most recent Impact Report here. Member FDIC.
Visit us on social media:
YouTube
Legal Disclaimer:
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
Making sense of the ‘crazy quilt' of financial regulators
This story was originally published on Banking Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Banking Dive newsletter. As the U.S. bank regulatory system has grown throughout history, so have calls to simplify it. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan this year lamented 'the spaghetti chart of overlap' among bank regulators and reiterated suggestions from big-bank executives that it's time to 'start with a fresh sheet of paper.' The bank regulatory system is a fragmented, complex web that involves a host of national and state agencies focused on lenders operating safely and soundly. Despite periodic efforts to consolidate functions, the general framework is likely here to stay, many observers said. Each federal agency supervises banks under different charter types. National banks are supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; state member banks are supervised by the Federal Reserve and state bank regulators; and state non-member banks are supervised by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and state regulators. The Fed's purview also extends to bank holding companies and foreign bank offices in the U.S., among other entities. Additionally, the FDIC manages deposit insurance and failed bank resolutions, while the Fed handles monetary policy and serves as the lender of last resort. While the framework offers banks choice and fosters competition among regulators, it's a system that's tough to figure out if you're new to it. 'If you were to start it from scratch, you wouldn't want it this way,' said Konrad Alt, co-founder of financial services advisory and investing firm Klaros Group. How did America's banking system get here? Federal banking agencies were created in response to crises, where Congress has perceived gaps in oversight. Many agree consolidation is a good idea, even if they differ on the details. 'But the forces of the status quo are strong,' Alt said. One wild card may be the Trump administration. Reports have surfaced that the White House is looking to consolidate bank regulators (something conservative blueprint Project 2025 called for) without congressional involvement, or transfer employees to different agencies following workforce cuts. At the very least, the administration has sought to slash jobs and consolidate offices within the banking agencies, leaving some on the brink of existence. The genesis of why there are so many bank regulators is essentially 'trying to understand how the government is managing financial risk,' said Sean Vanatta, a senior lecturer in financial history and policy at the University of Glasgow and co-author of 'Private Finance, Public Power: A History of Bank Supervision in America.' The federal prudential regulators are: The OCC, a bureau of the Treasury Department, was created in 1863, with the National Currency Act. That law was 'a response to the mishmash of local banks, local money, and conflicting regulatory standards that prevailed before the Civil War,' according to the OCC. It created a new type of federally chartered bank that would float bond offerings to finance the Civil War. But the chartering focus – creating banks and enforcing the rules under which banks operate – didn't provide an effective means of combating crisis. The comptroller didn't have a balance sheet, so it couldn't provide liquidity to financial markets, and it was difficult to oversee the thousands of banks that were created across the U.S. The Fed was established in 1913 by the Federal Reserve Act, creating a network of reserve banks in large cities and a board of governors in Washington, D.C. The idea was the Fed would focus on central banking and liquidity as a way to manage financial risk distinct from what the OCC or state banking agencies were doing. But during the Great Depression, 'it becomes clear that together those two models aren't really working effectively to prevent crisis,' Vanatta said. The FDIC was created through the Banking Act of 1933, after thousands of banks failed in the 1920s and early 1930s. President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought to reassure depositors their money would be safe in banks, teeing up the national system of deposit insurance. While the three regulators were initially seen as alternatives, the U.S. took the position after the Great Depression that central banking, deposit insurance and chartering institutions – whether the OCC or the states – were all needed. 'It's that kind of repeated process of adopting a risk management framework that's sort of narrow, and that framework on its own not working effectively enough to prevent financial crisis,' resulting in the current system, Vanatta said. Predating all of this is state supervision of banks, going back to the early 19th century. Today, it's a disparate group, since some state bank regulators oversee a large number of banks, while others provide oversight for far fewer banks. 'It is a crazy quilt design that is the product of historical accident, and we're probably going to stick with it,' said Patricia McCoy, a law professor at Boston College and a former assistant director at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB is another financial regulator, though focused on the consequences to consumers rather than the functions of banking itself. Additionally, there's the Securities and Exchange Commission to consider. And the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. The National Credit Union Administration regulates, charters and supervises federal credit unions. There's overlap across the system, but that's been established by Congress, not the agencies themselves. For banks, the compliance cost of that regulatory overlap can be enormous. BofA's Moynihan noted this year 'there's 100-plus regulators in our building every day.' There's always been pressure around bank regulatory consolidation. Such efforts tend to recur every 15 to 20 years going back to the 1950s, Alt said. The creation of the Fed, for example, prompted questions about the need to keep the OCC, in part because that move revoked the currency focus for the comptroller. And state versus federal chartering creates different incentives to loosen or strengthen rules as the states and federal government compete over bank charters. But consolidation efforts, thus far, have fallen short. Alt can testify to that: While a staffer on the Senate Banking Committee, he spent two years working on legislation to consolidate regulators; it garnered bipartisan support in the House and Senate in the early 1990s, but ultimately wasn't passed. The bank regulatory system 'works adequately, and therefore the case for reform isn't all that compelling,' Alt said. 'It's strong, logical, but it's not urgent.' Pursuing formal consolidation would require congressional action, and therein lies a challenge to proposed reforms. 'Even members of Congress who agree that federal banking legislation should be streamlined may not be able to agree on how to do that,' said Karen Solomon, senior of counsel at law firm Covington & Burling and former OCC official. Some 21st-century considerations around consolidation involve isolating bank supervision within the OCC, retaining central banking functions at the Federal Reserve, and maintaining the FDIC's role as deposit insurer. The need for both state and national chartering is less obvious to some. Others see an opportunity to consolidate all state-chartered banks under a single federal regulator. An exception among past failed attempts: The Office of Thrift Supervision, which supervised savings and loans institutions, was abolished as part of the Dodd-Frank Act. Congress rolled some of OTS' functions into the OCC and others into the CFPB. Merging functions, however, comes with its own considerations, including innovation versus risk and independence from politics. There are benefits to the current system, including diversity of perspectives and objectives, observers said. 'There's value in having focused risk managers who adopt these different frameworks,' Vanatta said. The banking system largely isn't interested in a single regulator with concentrated power. Competition among various bank regulators is healthy and keeps the system on its toes, said Michael Hsu, former acting head of the OCC. It's an issue that can pit large banks against small: Bigger banks tend to be annoyed by the plethora of regulators, but smaller banks like the choice, Hsu said. 'It does feel like Hamilton versus Jefferson,' he said during a June Brookings event. 'That tension's always been there.' And the resources required to stay on top of such a large and complicated banking system demand a sizable apparatus. There's a comfort factor, too: Consolidation attempts fail 'because individual institutions want things the way they are,' said Karen Petrou, managing partner at Federal Financial Analytics. There are, to some degree, captive regulators 'everybody's quite comfortable with,' and arbitrage opportunities between national and state charters that banks don't want to lose, she added. Consolidation also presents the possibility that surviving regulators have to split their focus. If FDIC banks were moved under OCC supervision, for example, 'if you're the OCC, where are you going to focus your attention?' said Matthew Bisanz, a partner at the law firm Mayer Brown focused on financial regulation. 'Are you going to focus it on these 4,000 little banks and their unique needs of elder abuse, and branches, and agricultural lending?' Bisanz said. 'Or are you going to focus it on the eight money center banks, the failure of any one could bring down the country?' With sizable staff cuts at banking agencies – including apparent attempts to all but shut down the CFPB – 'it's clearly the intent of the Trump administration to merge agencies,' said Peter Dugas, executive director at consulting firm Capco. The Trump administration, amid broader efforts to shrink the size of the federal government, has moved 'quickly and aggressively' to modify organizational and staffing models for the agencies, Dugas said. That development points to more unknowns. Given the administration's propensity to attempt major actions by executive order, it's possible the White House may try to realize consolidation that way. Most likely, observers said, is that the Trump administration pursues cost efficiencies and reduces regulatory burdens to garner similar results to what restructuring could produce. Having Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent act as a sort of 'conductor' over the federal banking agencies appears to be another element to the Trump administration's plans to achieve regulatory reform. 'There is going to be a good deal more coordination amongst the agencies acting as the Treasury Department and thus the White House would like them to act when it comes, at the very least, to regulation and perhaps also supervision,' and that's unique, Petrou said. Even if consolidation 'seems like an impossible dream' or a massive legislative package not worth pursuing, greater efficiency within the system is needed, said Donald Kohn, who served as vice chair of the Fed from 2006 to 2010. 'There's got to be a way of moving faster, coordinating better, overcoming some of the objection, so that if a risk is identified, it doesn't take three years to identify how to build the resilience against that risk,' Kohn said during the Brookings event. 'We need to make it more effective and efficient if we're going to keep all those agencies.' Consolidation can also be reframed as a chance to capitalize on various agencies' core strengths to enhance supervision, said Sarah Bloom Raskin, a law professor at Duke University and Biden administration nominee to be the Fed's vice chair for supervision, during the Brookings event. Discussions around the bank regulator framework are likely to continue, and that's a good thing, observers said. 'It is a mistake to just assume that they're working and that they're working effectively,' Vanatta said. '[But] it's better to ask those questions and make decisions – informed decisions – rather than just coming in with a chainsaw, carving things up and hoping for the best.' Sign in to access your portfolio
CNBC
15 hours ago
- CNBC
For United flyers, The New United Quest Card is offering its best-ever 100,000-mile welcome bonus
After an overhaul of the United credit cards earlier this year, The New United Quest℠ Card (see rates and fees) is now offering its best-ever welcome bonus. New cardholders can earn 100,000 United MileagePlus® bonus miles 3,000 Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) after spending $4,000 on qualifying purchases in the first three months of opening an account. While the exact value of your United MileagePlus miles might vary since United uses dynamic pricing on their reward flights, 100,000 points can still give you plenty of choices when cashing in. Plus, the card's numerous statement credits and perks for United travelers gives you a stack of miles upfront and a headstart toward earning United Premier® status. Here's who benefits the most from The New United Quest Card. On Chase's site On Chase's site Good to Excellent670–850 20.49% - 28.99% variable $350 Earn 100,000 bonus miles See rates and fees. Terms apply. Member FDIC. If you're not interested in United Club lounge access, you'll appreciate the United Quest℠ Card's array of credits and perks that can save you money and enhance your United travel you're a loyal United Airlines flyer, this card's for you, offering up to 8X miles on United purchases, free checked bags for you and one companion, plus a United travel credit. In addition to the welcome bonus of 100,000 United MileagePlus bonus miles and 3,000 PQP, the New United Quest Card also offers these perks for travelers: In addition to the above, you can also earn up to 18,000 PQPs each calendar year through spending, earning 1 PQP for every $20 spent on your New United Quest Card. The card comes with several travel protections, including trip cancellation and interruption insurance, plus lost luggage reimbursement. There's Visa Signature Concierge service available 24/7 to find you anything, from event tickets to dinner reservations, as well as purchase protection covering you for 120 days from purchase. The 3,000 PQP that's part of the welcome bonus helps accelerate you towards earning elevated United MileagePlus Premier status. The first level, Premier Silver, requires 5,000 PQP, and for the highest level of Premier 1K®, you must have 28,000 PQP. You can also qualify for elevated status with a combination of qualifying flights and qualifying points. If you're not loyal to only United, you're better off with a general travel rewards credit card where your points can be transferred to a number of different airlines. With the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees), you'll earn Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, which can be transferred to 14 different travel partners, including Southwest Airlines and Virgin Atlantic. The card offers 5X on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠ and 2x on other travel purchases, plus up to $50 in statement credits each account anniversary for hotel stays through Chase Travel. There's a $95 annual fee. On Chase's site On Chase's site With Points Boost, your rewards will be worth up to 1.5x on thousands of top-booked hotels and flights from select airlines through Chase Travel. Good to Excellent670–850 19.99% - 28.24% variable $95 Earn 75,000 bonus points See rates and fees. Terms apply. Member FDIC. Read our Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card review. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card packs a punch for a $95 annual fee card, offering annual travel credits, comprehensive travel protections and $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card is a $0 annual fee travel card, earning an unlimited 1.25 miles per dollar on every purchase. You can transfer the miles you earn to 15+ different travel partners like JetBlue and Air Canada. You can receive a 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers. Good to Excellent670–850 19.49% - 29.49% variable $0 Earn 20,000 bonus miles Terms apply. Read our Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card review. The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card earns transferrable miles, which is a stand-out benefit for a no-annual-fee card.3% for the first 15 months; 4% at a promotional APR that Capital One may offer you at any other time None Money matters — so make the most of it. Get expert tips, strategies, news and everything else you need to maximize your money, right to your inbox. Sign up here. At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every credit card article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of credit card products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Yahoo
3 Mistakes To Avoid When Choosing a Bank Account, According to Ramit Sethi
If you're looking to open a new bank account to store your savings, you may narrow your options down to two types of accounts: a money market account or a high-yield savings account (HYSA). They have a lot in common — they both generate interest, they both generally allow you easy access to your money and they both, if with a FDIC-backed institution, provide coverage up to $250,000. Find Out: Read Next: But, as financial expert and self-made millionaire Ramit Sethi discussed on his website, I Will Teach You To Be Rich, there are differences between a money market account and a HYSA. For example, the former usually comes with transactional features, like a debit card and/or checkbook, while HYSAs are more exclusively geared toward growing your money. To make the best choice for you and your money, be careful to avoid common mistakes when deciding to open a new money market account or HYSA. When dealing with any transaction or onboarding process, it's so tempting to quickly scroll through all the fine print and just get to the parts where you sign and submit. All that fine print is so repetitive, tedious and dense. But this stuff is important — it's where you'll learn everything about fees and requirements. A financial institution may blast promotional messaging about 'no fees,' but often there's a caveat if you, say, drop below a minimum balance requirement or let your account sit idle with no new deposits. 'Banks often hide important fee information in the account terms and conditions,' Sethi wrote. 'Many people open accounts without understanding how maintenance fees work or what minimum balances they need to maintain. These fees can sneak up if you don't keep the required amount in your account, turning your interest earnings into monthly charges.' If you're not quite grasping what the fine print says, copy the text and paste it into ChatGPT, then ask the AI chatbot to explain it all in simple language, without repetition. When choosing a home for your savings, you need to find the bank account that will (safely, with FDIC backing) give you the highest interest rate. This will most likely be delivered by an online-only bank, not a traditional brick-and-mortar. Banks that operate exclusively online can afford to offer high interest rates because they don't have high infrastructure or overhead costs as traditional banks do. 'Traditional banks often rely on customer loyalty and convenience, offering much lower interest rates than their online competitors,' Sethi said. When searching for a new HYSA or money market account from an online bank, you're going to be blasted with a lot of marketing from banks that suggest they have the best interest rate around. Who really has the best interest rate though, and on what terms? 'Taking a few minutes to compare different online banking options could earn you substantially more interest on your savings,' Sethi wrote. A money market account can act in some ways like a checking account, which is one of its appeals, but at their cores, the two are different beasts. Sethi warned against treating a money market account like a checking account. Doing so could slam you with fees. 'One of the costliest mistakes comes from misusing money market accounts,' Sethi said. 'Despite their check-writing features, these accounts aren't designed for regular transactions. Many people treat them like checking accounts and end up paying fees for exceeding transaction limits.' Understand the ways in which your money market account works not only like a checking account, but like a HYSA. It likely limits the types of transactions, for example, whereas a checking account doesn't. At the end of the day, you may be wondering why your bank accounts, in terms of all the technical fine print, matter so much. Well, ultimately, it's all part of building wealth. Consider Sethi's wisdom here, 'Managing your accounts effectively is just one piece of building a strong financial foundation.' More From GOBankingRates 3 Reasons Retired Boomers Shouldn't Give Their Kids a Living Inheritance (And 2 Reasons They Should) This article originally appeared on 3 Mistakes To Avoid When Choosing a Bank Account, According to Ramit Sethi
