Boulder-based Neat Capital has announced they are offering a $500 discount on home financing to applicants who’ve received the COVID-19 vaccine.
Borrowers can present any digital or electronic picture that shows a vaccination record, and applicants are eligible regardless of vaccine manufacturer or number of doses received. Neat Capital has offered to cover costs such as transportation and childcare for applicants who want to be vaccinated but have been unable to do so. Applicants who are unvaccinated because of health or religious reasons are also eligible.
Companies like Budweiser and Krispy Kreme have been offering incentives to customers with proof of vaccination, but Neat Capital is the first financial services company to do so.
As the pace of vaccinations has dropped nationwide, Bob Bollinger, a professor of infectious diseases at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said incentives may become more important in increasing the number of vaccinated people.
Incentives have long been used to encourage healthy behaviors, and have been shown to be effective. “I think that incentivization for a desired public health behavior is absolutely appropriate and has been actually shown to be already [effective] in the vaccine campaign,” said Monica Gandhi, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine.
The move may also prove to be good PR for the company. An April report from Morning Consult showed that consumers were more likely to feel favorably towards brands offering vaccine incentives than unfavorably, even among those hesitant to get the shot themselves. If potential borrowers appreciate the gesture, they may consider Neat Capital for their next loan.