Rent-A-Center Unveils New Digital Platform to Accelerate Growth as the Lease-to-Own Landscape Evolves

Rent-A-Center, Inc. (the "Company" or "Rent-A-Center") (NASDAQ/NGS: RCII) has begun an exciting new chapter for its virtual business with the launch of a new platform to unlock shopping power and choice for underserved consumers. The new platform is from Preferred Dynamix, a leading lease-to-own (LTO) fintech company and business of Rent-A-Center, Inc. It will include a mobile application and marketplace to empower unbanked and underbanked consumers with more financial freedom. At the same time, the platform will enable retailers and consumer brands to access an extensive customer base for LTO to drive incremental sales in this unprecedented business environment.

Preferred Dynamix and its set of solutions, including the Preferred Lease arm, unlock the shopping power and choice for underserved consumers. Today, according to The Federal Reserve, more than 60 million Americans are considered unbanked or underbanked. These consumers do not have access to traditional financing or a trusted digital ecosystem to shop for the items they want when they want them. Preferred Dynamix’s proprietary digital platform leverages new decisioning technology and a portfolio of new lease-to-own solutions to expand the ways that consumers and retailers transact.

“Throughout 2020, we have seen dramatic increases in consumer demand for frictionless, virtual retail shopping experiences,” said Mitch Fadel, Chief Executive Officer, Rent-A-Center. “The new Preferred Dynamix business is uniquely positioned to connect a significant market of potential shoppers to the retail opportunities they desire through our proprietary mobile and online LTO solutions.”

• Preferred Digital is the mobile application, released first in a stream of features and functions to hit the market, facilitating LTO transactions on a broad scale across participating retailers. Consumers can download the application today in Apple’s App Store or Google Play and, if eligible, get approved in as few as 30 seconds to receive access to up to $4,000 in shopping power that Preferred Dynamix will apply toward purchasing eligible consumer goods from a variety of retailers. Preferred Dynamix will then lease the selected goods to the consumers under a flexible LTO transaction.

• Preferred Marketplace, when launched, is planned to be one of the largest integrated e-commerce platforms for LTO transactions that enable consumers to select the eligible items they want from any U.S. retailers – beyond Preferred Dynamix’s retail partners - and lease them from Preferred Dynamix without needing to complete the transaction on the individual retailer’s website.

“We want to eliminate the hurdles and level the playing field for unbanked and underbanked consumers and change the relationship they have with the household, electronic, and everyday items they want most. This large segment of our society has long desired more flexibility and options when they shop but haven’t had the right digital solutions, decisioning technology, and level of shopping power that match their needs and circumstances,” said Jason Hogg, Executive Vice President, Preferred Dynamix. “Preferred Dynamix is meeting a need that will ultimately create a stronger, more trusted shopping relationship between consumer and retailer that simplifies the transactional experience for consumers, reduces the upfront risk for retailers, and allows the consumer to obtain access to the high quality desired items under a LTO transaction.”