News Comments
- Today’s main news: SoFi completes first rated pass-through certificates offering. Y Combinator backs Monzo for U.S. expansion. Funding Circle set for largest securitization. Dianrong shifts strategy. Funding Circle inks 50M Euro deal with Avida Finans. Open raises $30M.
- Today’s main analysis: Chance for recession is rising (A MUST-READ PeerIQ analysis).
- Today’s thought-provoking articles: How Kabbage’s CFO tackles his job. The Nordic fintech revolution. How decentralized finance provides an alternative to traditional lending.
United States
- SoFi completes first rated pass-through certificates offering. SoFi continues to push the envelope on securitizations. The latest is SoFi Alternative Trust 2019-C.
- Y Combinator backs Monzo. With the support Monzo is getting, it’s sure to become a major U.S. competitor.
- The actual risk of a recession. Concerns over a recession are coming from many quarters of the economy, but some of the strongest voices are in the financial sector.
- How the Kabbage CFO uses his experience at Pillsbury, J. Crew to a unicorn. An excellent interview.
- Small business owners are ready for the next recession.
- H&M, Klarna partner in U.S.
- CrowdStreet provides direct investment opportunities.
- MassMutual, CommonBond partner on student debt.
- Ocrolus raises $24 million.
- Citizens Bank is rethinking mobile, online banking.
- Robo-advisors get political.
- Cross River acquires Seed.
- PayActiv documentary sheds light on earned wage access.
- Fintech MX gets $100 million to expand.
- Neighborhood Ventures closes on new investment property.
United Kingdom
- Funding Circle set for largest securitization ever.
- Funding Circle stumbles.
- OakNorth completes 60 million GBP facility.
- Ray Harding to retire, continue volunteer work with P2P lender.
International
- Funding Circle strikes 50 million euro deal with Avida Finans.
- How decentralized finance is taking on traditional lending. This is an excellent read about some key players in decentralized lending.
- The Nordic fintech revolution. Who’s who in Nordic fintech.
- European Union is closer to new crowdfunding rules.
China
APAC
- India: Open raises $30 million. Congratulations!
- Singapore: Prime minister says country is studying virtual bank licenses.
- Australia: RateSetter joins Choice Aggregation Services.
- India: How open banking is disrupting traditional banking. And neo banks are gearing up for it.
- Australia: More on RateSetter.
- Indonesia: Koinworks raises $12 million.
- Australia: SME’s contribution to the economy.
- India: Government should look at alternative finance to solve MSME credit.
- Australia: Technology boosts financial literacy.
- Vietnam: P2P lending environment needs strong government action.
- India: Is fintech reeling under new challenges?
- Indonesia: Alami comes in second in Taqwatech Pitch.
News Summary
- United States
- SoFi Completes First Offering of Rated Pass-Through Certificates (PR Newswire), Rated: AAA
- Y Combinator says Monzo’s community will help it succeed in the US where others have failed (AltFi), Rated: AAA
- Recession Risks; OCC Charter + Big Tech (PeerIQ), Rated: AAA
- How A Former J.Crew And Pillsbury Exec Is Applying His CFO Expertise At A Financial Unicorn (Forbes), Rated: AAA
- Small Business Owners Feel Ready for Next Recession (Business News Daily), Rated: A
- H&M and Klarna Grow Partnership to US (Yahoo! Finance), Rated: A
- This Commercial Real Estate Marketplace Provides Direct Investment Opportunities (TheStreet), Rated: A
- MassMutual, CommonBond Team Up to Tackle Student Debt in the U.S. (Mass Mutual), Rated: A
- Ocrolus Raises $ 24M to Modernize Workflows with a Human Touch (PR Newswire), Rated: A
- How Citizens Bank is rethinking mobile and online banking (American Banker), Rated: A
- Robos are getting political. Will Wall Street follow? (FinancialPlanning), Rated: A
- Cross River gets onboarding system it coveted in fintech deal (American Banker), Rated: A
- “It’s About Time” Documentary Sheds Light on Earned Wage Access (PR Newswire), Rated: A
- Fintech MX gets $ 100 million in funding to expand operations (American Banker), Rated: B
- Neighborhood Ventures Closes on Third Investment Property Near Old Town Scottsdale (Yahoo! Finance), Rated: B
- United Kingdom
- Funding Circle set for its largest ever securitisation (P2P Finance News), Rated: AAA
- FTSE 250 movers: Funding Circle falters (ShareCast), Rated: A
- OakNorth completes £60m facility for three new retirement schemes (Development Finance Today), Rated: A
- Ray Harding to retire as chief executive (Lynn News), Rated: B
- China
- Top Chinese peer-to-peer lender to shift strategy after latest fundraising (ETPrime), Rated: AAA
- Government Asks Victims of P2P Fraud Case to Register for Compensation (Caixin Global), Rated: A
- European Union
- A very Nordic fintech revolution (Pitchbook), Rated: AAA
- EU Moves Closer To New Bloc-Wide Crowdfunding Rules (Law360), Rated: A
- International
- Funding Circle strikes €50m loans deal with Sweden’s Avida Finans (AltFi), Rated: AAA
- How DeFi startups are providing an alternative to traditional lending (Sociable), Rated: AAA
- Australia
- P2P lender expands presence in third-party space (TheAdviser), Rated: AAA
- P2P lender joins aggregator panel (Broker News), Rated: A
- Recognising SMEs’ contribution to the economy (AustralianBroker), Rated: A
- Technology boosting financial literacy (Financial Review), Rated: A
- India
- India’s Open ‘neo-bank’ raises $ 30 million to help businesses automate their finances (TechCrunch), Rated: AAA
- Open Banking is Disrupting the Traditional Banking System and Indian Neo Banks are Gearing up for it (Entrepreneur), Rated: A
- Govt should look at alternative financing option like P2P lending to solve MSMEs’ credit woes (MENAFN), Rated: A
- Is fintech reeling under new challenges? (DNA India), Rated: A
- Asia
- Singapore is ‘actively studying’ virtual banking licences, says country’s prime minister (SCMP), Rated: AAA
- KoinWorks Closes $ 12M In Series B Funding Round (PYMNTS), Rated: A
- Business environment needs strong Gov’t actions: VBF 2019 (Vietnam News), Rated: A
- INDONESIA’S ALAMI COMES IN SECOND IN THE TAQWATECH PITCH PIT (Digital News Asia), Rated: A
United States
SoFi Completes First Offering of Rated Pass-Through Certificates (PR Newswire), Rated: AAA
SoFi announced today that it completed a $200 million offering of post-graduate student loan asset-backed certificates issued by SoFi Alternative Trust 2019-C (SAT 2019-C). The Certificates are rated single-A by DBRS and mark the first rated pass-through certificate transaction issued by SoFi and the first publicly rated student loan pass-through transaction in the securitization market.
Unlike traditional student loan ABS transactions, SAT 2019-C does not use overcollateralization or bond subordination as forms of credit enhancement. The A rating assigned to the certificates by DBRS reflects the strong credit attributes of the borrowers. The portfolio has a weighted average credit score of 783 and a weighted average annual income of $175,746.
Y Combinator says Monzo’s community will help it succeed in the US where others have failed (AltFi), Rated: AAA
Leading US startup backer Y Combinator has become the latest high-profile backer of Monzo, on the eve of the bank’s American expansion.
Today Monzo confirmed it had raised £113m in a round led by Y Combinator’s Continuity fund, along with Latitude, General Catalyst, Stripe, Passion Capital and others.
Recession Risks; OCC Charter + Big Tech (PeerIQ), Rated: AAA
Weak economic data continue – inflation expectations tumble, manufacturing has moved into recession, and the 10y/3m yield curve remains mildly inverted. Although the FOMC took no rate action this week, dovish signaling has led market participants to expect a 70% chance of 3 or more rate cuts in 2019.
CPI Since 1879 During Business Cycles
How A Former J.Crew And Pillsbury Exec Is Applying His CFO Expertise At A Financial Unicorn (Forbes), Rated: AAA
Scott Rosenberg: Kabbage represented a great opportunity for me to apply my prior experiences and help architect the future vision of a fast-growing company. Every role in my career has allowed me to lead or influence multiple divisions within a company, which makes my operational approach similar to that of a COO or General Manager. Beyond leading the CFO office in previous roles, I led Marketing at J. Crew, Operations at Pillsbury and most recently was the President of Purchasing Power. This broad vantage point lets me ensure financial growth as the CFO, but also identify opportunities to establish operational efficiencies more broadly across the organization. I take the same approach at Kabbage as I lead multiple disciplines, including Capital Markets and Legal. It encourages transparency across teams which allows us to move faster. With more than 175,000 customers accessing over $7.0 billion to-date, it’s an exciting role to drive hyper growth and deliver the best products and experiences for U.S. small businesses.
Small Business Owners Feel Ready for Next Recession (Business News Daily), Rated: A
According to a survey released today by Kabbage that polled more than 500 companies across multiple industries, 80% of American entrepreneurs said they felt confident in their readiness to weather another economic crisis.
H&M and Klarna Grow Partnership to US (Yahoo! Finance), Rated: A
H&M and Klarna announced that they have expanded their current partnership agreement to also include the US market, in the development of an unrivalled payments and shopping experience across touchpoints. Together, H&M and Klarna are aiming at further integrating H&M’s digital and physical stores to give customers a seamless, personalised and engaging shopping experience no matter where, when and how they shop.
This Commercial Real Estate Marketplace Provides Direct Investment Opportunities (TheStreet), Rated: A
CrowdStreet, which launched in 2014, is the leading player in the fast-growing field of online commercial real estate investing. The company’s online Marketplace allows individual investors to reap the rewards of investing in the $6 trillion commercial real estate sector, investing in everything from multifamily apartment buildings to self-storage facilities and senior-living centers.
The average return on the first 14 deals financed on CrowdStreet’s platform — those which have fully wrapped up, yielding final returns to investors — is 31.7%, with a 1.6x equity multiple and a holding period of two years.*
MassMutual, CommonBond Team Up to Tackle Student Debt in the U.S. (Mass Mutual), Rated: A
Total student loan debt in the U.S. is now over $1.5 trillion, which prevents many people from passing financial milestones and saving for the future.
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) has teamed up with CommonBond to offer a new student loan refinancing program through CommonBond with a rate advantage to help people take control of their student debt. This program – available online to all individuals with student debt today — is among the first of its kind in the student lending and insurance industries. The program is becoming available on a rolling basis in local communities across the U.S. through MassMutual’s network of financial advisors, currently 9,000 strong.
Ocrolus Raises $ 24M to Modernize Workflows with a Human Touch (PR Newswire), Rated: A
Ocrolus today announced $24M in Series B funding led by Oak HC/FT, a premier venture growth equity fund with deep fintech expertise. Ocrolus is powered by an elegant blend of artificial intelligence and crowdsourced human quality control, enabling firms across the financial sector to automate high-stakes business processes with precision. The company will use its new funding to automate underwriting workflows for lenders and banks, and expand into new verticals.
How Citizens Bank is rethinking mobile and online banking (American Banker), Rated: A