News Comments
- Today’s main news: Affirm debuts shopping app. Zopa profits tick upward. RateSetter recovering from loan scandal. PPDAI stock rises 7% with lift in institutional-funded loans. Oportun ends Nasdaq debut with 8% gain. Australia: RBA cuts interest rates, online lenders follow.
- Today’s main analysis: The Future of Finance: Marcus, Neobank, and fintech. (A MUST-READ)
- Today’s thought-provoking articles: Peter Renton’s quarterly marketplace lending results. Loans for sneakers. Lessons learned from LendIt Fintech Europe. What’s happening in fintech worldwide.
United States
- Affirm debuts new app for shoppers. The app allows consumers to shop and check out with “virtually any retailer.” This Business Insider article highlights Affirm’s need to step up its game in order to compete with Amazon, 66 percent of whose customers begin their search for new product at Amazon. Affirm will have to offer better deals for consumers and make it easy to purchase things. With Affirm’s relationship with Walmart, that shouldn’t be too much of a challenge. However, it will be a challenge.
- Affirm app allows for bill splitting.
- Interview with Max Levchin, founder and CEO of Affirm.
- OnDeck survey indicates small businesses are concerned about economy. Old news, still interesting.
- Marcus, jobs, the economy, housing prices, and Oportun. From PeerIQ, well worth the read.
- Peter Renton’s quarterly MPL results. For Q2 2019. Always interesting to read how Renton’s investments have been doing. With lots of charts.
- The rose of “loans for sneakers” as a business. The focus is on Afterpay, an Affirm competitor, but this is a good read because it tackles POS lending from a consumer’s perspective. Insightful and interesting.
- What happened to Borro?
- Auto, home equity are soft spots in consumer lending.
- Maker offers multi-collateral DAI lending.
- A $40 billion pile of leveraged loans battered by huge losses.
- CFPB ruling shorts debt collectors.
- The SEC is hiring a data chief.
- Voyager selects Celsius Network for asset management.
United Kingdom
- Zopa’s profits tick upward.
- Zopa says 9 out of 10 shoppers are confused by car finance options.
- RateSetter recovering from loan scandal.
- Wonga customers average 118 GBP payout.
- Savvy secures 20 million GBP funding facility.
- Interview with founder of Blend Network.
- Crowdfunding options for startups explained.
European Union
- Lessons learned from LendIt Fintech Europe.
- Linked Finance launches ‘Beyond Brexit’ business loans.
- ID Finance to double revenues within two years.
- Binance launches next phase of crypto lending program.
International
- What’s happening in the fintech revolution worldwide. A great read with interesting charts.
- Marcus, Neobank, and fintech developments. This is today’s must-read. Very detailed with lots of charts, but the focus is mostly on digital banking. Still, a very good read.
- Blockchain: The future of finance.
Other
- China: PPDAI stock soars 7% on institutional-funding lending increase.
- Australia: RBA cuts rates. Online lenders do too.
- Australia: loans.com.au cuts rates.
- Bahrain: Beehive funds first SME.
- Malaysia: The risks and rewards of SPV 2030.
- Australia: OnDeck appoints national broker chief.
- Canada: BFS Capital opens data science and engineering hub in Toronto.
News Summary
- United States
- OnDeck Survey: Economy is Top Concern for Small Businesses Ahead of 2020 Election (New Kerala), Rated: AAA
- Affirm debuted a new app encouraging customers to start their shopping journeys with it (Business Insider), Rated: AAA
- Affirm ships new shopping and bill splitting app (Finextra), Rated: A
- Max Levchin On The Future-Present Of Everywhere POS Lending (PYMNTS), Rated: A
- Latest Macro; latest from Marcus; Oportun goes IPO (PeerIQ), Rated: AAA
- My Quarterly Marketplace Lending Results – Q2 2019 (Lend Academy), Rated: AAA
- The Maybe-Dubious Rise of the Loans-for-Sneaker Business (GQ), Rated: AAA
- What Happened to Borro? (deBanked), Rated: A
- Auto, home equity are soft spots in consumer lending (American Banker), Rated: A
- Finally! Maker Offers Multi-Collateral DAI Lending (Cryptovest), Rated: A
- A $ 40 Billion Pile of Leveraged Loans Is Battered by Big Losses (Bloomberg), Rated: A
- Ruling cuts short debt collectors’ victory lap over CFPB proposal (American Banker), Rated: B
- The SEC is hiring a chief data officer (Business Insider), Rated: B
- Voyager Selects Celsius Network to Manage Certain Assets (AP News), Rated: B
- United Kingdom
- Zopa’s P2P profits tick up but group losses widen due to heavy investment in bank (P2P Finance News), Rated: AAA
- Zopa: nine in 10 shoppers confused by car finance options (Verdict), Rated: A
- Ratesetter recovering from loan scandal (The Times), Rated: AAA
- Wonga customers’ average compensation payout may be just £118 (The Guardian), Rated: A
- Payday loan alternative Savvy secures £20 million funding facility (Finextra), Rated: A
- MEET THE FRENCHMAN WHO WANTS TO SOLVE THE UK’S HOUSING CRISIS (Business Leader), Rated: A
- Crowdfunding a start up options explained for businesses and investors (What Investment), Rated: A
- Landlords wary of tax changes (Money International), Rated: A
- China
- PPDAI Stock Soars 7% on Increase in Institutionally-Funded Loans (Capital Watch), Rated: AAA
- European Union
- What we learned at this year’s LendIt Fintech Europe (Business Insider), Rated: AAA
- Linked Finance launches ‘Beyond Brexit’ business loans (Bridging and Commercial), Rated: A
- ID on track to double revenues as it eyes €300m+ of revenue within 2 years (Fintech Finance), Rated: A
- Binance Launches New Lending Program Phase (CoinCodex), Rated: A
- International
- A Guide to What’s Happening in the Fintech Revolution (Bloomberg), Rated: AAA
- Goldman’s $ 1.3B Marcus burn, Neobank £200MM loss; plus 14 short takes on top developments (Lex), Rated: AAA
- Blockchain: the future of finance (Financier Worldwide), Rated: A
- Australia
- Hot home loan rates starting with a 2 (mozo), Rated: AAA
- loans.com.au jumps on October RBA home loan rate cut party (mozo), Rated: AAA
- OnDeck appoints Robbie Fidler as new national broker chief (IT Wire), Rated: B
- Asia
- SPV 2030: Sharing of risks and reward (The Malaysian Reserve), Rated: A
- MENA
- Beehive funds first SME in Bahrain (Arabian Business), Rated: AAA
- Canada
- BFS Capital Opens New Data Science and Engineering Hub in Toronto (Financial Post), Rated: B
United States
OnDeck Survey: Economy is Top Concern for Small Businesses Ahead of 2020 Election (New Kerala), Rated: AAA
OnDeck today announced the results of a national survey of U.S. small business owners that finds economic issues are the most important factors in determining their choice for president in 2020.
- Economic concerns arise in several dimensions, including tax policy, job growth, support for small businesses, government spending and the overall economic climate. These issues were cited as the top concerns of more than 33% of those surveyed;
- Immigration was an issue of interest for 11.3% of small business owners surveyed, ranking second behind the economy as a concern.
- 57% of small businesses surveyed said they were either Very Optimistic or Somewhat Optimistic about the economic outlook for their businesses;
- 93% of those surveyed said they plan to vote in the 2020 election.
- 60% of small business owners surveyed said they already know who they plan to vote for in the 2020 presidential election.
Affirm debuted a new app encouraging customers to start their shopping journeys with it (Business Insider), Rated: AAA
The point-of-sale (POS) financing provider
Affirm ships new shopping and bill splitting app (Finextra), Rated: A
Affirm’s app also allows consumers to pay at any brick-and-mortar store that accepts Apple Pay or Google Pay, which is increasingly important as 24% of consumers want the flexibility to look online and shop in-store.
Those with Apple Pay or Google Pay enabled have also seen up to 14% of transactions driven in-store, making the Affirm app a rare omnichannel solution for customer acquisition.
Max Levchin On The Future-Present Of Everywhere POS Lending (PYMNTS), Rated: A
Since Affirm’s launch, the landscape in the POS space is radically different than it was when Affirm entered. It is, first and foremost, a much bigger and more populated space than it once was. Other startups have come to the field — Afterpay, Uplift and Sezzle for example — but also bigger and more established names in financial services. In the last 12 months alone Square, Mastercard, PayPal and Chase have all rolled out POS installment lending products or enhancements as the market continues to pick up popularity among consumers, particularly younger ones.
Latest Macro; latest from Marcus; Oportun goes IPO (PeerIQ), Rated: AAA
Q4 is off to a brisk start. The jobs report released this past Friday shows 114K in net new jobs (vs expectations of 120K), generally flat wages, and a drop in the unemployment rate to 3.5%.
On the one hand, the US economy is near ‘stall speed’ – around 1 to 1.5% growth rate.
House prices are expected to rise 5.8% over the next year due to low mortgage rates.
Two major financing announcements this week. FinTech lender, Oportun, led by CEO Raul Vazquez, ends its Nasdaq debut with an 8% gain. The debut is notable as it represents a positive shift in the sentiment to the reception of lenders to the IPO market.
My Quarterly Marketplace Lending Results – Q2 2019 (Lend Academy), Rated: AAA
The upward trend in my returns continued in Q2, making it the fifth quarter in a row with increasing returns. My preliminary return for the 12 months ending June 30, 2019 is 6.20% (one investment is still not final), the best I have achieved since Q3 2017.
The Maybe-Dubious Rise of the Loans-for-Sneaker Business (GQ), Rated: AAA
Afterpay is one of a number of platforms that have sprouted up over the past couple years that are willing to float customers a couple hundred or thousand dollars to shop. In addition to it, there are Affirm, Sezzle, Klarna, and Quadpay. They are positioned as a more consumer-friendly option than credit cards, a whole host of services bent on—because this is 2019—disrupting the powers that be.
Globally, Afterpay, which launched in Australia, has over 4.6 million customers and 35,000 retail partners. In the U.S., where Afterpay only launched in May of last year, it has two million customers and is available at 6,500 retailers. Over three million people use Affirm, while another 500,000 have shopped with Sezzle.
Silicon Valley promises aside, Afterpay is, at best, a platform that allows you to take out what amounts to a small loan on an item. After an approval process—Afterpay does not check a credit score; others like Affirm do—the customer pays a fourth of the price upfront and the rest is paid off in three equal installments every two weeks.
Also new is the $1,500 limit, up from $500, that Afterpay raised after Hyde-McCormick proved himself a responsible shopper and the $87.50 payments currently due every two weeks.
What Happened to Borro? (deBanked), Rated: A
In 2013, Borro, an innovative online lending company that was poised to disrupt pawn shop lending forever, invited me to their stylish offices at 767 Third Avenue in Manhattan.
Borro made $50 million worth of such loans in 2013 and doubled that number in 2014.
Auto, home equity are soft spots in consumer lending (American Banker), Rated: A
In its quarterly report that tracks consumer delinquency trends, the American Bankers Association said that 30-day past-due rates ticked up in eight of 11 categories in the second quarter when compared with the first quarter, but stressed that delinquencies remain well below historic norms.
Finally! Maker Offers Multi-Collateral DAI Lending (Cryptovest), Rated: A
Maker DAO, the most active decentralized finance app on the Ethereum network, has announced a date for its long-awaited multi-collateral DAI generation. According to observers, November 18 may be the date MKR starts accepting other assets as collateral.
Multi-collateral DAI creation has the potential to be riskier in comparison to ETH-based models. Currently, Maker is deliberately over-collateralized at above 300%, with the minimum at 150%, due to the high volatility of crypto assets.
A $ 40 Billion Pile of Leveraged Loans Is Battered by Big Losses (Bloomberg), Rated: A
Loans tied to more than 50 companies have lost at least 10 percentage points of face value in just three months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Some have dropped a lot more, with lenders lucky to get back just two-thirds of their investment if they tried to sell.
Energy is the hardest-hit sector on the list, with more than $12 billion of loans falling more than 10 cents on the dollar. Consumer and health care follow, comprising around $8 billion and $5 billion of loans outstanding, respectively.
Ruling cuts short debt collectors’ victory lap over CFPB proposal (American Banker), Rated: B
Under the CFPB’s May proposal, debt collectors could have unlimited contact with debtors through email and text messages, though consumers could opt out of such communications. Additionally, collectors could satisfy disclosure requirements with a hyperlink embedded in an email that takes consumers to a description about how they can dispute a debt.
The SEC is hiring a chief data officer (Business Insider), Rated: B
The Securities and Exchange Commission is hiring its first chief data officer, according to a job posting for the role.
Voyager Selects Celsius Network to Manage Certain Assets (AP News), Rated: B
Voyager Digital, LLC, a subsidiary of publicly-traded Voyager Digital (Canada) Ltd (Ticker VYGR.CN), an industry-leading best execution crypto asset broker, today announced a partnership with Celsius Network, in which Celsius will manage a portion of Voyager’s digital assets.
United Kingdom
Zopa’s P2P profits tick up but group losses widen due to heavy investment in bank (P2P Finance News), Rated: AAA
Zopa Group – which incorporates the P2P platform and upcoming digital bank – reported a pre-tax loss of £18.295m for the year ended 31 December 2018, compared to a pre-tax loss of £5.536m the previous year.
Zopa: nine in 10 shoppers confused by car finance options (Verdict), Rated: A
In a survey of 2,000 consumers, 47% of people who had recently bought a car with finance are unable to identify which type of finance deal they signed up for. Zopa estimates that the average car buyer could save up to £11,000 over the course of their lifetime by working out the best finance deal available.
Ratesetter recovering from loan scandal (The Times), Rated: AAA
One of Britain’s largest peer-to-peer lenders appears to be recovering from a toxic loan scandal after its latest results showed it edging towards breaking even.
Accounts for Ratesetter, which links 56,000 ordinary investors with consumer and business borrowers, show that pre-tax losses narrowed by 69 per cent in the year to March.
Wonga customers’ average compensation payout may be just £118 (The Guardian), Rated: A
Customers who were mis-sold loans by the collapsed payday lender Wonga are expected to receive less than 10% of what they are owed in compensation after administrators revealed that only £41m will be put aside for claimants.
Payday loan alternative Savvy secures £20 million funding facility (Finextra), Rated: A
Stockport and Wilmslow based fintech company Savvy.co.uk is to create 25 jobs after securing a £20 million investment.
MEET THE FRENCHMAN WHO WANTS TO SOLVE THE UK’S HOUSING CRISIS (Business Leader), Rated: A
WHY DID YOU START BLEND NETWORK?
I started working in the financial industry as an FX trader before moving to trading gold and copper, both much more inefficient markets than FX. I realised that the UK property market was a hugely inefficient market in the sense that lenders and borrowers are not meeting. On the one hand, you have very experienced property developers across the country who are trying to access funds to build homes but traditional lenders are no longer active in providing development finance.
Instead, we lend in places such as Coventry, East Anglia, Doncaster, Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is a very good example of our strategic approach to lending. Last year, we did around 80-85% of our business in Northern Ireland.
Crowdfunding a start up options explained for businesses and investors (What Investment), Rated: A
Crowdfunding a start up brings to mind the statement ‘Nothing worth having comes easy’, never truer than in the case of launching a start-up. Getting a new business off the ground will often require capital. Something which a lot of people don’t know how to go about getting.
These are:
- Reward based crowdfunding;
- Equity based crowdfunding;
- Debt based crowdfunding, and
- Donation based crowdfunding.
Landlords wary of tax changes (Money International), Rated: A
Half of the 200 landlords approached agreed tax changes and tougher mortgage borrowing criteria have thwarted their plans to buy more properties, while 15% admitted they had been put off buying homes to rent.
A third who still wanted to invest are considering a switch from buy to let to peer-to-peer lending secured against property, while 8% have already done so.
China
PPDAI Stock Soars 7% on Increase in Institutionally-Funded Loans (Capital Watch), Rated: AAA
The stock in PPDAI Group Inc (NYSE: PPDF) closed 7% higher on Wednesday, at $2.83 per American depositary share, after it announced a positive trend in funding of loans by its institutional partners and increased loan origination volume.
For the third quarter, the Shanghai-based company, which operates an online consumer finance marketplace, said in a statement on Wednesday that the volume of loans facilitated by its institutional funding partners jumped to $2.64 billion, up 91% from the second quarter. Total loan origination volume was above PPDAI’s guidance, it said, as it reached $3.51 billion, up 14% from the previous quarter.
European Union
What we learned at this year’s LendIt Fintech Europe (Business Insider), Rated: AAA
At the conference, Business Insider Intelligence identified four emerging themes that we expect to set the tone for the space for the next year: further proliferation of partnerships between banks and fintechs, increased focus on digital banks’ sustainability, accelerated innovation and disruption from small- and medium-sized business (SMB) lenders, and more challenges ahead for the UK’s P2P lenders.
- CYBG bank and price comparison site GoCompare recently partnered to offer an energy compare and switch service for all of CYBG’s B customers.
- Barclays bank partnered with SMB finance fintech MarketInvoice last year to give Barclays’ SMB clients access to MarkeInvoice’s solutions.
- French Banking-as-a-Service platform Treezor was acquired by Société Générale last year, as the bank looked to enhance its ability to innovate and decrease time to market.
Linked Finance launches ‘Beyond Brexit’ business loans (Bridging and Commercial), Rated: A
The new 18-month loan period will allow borrowers to access working capital facilities of up to €300,000 (approximately £265,194) in just 24 hours.
ID on track to double revenues as it eyes €300m+ of revenue within 2 years (Fintech Finance), Rated: A
ID Finance, the fintech operating in Europe and Latin America, saw revenue growth of over 100% in the first 9 months of 2019 and is on track to double its revenues to €90m revenue this year. The data science, credit scoring and digital finance company is now planning its first equity crowdfunding round via Crowdcube as it targets €300m+ of revenue within 2 years.
Binance Launches New Lending Program Phase (CoinCodex), Rated: A
The Binance cryptocurrency exchange has launched the latest phase of its relatively new lending program. For the program’s eighth installment, Binance is sticking with the model of short-term loans, as users only have to commit their crypto for 14 days.
International
A Guide to What’s Happening in the Fintech Revolution (Bloomberg), Rated: AAA
These underbanked markets, led by countries in Asia and Africa, have inspired fintech innovation that’s leapfrogging the technology available in the developed world. Ant Financial Services Group’s Alipay and Tencent Holdings’ WeChat Pay in China, Paytm in India, and Safaricom’s M-Pesa in Kenya are some well-known examples.
Take Facebook Inc.’s plan to launch a digital currency called Libra in 2020. The social network’s gigantic reach—more than 2.4 billion active monthly users—could draw a much wider audience to Libra than has used previous cryptocurrencies. For instance, global remittances by migrants reached a record $689 billion last year, according to the World Bank.
San Francisco-based 500 Startups staked 43 such companies in the 12 months ended June 30.
Goldman’s $ 1.3B Marcus burn, Neobank £200MM loss; plus 14 short takes on top developments (Lex), Rated: AAA
Goldman is losing $1.3 billion on Marcus, trying to build a Fintech leader. Etrade is going to lose $75 million from cutting trading fees to $0 to keep up with Robinhood. Revolut is losing £35 million on £60 million in revenue, with another £140 million burned by Atom, Monzo, Tandem, and the rest.
Generally speaking, from a deposit point of view, these are still all small businesses at £1 billion in assets (e.g., Betterment manages $20 billion).
The first is that the Robinhoods and Monzos of the world are 10x overpriced relative to the payments apps. I can sort of buy this — though money in motion is way easier to capture than money at rest. The second is that venture investors think a finance user is worth $1,500 in a digital bank.
Blockchain: the future of finance (Financier Worldwide), Rated: A
Recent examples of blockchain’s impact on financial markets go well beyond these initial applications or P2P lending or crowdfunding.
The first wave of applications in finance and banking is being driven by easily achievable gains in actively traded assets.
MasterCard incorporated a blockchain payment system providing vendors real time, lower cost settlements on cross-border transactions. Representing a consortium of more than 40 of the world’s largest banks, fintech firm R3 launched a payment system built on DLT platform Corda, to expedite intra-bank transfers.
St. Regis Aspen, a Colorado resort, is a partnership formed with a crowdfunding site, Indiegogo, that in lieu of a traditional IPO completed a private placement via DLT financing real estate. This sale of ‘tokens’ – fractional interests in the underlying property – raised $18m, compliant with securities laws.
Australia
Hot home loan rates starting with a 2 (mozo), Rated: AAA
The RBA has cut official interest rates for the third time this year, and already a handful of lenders have responded by slashing rates across their range of variable rate home loans. Right now, if your home loan doesn’t have a ‘2’ in front of it, you’re missing out.
loans.com.au jumps on October RBA home loan rate cut party (mozo), Rated: AAA
The online lender has announced its response to the 0.25% drop in the official cash rate though, with loans.com.au taking 0.15% off a number of variable rate home loan offers for both owner occupiers and investors.
The changes, which come into effect on October 17, will have an impact on a number of loans.com.au home loan offers including:
• Essentials Variable loan – reduced by 0.15% with rates now as low as 3.04% (3.06% comparison rate*).
• Smart Home Loan – reduced by 0.15% with rates now as low as 2.88% (2.90% comparison rate*).
• ZIP Home Loan – reduced by 0.15% with rates now as low as 3.08% (3.10% comparison rate*).
• Offset Variable loan – reduced by 0.15% with rates now as low as 3.12% (3.14% comparison rate*).
OnDeck appoints Robbie Fidler as new national broker chief (IT Wire), Rated: B
Online SME lender OnDeck Australia has appointed experienced commercial lending operator Robbie Fidler as its national broker channel manager.
Asia
SPV 2030: Sharing of risks and reward (The Malaysian Reserve), Rated: A
MENA
Beehive funds first SME in Bahrain (Arabian Business), Rated: AAA
Dubai-based Beehive, the region’s first regulated peer-to-peer lending platform, has funded its first SME in Bahrain.
Canada
BFS Capital Opens New Data Science and Engineering Hub in Toronto (Financial Post), Rated: B
BFS Capital, a leader in small business lending, has officially launched a data science and engineering hub in Toronto as the company accelerates its plans to develop best-in-class digital financial products for small businesses across the globe.
Authors:
The post Thursday October 10 2019, Weekly News Digest appeared first on Lending Times.
Thursday May 9 2019, Weekly News Digest
News Comments Today’s main news: SoFi launches ETF for gig market. LendingClub’s higher fees lead to earnings win. CrowdStreet hits $500M in real estate investments. Funding Circle offers manual lending in foreign markets. Marcus delays German launch. Today’s main analysis: LendingClub, GreenSky, and OnDeck earnings. Today’s thought-provoking articles: GDP growth continues. The pros and cons […]
The post Thursday May 9 2019, Weekly News Digest appeared first on Lending Times.
News Comments
- Today’s main news: SoFi launches ETF for gig market. LendingClub’s higher fees lead to earnings win. CrowdStreet hits $500M in real estate investments. Funding Circle offers manual lending in foreign markets. Marcus delays German launch.
- Today’s main analysis: LendingClub, GreenSky, and OnDeck earnings.
- Today’s thought-provoking articles: GDP growth continues. The pros and cons of leveraged loans. Affirm, Kabbage, and Tala. Managed security for fraud threats. International P2P lending volumes.
United States
- SoFi launches gig-focused ETF. There are 56.7 million freelance workers in the U.S. The gig market, already huge, is growing. Forbes reported last year that 35 percent of the workforce was made up of gig workers, and that number is expected to increase to 43 percent by 2020.
- LendingClub’s higher tranaction fees account for earnings. As a result, the company’s stock price shot up to $3.70.
- Still, LendingClub registered a net loss of $11.25 million.
- One analyst expects LendingClub to produce an adjusted EBITDA margin of 20% by end of year.
- A look at LendingClub, GreenSky, and OnDeck Q1 earnings. A Lend Academy analysis.
- GDP continues to grow. A PeerIQ analysis.
- CrowdStreet hits $500 million in real estate investments.
- The pros and cons of leveraged loans. An excellent read.
- Affirm, Kbbage, and Tala. How much each company has been funded.
- Managed security for fraud threats. A must-read report.
- BlackRock is creating a stock-lending platform.
- Avant settles with the FTC for $3.85 million.
- TransUnion says delinquent borrowers can benefit from another loan.
- Monzo to launch in U.S. this summer.
- Resolve launches B2B financing platform.
- Kabbage partners with builders association for minority business funding.
- Fig Loans gets Community Development Institution certification.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed new lending rules.
- A look at Genesis Capital’s lending business.
- Ocrolus, inFactor partner on Merchant Cash Advance.
United Kingdom
- Funding Circle offers manual lending in foreign markets.
- Esme Loans hits 50 million GBP lending milestone.
- Marcus reaches 250,000 customers in the UK.
- Investors are more comfortable with P2P ISA.
- What’s the best provision fund structure?
- Tandem recognized as best new digital bank.
- OakNorth launches mortgages for high net worth individuals and people with atypical income streams.
International
- P2P lending volumes for April 2019.
- The credit card with a carbon spending limit.
- Over 50 banks trial trade finance app on blockchain.
- What are real estate tokens?
- How one crypto lender is helping Bitfinex raise $1 billion.
- Cred partner with Tron, Bitcoin.com on crypto lending.
- Fvndit launches $10 million equity-backed digital security offering.
- TomoChain, Constant partner on stablecoin.
- Creci wins Innovate Finance Global Summit award.
Other
- China: Jiayin Group prepares $40 million IPO in U.S.
- Germany: Marcus delays launch.
- Mexico: Nubank to open office.
- Southeast Asia: Brankas to bring banks, e-commerce into digital era.
- China: P2P lending is in crisis.
- Indonesia: Singapore-based Validus Capital to launch.
- Australia: YOZO offers business lending.
News Summary
- United States
- SoFi launches gig-focused ETF (TechCrunch), Rated: AAA
- LendingClub Records Higher Transaction Fees on the Way to Earnings Beat (TheStreet), Rated: AAA
- Higher Fees Drive LendingClub’s Earnings Beat (PYMNTS), Rated: A
- Why LendingClub Stock Leapt 12.4% Today (The Motley Fool), Rated: B
- LendingClub, GreenSky and OnDeck Q1 2019 Earnings Results (Lend Academy), Rated: AAA
- Strong GDP Growth Continues (PeerIQ Email), Rated: AAA
- Online marketplace reaches $ 500M in online real estate investments (Real Estate Weekly), Rated: AAA
- The Pros And Cons Of Leveraged Loans (Seeking Alpha), Rated: AAA
- BlackRock is building a team of 30 data scientists to create a next-generation stock-lending platform (Business Insider), Rated: A
- ONLINE LENDER SETTLES WITH FTC FOR $3.85 MILLION (Lawyers and Settlements), Rated: A
- Providing Additional Liquidity to Some Delinquent Borrowers Can Actually be a Win-Win (Yahoo! Finance), Rated: A
- Monzo plots US launch as soon as this summer (The Telegraph), Rated: A
- Affirm, Kabbage, Tala — The Big Three of Online Loans (Bitnews Today), Rated: AAA
- Resolve launches as a B2B online financing service (Digital Commerce 360), Rated: A
- Kabbage Teams with BTEA to Fuel Access to Funding for Women- and Minority-Owned Businesses (Finanzen), Rated: B
- In The Face Of Growing Fraud Threats, Finance Firms Should Look At Managed Security (Forbes), Rated: AAA
- Fig Loans Becomes First-Ever FinTech to Receive CDFI Certification (Yahoo! Finance), Rated: A
- CFPB plan a mixed bag for debt collectors (American Banker), Rated: A
- Behind The Scoop: An inside look at Genesis’ lending business (The Block Crypto), Rated: A
- Ocrolus, inFactor Partner on End-to-End Automation for Merchant Cash Advance Lenders (Ocrolus), Rated: B
- United Kingdom
- Funding Circle still offers manual lending in other markets (P2P Finance News), Rated: AAA
- Digital Lending Platform Esme Loans Hits £50 Million of Lending to UK Businesses (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A
- Goldman Sachs’ digital savings account Marcus just reached a UK milestone (AltFi), Rated: A
- Investors are getting more comfortable with the P2P ISA (AltFi), Rated: A
- What is the best provision fund structure? (P2P Finance News), Rated: A
- Tandem Recognized as Best New Digital Bank (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: B
- OakNorth launches mortgages for HNWIs, SMEs, and clients with atypical income streams (Fintech Finance), Rated: B
- China
- Jiayin Group Readies $ 40 Million U.S. IPO (Seeking Alpha), Rated: AAA
- P2P lending in crisis as regulatory bubble pops (Technode), Rated: A
- European Union
- Goldman Delays Marcus’ Germany Launch (PYMNTS), Rated: AAA
- International
- International P2P Lending Volumes April 2019 (P2P-Banking), Rated: AAA
- This credit card won’t let you buy anything else after you’ve hit your annual carbon limit (Fast Company), Rated: A
- Over 50 Banks, Firms Trial Trade Finance App Built With R3’s Corda Blockchain (CoinDesk), Rated: A
- Real Estate Tokens: What They Are and How to Invest (Bitcoin Market Journal), Rated: A
- Bitfinex Releases Whitepaper to Confirm $ 1 Billion Initial Exchange Offering (CryptoGlobe), Rated: A
- Cred Partners with Tron and Bitcoin.com to Provide Crypto Lending and Borrowing Services (Bitcoin Exchange Guide), Rated: A
- Fvndit Launches $ 10M Equity-Back Digital Security Offering (Financial Buzz), Rated: A
- TomoChain teams up with Constant to bring first stablecoin to its platform (Cryptoninjas), Rated: B
- Creci Wins its Category at the Innovate Finance Global Summit (PR Web), Rated: B
- Australia
- YOZO a quick and open answer to business lending maze (Mirage News), Rated: A
- Southeast Asia
- Brankas wants to bring Southeast Asia’s banks and e-commerce into the digital era (TechCrunch), Rated: AAA
- Singapore Fintech Firm Heading into Indonesia (Retail News), Rated: A
- Latin America
- Brazil fintech Nubank opens Mexico office as it seeks Latam expansion (Reuters), Rated: AAA
United States
SoFi launches gig-focused ETF (TechCrunch), Rated: AAA
Today, the company announced a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) product focused on the gig economy. GIGE, which trades on Nasdaq, is an actively managed fund advised by Toroso Investments that allows investors to capitalize on this hot sector of the economy. Toroso offers a range of services around creating and managing ETFs.
The company also announced the creation of an ETF focused on high-growth stocks. That ETF, which trades as SFYF on the NYSE, is designed to identify and capture the growth of the top 50 of the 1,000 largest publicly traded issues.
LendingClub Records Higher Transaction Fees on the Way to Earnings Beat (TheStreet), Rated: AAA
Online-loan marketplace LendingClub (LC – Get Report) was rising more than 14% Wednesday to $3.70 after reporting a surprise profit in the first quarter, though the company’s guidance was short of expectations.
LendingClub reported a 22% increase in transaction fees that led to a 15% increase in revenue to $174.4 million and adjusted earnings of 2 cents per share. Wall Street was expecting the company to report revenue of $169.4 million and a loss of 3 cents per share.
Higher Fees Drive LendingClub’s Earnings Beat (PYMNTS), Rated: A
The marketplace lending platform reported adjusted net loss of $11.25 million, or 3 cents a share — red ink, but less than the 4 cents per share loss analysts were forecasting.
That stronger-than-expected revenue outcome was driven by stronger-than-expected loan originations during the first quarter, which rose 18 percent year-on-year to $2.73 billion. That increase in originations drove an increase in transaction fees, which were up 22 percent to $135.4 million.
For the second quarter, the company expects net revenue between $185 million and $195 million, with the high end slightly below the average analyst estimate of $196.7 million.
Why LendingClub Stock Leapt 12.4% Today (The Motley Fool), Rated: B
Wedbush believes LendingClub’s improving operating efficiency will help it produce an adjusted EBITDA margin of 20% by the end of 2019. The firm also expects LendingClub to grow revenue by 12%-15% annually in the coming years.
LendingClub, GreenSky and OnDeck Q1 2019 Earnings Results (Lend Academy), Rated: AAA
LendingClub
LendingClub rounded out 2018 originating the most loans in the company’s history at $10.9 billion. With their Q1 2019 results, the company is off to a great start in 2019. Originations were $2.7 billion, up 18% year over year. The company reported that application growth was 31% over the same period.
Net revenues came in above high end guidance of $172 million at $174.4 million for the quarter, up 15% year over year. GAAP Consolidated Net Loss was $(19.9) million, compared to $(31.2) million in Q1 2018. Finally, the company delivered adjusted EBITDA of $22.6, up 47% year over year and well above their projections of $13-$18 million. LendingClub is on track to become adjusted net income profitable over the second half of 2019.
GreenSky Q1 2019 Earnings
In Q1 2019 GreenSky increased transaction volume on the platform 20% to $1.2 billion. They also grew revenue 22% to $103.7 million form the prior year period. GAAP Net Income in Q1 2019 was $7.4 million. The company had aggregate commitments of $11.8 billion from nine bank partners of which $4.5 billion remain unused. The company ended the quarter with $268 million in cash.
OnDeck Q1 2019 Earnings
Originations fell for the quarter to $636 million compared to $658 million for the previous quarter. This was attributed to OnDeck tightening their credit box during the quarter. The company shared that their line of credit product reached an all time high of $150 million for the quarter.
Strong GDP Growth Continues (PeerIQ Email), Rated: AAA
Unemployment fell to 3.6% – the lowest level since 1969. The last time unemployment levels were this low, the first humans landed on the moon. The inflation rate was 5.5% The DJIA was 800. The average cost of a new home was $15K, and the average salary was $9K. A gallon of gas cost a scorching thirty-five cents.
On the regulatory front, Senator Durbin introduces a bill to create a 36% APR Cap on Consumer Loans. The 36% cap matches a similar rate for loans offered to service members and is superseded by strict state-level caps, and offers no preemption of the patchwork of state laws for digital models.
Online marketplace reaches $ 500M in online real estate investments (Real Estate Weekly), Rated: AAA
CrowdStreet, Inc., a technology provider with an online marketplace for direct equity investment in commercial real estate (CRE), announced that in March it crossed the $500 million threshold in total online investments with a record number of new individual investors.
The news accompanies a record quarter with over $75 million invested.
The Pros And Cons Of Leveraged Loans (Seeking Alpha), Rated: AAA
Corporate America has taken on substantially more debt in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Today, the underlying structure of that leverage looks different. Fewer bonds are being issued. Bank loans to indebted companies now match junk bonds in total issue. This article will review the market for leveraged loans – a marketplace that has grown tenfold in the new millennium and has passed the $1 trillion threshold.
In 2017, nearly 70% of levered loans were refinanced at lower interest rates. That creates a lot of turnover.
BlackRock is building a team of 30 data scientists to create a next-generation stock-lending platform (Business Insider), Rated: A
BlackRock founded a Palo Alto, California-based group called AI Labs last year, directed by the Stanford professor Stephen Boyd. Now, according to job postings reviewed by Business Insider, the 30-member team is tackling projects ranging from next-generation lending platforms to automating human tasks.
ONLINE LENDER SETTLES WITH FTC FOR .85 MILLION (Lawyers and Settlements), Rated: A
Avant LLC, the online lending phenomenon which had previously been hailed as a “breakout financial success story,” has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for $3.85 million. Although the lawsuit largely relied on a different federal statute, it shares much of the consumer financial protection zeal of the excessive overdraft fee lawsuits recently leveled against credit unions, banks and payday lenders. But it also reveals shortcomings in federal consumer protection laws.
Providing Additional Liquidity to Some Delinquent Borrowers Can Actually be a Win-Win (Yahoo! Finance), Rated: A
Consumers who fall behind on credit payments may find an unexpected lifeline—another loan from their lender. A new TransUnion (TRU) study found that, in some instances, both lenders and consumers can benefit when additional loans are extended to customers during difficult times. The findings were released today during the 2019 TransUnion Financial Services Summit, attended by more than 300 executives from across the globe.
In the study, 31% of delinquent borrowers experienced improvement on one or more of their delinquent debts when securing a new personal loan. In addition, 24% of borrowers also performed well on the new loan.
Monzo plots US launch as soon as this summer (The Telegraph), Rated: A
Monzo, the mobile banking app known for its coral coloured debit cards, is planning to launch in America as soon as this summer, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.
The £1bn start-up challenger bank is in the process of hiring executives to lead its product and marketing arms in the US. It is expected that the company will choose Los Angeles as its base.
Affirm, Kabbage, Tala — The Big Three of Online Loans (Bitnews Today), Rated: AAA
Affirm is a company that provides payday loans online and at points of sale. To receive an approval decision, a potential Affirm client does not have to wait long — the company’s scoring system processes its questionnaire, profiles in social networks and other documents very fast.
KABBAGE
Kabbage also provides loans online using an automated system. However, the clients of this company are not ordinary consumers, but owners of SMEs. When the founders of Kabbage decided to launch a new project in 2009, there was a gap between personal loans for consumers and credit lines allocated to small businesses in the lending system.
TALA
- the initial idea of the company’s founder Shivani SIROYA to start her own business was that “the existing credit system works very poorly”;
- to assess the creditworthiness, Tala uses its own scoring system, which examines a set of data about the potential borrower, using machine learning technology and big data;
- the intellectual service works in automatic mode: it investigates, makes a decision, issues loans.
Resolve launches as a B2B online financing service (Digital Commerce 360), Rated: A
Financial technology company Affirm is betting that what works for online retailers will also work for B2B merchants who want to offer online financing to customers.
Affirm has launched Resolve as a B2B version of an online financing service that Affirm provides to retailers.
Kabbage Teams with BTEA to Fuel Access to Funding for Women- and Minority-Owned Businesses (Finanzen), Rated: B
Kabbage, Inc., a cash flow technology and automated lending platform for small businesses, has formed a strategic alliance with New York’s largest contractor association, the Building Trades Employers’ Association (BTEA), to provide access to fast and flexible small business funding for BTEA members through the Kabbage platform. The alliance will support women and minority-owned business enterprise (WMBE) contractors who often have difficulty accessing the funding required to procure contracts for New York’s largest construction projects.
The alliance between BTEA and Kabbage provides BTEA’s 1,300 contractor companies, including more than 100 MWBE contractor members, the opportunity to access lines of credit as high as $250,000 and attain greater financial capacity.
In The Face Of Growing Fraud Threats, Finance Firms Should Look At Managed Security (Forbes), Rated: AAA
Financial institutions face a complex array of threats — from the immediate such as synthetic identities which have been used to defraud individual firms multiple times.
In 2018, more than 43,000 breaches across all industries involved the use of customer credentials stolen from botnet-infected clients, the Accenture report said.
Read the full report here.
Fig Loans Becomes First-Ever FinTech to Receive CDFI Certification (Yahoo! Finance), Rated: A
Fig, a mission-driven FinTech company that offers credit building alternatives to predatory loans for low-income borrowers, has become the first-ever FinTech company to become both a Certified B Corporation and federally certified Community Development Institution (CDFI). VilCap Investments and Techstars are early Fig Loans investors.
CFPB plan a mixed bag for debt collectors (American Banker), Rated: A
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a plan Tuesday to restrict how often debt collectors can call borrowers about unpaid credit and to allow consumers to opt out of other types of communications.
The proposal to overhaul the debt collection industry would limit phone-based collection attempts for the same consumer to seven calls per week. Debtors could also opt out of allowing collectors to contact them via voice mail, email and text messages.
Read the full text of the proposed rule here.
Behind The Scoop: An inside look at Genesis’ lending business (The Block Crypto), Rated: A
- $250m worth of outstanding loans gives it an estimated 2/3 share of the total outstanding crypto loan pie
- Genesis has seen its total USD value of borrows increase 35% QoQ in 1Q19, vs. lending protocols which saw a ~20% decline; Genesis total borrow volumes were almost an order of magnitude greater than all of borrows on lending protocols in 1Q19
Ocrolus, inFactor Partner on End-to-End Automation for Merchant Cash Advance Lenders (Ocrolus), Rated: B
Ocrolus today announced a partnership with inFactor, the financing platform that brings clarity and security to small business financing. This partnership combines two powerful technology solutions to drive end-to-end underwriting automation for Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) lenders
United Kingdom
Funding Circle still offers manual lending in other markets (P2P Finance News), Rated: AAA
FUNDING Circle is still offering investors the option to self-select their loans in its three overseas markets, its annual report revealed last month.
The peer-to-peer business lender scrapped its manual lending option in the UK in 2017, saying that its auto-invest product ensures better diversification.
Digital Lending Platform Esme Loans Hits £50 Million of Lending to UK Businesses (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A
Esme Loans, the NatWest backed standalone digital lending platform for SMEs, announced last week it has hit £50 million of lending to UK businesses. The online lender reported that it has seen a continued period of strong growth, following an uplift in lending of 337% between 2017 and 2018.
Goldman Sachs’ digital savings account Marcus just reached a UK milestone (AltFi), Rated: A
Just eight months since launching in the UK, Goldman Sachs’ digital savings account has attracted a quarter of a million customers.
Investors are getting more comfortable with the P2P ISA (AltFi), Rated: A
In the 2016/17 tax year just 5,000 customers opened IFISAs with a total £36m subscriptions (these figures were disputed by some platforms as being too low). In the following 2017/18 tax year this shot up 31,000 investors backing the IFISA with £290m subscribed in the tax year and a total of £366m in outstanding balances in IFISAs at 5 April 2018.
What is the best provision fund structure? (P2P Finance News), Rated: A
PROVISION FUNDS are designed to cover peer-to-peer investors in the event that a borrower defaults on their loan, but the way they are funded and operated varies widely across platforms. So what should investors be looking for and is there an optimal structure to reduce their chances of losses?
One key difference is whether pay-outs from reserve or provision funds are automatic or discretionary.
RateSetter is credited with the invention of the provision fund concept, which has been part of its business model since it launched in 2010. It is funded by borrowers’ repayments and money is automatically reimbursed to investors if loans go into arrears.
Tandem Recognized as Best New Digital Bank (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: B
Challenger bank Tandem has been recognized by CFI.co (Capital Finance International) as the “Best Neo Bank UK 2019.”
OakNorth launches mortgages for HNWIs, SMEs, and clients with atypical income streams (Fintech Finance), Rated: B
OakNorth – the bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs – has today announced it is entering the retail mortgage market with lifetime tracker rate products, aimed at affluent individuals with atypical sources of income.
The six largest banks in the UK dominate 77 percent of the mortgage market, but often find it commercially unviable to create bespoke mortgages for these individuals as they lack the appropriate cost base and expertise to cater to them. These individuals therefore require more bespoke lending solutions, and as a lender that has provided over £3bn in bespoke loans to UK entrepreneurs since its launch, OakNorth has the necessary expertise and tailored credit analysis models to cater to this unique market niche.
China
Jiayin Group Readies $ 40 Million U.S. IPO (Seeking Alpha), Rated: AAA
Jiayin Group (JFIN) has filed to raise $40 million in an IPO of ADSs representing underlying Class A shares, per an amended registration statement.
According to a 2017 Oliver Wyman report on Chinese FinTech firms, outstanding loan balances for online peer-to-peer lending platforms have exploded in recent years, from RMB 31 billion ($467 million) in January 2014 to RMB 856 billion ($129 billion) by January 2017.
P2P lending in crisis as regulatory bubble pops (Technode), Rated: A
Chinese peer-to-peer (P2P) lender Dianrong, once hailed as the “LendingClub of China,” appears to be in crisis following an announcement that it is closing around two-thirds of its offline branches and laying off as many as 2,000 employees. At around the same time, it was accused of falling behind on wages and severance payment. In mid-April, the company reportedly sought $100 million in investment to meet new capital requirements.
European Union
Goldman Delays Marcus’ Germany Launch (PYMNTS), Rated: AAA
Goldman Sachs has decided to delay the German launch of its consumer bank Marcus until 2020.
International
International P2P Lending Volumes April 2019 (P2P-Banking), Rated: AAA
The total volume for the reported marketplaces in the table adds up to 571 million Euro.
Milestones achieved this month (total volume since launch):
- Mintos crossed 2 billion EUR
This credit card won’t let you buy anything else after you’ve hit your annual carbon limit (Fast Company), Rated: A
Doconomy is launching two versions of the card later this year. One just tracks your carbon footprint as you spend, and the other, called Do Black, takes the additional step of setting a hard limit on your footprint for the year. Initially, the data used to calculate the impact of each purchase will be imprecise—the system pulls the category code of a merchant that classifies it as a particular kind of store, then makes a calculation based on the general carbon footprint of the industry, whether you’re buying something from a fast-food joint, a clothing store, or an airline. The limit is based on a country-specific calculation of how much carbon each citizen can emit to stay on track with the 2030 goal to cut emissions in half.
Others are working on similar solutions; a startup nonprofit called Poseidon Foundation is beginning to work with retailers to track the impact of specific purchases and let customers instantly buy a carbon offset equal to their emissions. Ben and Jerry’s tested the concept at an ice cream shop in London last year.
Over 50 Banks, Firms Trial Trade Finance App Built With R3’s Corda Blockchain (CoinDesk), Rated: A
ABN Amro, Standard Chartered, ING and around 50 other banks and companies have participated in tests of a trade finance application called Voltron.
The tests saw firms across 27 countries use Voltron, which was developed by R3 using its Corda platform, to make simulated letter of credit transactions.
Real Estate Tokens: What They Are and How to Invest (Bitcoin Market Journal), Rated: A
Put simply, a real estate token is a virtual asset used to represent ownership of land, apartments, homes, and various other real properties. The intent is to eliminate antiquated and outdated methods of dealing with real estate. Instead, buyers and sellers complete transactions with digital tokens.
Currently, it can be a challenge to find the right place to invest in real estate tokens; however, there are a few platforms that can get you started.
The Harbor platform provides users with a way to trade real estate on a blockchain network. Assets available on Harbor include private REITs, real estate funds, building ownership, and land. Using blockchain technology means Harbor provides transparency, efficiency, fractional ownership, and, of course, liquidity.
Additionally, Slice gives users the ability to hold, trade, or liquidate their tokens with its built-in security exchange platforms. The platform is available to anyone who has $10,000 he or she is willing to invest.
Meridio is a platform that gives its users the ability to invest in shares of real estate on the blockchain. Through Meridio, properties are split into digital shares, which gives investors and owners a way to interact with one another seamlessly.
Bitfinex Releases Whitepaper to Confirm $ 1 Billion Initial Exchange Offering (CryptoGlobe), Rated: A
Cryptoasset exchange Bitfinex has confirmed that it is planning to raise $1 billion through an initial exchange offering (IEO).
Dong has also been accepting pre-orders for Bitfinex’s upcoming token sale through his crypto-lending application Renrenbit. The well-known investor had reportedly taken pre-orders from users who wanted to participate in the public phase of Bitfinex’s upcoming $1 billion token sale, even before IFinex published an official whitepaper for it.
Cred Partners with Tron and Bitcoin.com to Provide Crypto Lending and Borrowing Services (Bitcoin Exchange Guide), Rated: A
Bitcoin.com has announced a partnership with Cred in which Bitcoin.com users will earn interests of up to 10% on their crypto holdings. Cred is a crypto borrowing and lending company whereas Bitcoin.com is an information portal that has over 4 million Bitcoin wallets.
Fvndit Launches $ 10M Equity-Back Digital Security Offering (Financial Buzz), Rated: A
Fvndit, Inc. (“Fvndit”), a California- and Vietnam-based fintech company, today announced the launch of a $10M digital security offering. Proceeds from the raise will be used to further propel Fvndit’s business objectives as the market leading SME-focused crowd-based funding platform in Vietnam.
Its wholly-owned subsidiary, eLoan, JSC (“eLoan”), operates an online Peer-to-Peer (P2P) funding and investing marketplace in Vietnam, its current local market. Today, SMEs account for more than 41% of Vietnam’s GDP (of $241B USD) and 97% of all enterprises but still remain largely neglected by traditional banks with 70% of them do not have access or have difficulty in accessing credit. eLoan was launched in late 2017 with a clear mission – to make credit more simple and investing more rewarding.
TomoChain teams up with Constant to bring first stablecoin to its platform (Cryptoninjas), Rated: B
Creci Wins its Category at the Innovate Finance Global Summit (PR Web), Rated: B
Creci, an early stage start-up, with headquarters in Hollywood, Florida and offices in Medellin and Bogota, was selected on April 30, 2019, as the category winner for Peer-to-Peer Lending, Alternative Funding, and SME Lending at the Innovate Finance Global Summit in London.
Australia
YOZO a quick and open answer to business lending maze (Mirage News), Rated: A
YOZO is redefining lending for small business by offering a transparent and seamless experience for their borrowing needs. Firstly, by taking the guessing game out of an increasingly frustrating question, “how much can my business borrow?”. YOZO helps small business gauge their borrowing capacity in under a minute. Secondly, by providing an intuitive online experience to apply and receive funds in 48 hours for approved customers.
Southeast Asia
Brankas wants to bring Southeast Asia’s banks and e-commerce into the digital era (TechCrunch), Rated: AAA
Fintech continues to be among the biggest topics driving startups and investment in Southeast Asia. The region’s “internet economy” is forecast to grow massively as its 600 million people increasingly come online — already Southeast Asia has more internet users (350 million) than the U.S. has people, but developing a robust payment landscape underpins those heady growth forecasts.
Brankas, an Indonesia-based startup that operates regionally, is one such young company — it operates a platform that gives banks and financial companies the tech to roll out digital products and embrace online services.
Singapore Fintech Firm Heading into Indonesia (Retail News), Rated: A
Following a successful Series B funding round, SME lending platform Validus Capital is launching in Indonesia. SME lending platform Validus Capital has launched in Indonesia, its first Southeast Asian market outside its home country of Singapore, the firm announced in a media release on Thursday.
Latin America
Brazil fintech Nubank opens Mexico office as it seeks Latam expansion (Reuters), Rated: AAA
Brazilian fintech firm Nubank will open an office in Mexico on Tuesday, an initial step in a potential expansion into other Latin American countries, a company executive said.
Nubank, a six-year-old startup that has raised $400 million from investors such as China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Management and Kaszek Ventures, will start Mexican operations with 20 employees, Nubank executive and co-founder Cristina Junqueira said in an interview.
Authors:
The post Thursday May 9 2019, Weekly News Digest appeared first on Lending Times.