Consumer finance company Wisr aims to build on its “financial wellness ecosystem” with the appointment of Ben Berger, former head of product at online retailer The Iconic, to the newly created role of chief product officer.

Over the past two years Wisr, which has a A$169 million personal loan book and recently launched a secured car loan, has been developing a range of services under the financial wellness banner as a way of attracting consumers to the brand.

Wellness services include household budgeting advice, access to credit scores and workplace money management tools. Engagement via these services is a “gateway into lending” at “effective acquisition cost levels”, the company says.

Wisr chief executive Anthony Nantes said in a statement that the new role was created to focus on the wellness ecosystem, product management and technology.

The company has created another new role, chief strategy officer, and appointed Lili Sussman to the job. Sussman worked in strategy and innovation roles at Commonwealth Bank and at Social Ventures Australia.

Wisr has ambitious growth plans. Revenue more than doubled last financial year but big increases in wages, marketing costs and finance costs, as well as a big jump in its impairment charge, meant that its losses blew out from $7.7 million in 2018/19 to $23.5 million in the year to June.

In a recent investor presentation, Nantes said the wellness ecosystem was established, with 239,000 “entrants”. Customers introduced through the ecosystem are “2.5 times more likely to settle a loan”.

Berger and Sussman will be responsible for delivering on Nantes’ promise to “aggressively build the Wisr ecosystem to scale”.