News Comments
- Today’s main news: Square, eBay partner on businesss loans. BNP Paribas launches UK fund for SME lending. Crowdstacker seeking 800K GBP on Seedrs. PPDAI to boost tech investment. Alipay, WeBank competition heats up.
- Today’s main analysis: The good news and bad news about Lending Club.
- Today’s thought-provoking articles: Americans are splurging on personal loans. How irresponsible mortgage lenders created a second housing bubble. BlockFi snags $52.5 million for cryptoasset-backed loans.
United States
- Square, eBay partner on business loans. This is an interesting arrangement. We don’t typically think of eBay as a lender. This could be a punch at Amazon and PayPal.
- The good news and bad news about Lending Club. Very insightful look at Lending Club pre- and post-IPO.
- Americans are splurging on personal loans. And it’s all Lending Club’s fault. Or, more generally, online lenders, says Quartz.
- How irresponsible mortgage lenders created a second housing bubble. Again, it’s all SoFi’s (aka online lenders) fault.
- BlockFi raises $52 million for cryptoasset-backed loans. Crypto lending is picking up, and this could be the next field of battle for fintech lenders.
- Interview with Mike Cagney. Here, he talks about his new blockchain project.
- Could blockchain and fintech lending drive the housing market?
- Even raises $40 million.
- LoanSnap picks up $8 million.
- Tally raise $25 million.
- ArborCrowd sells Southern States Multifamily Portfolio.
- Lendio sees 90% growth in year-over-year revenue.
- P2P auto lending will be huge.
- Whitepages Pro releases global identity review solution powered by machine learning.
- Non-prime consumers spend more responsibly on vacation.
United Kingdom
- Crowdstacker seeks 800,000 GBP through Seedrs.
- BNP Paribas launches UK fund for SME lending.
- Lend academy podcast with iwoca CEO Christoph Rieche.
- The P2P property maze.
- Goodlord forms open banking partnership with TrueLayer.
- Starling Bank rolls out new credit card design.
China
- PPDAI to boost technology investment.
- Alipay, WeBank competition heats up.
- Zennon Kapron on what’s next for fintech.
- P2P lending dominoes continue to fall.
- Guangzhou controller disappears.
Other
- International: MoneyGram, Visa partner on real-time global P2P payments.
- Germany: FinLeap partners with SolarisBank on small business startup.
- The Netherlands: Rabobank’s approach to protecting consumer data.
- Australia: Property Connect enters tech agreement with Clearmatch to market new lending products.
- India: Monexo partners with Cube Wealth.
News Summary
- United States
- eBay & Square Partner on Business Loans (Crowdfund Insider) Rated: AAA
- Lending Club: There’s Good News And There’s Bad News (Seeking Alpha) Rated: AAA
- Americans are splurging on personal loans thanks to fintech startups (Quartz) Rated: AAA
- How Irresponsible Mortgage Lenders Created A Second Housing Bubble (Seeking Alpha) Rated: AAA
- A Conversation with Figure’s Mike Cagney (Financial Revolutionist) Rated: A
- Could Fintech & Blockchain Lending Further Drive The Housing Market Boom? (Forbes) Rated: A
- Employer-focused PFM company gets $ 40 million (Business Insider) Rated: A
- Fintech Startup LoanSnap Raises $ 8m in Series A Financing (Finsmes) Rated: A
- BlockFi Raises $ 52.5M for Cryptoasset-backed Loans (Business Wire) Rated: AAA
- Credit Card Payoff App Tally Raises $ 25 Million (Cheddar) Rated: A
- Southern States Multifamily Portfolio Sells, Exceeding Targeted Returns for ArborCrowd Investors (The Daily Times) Rated: A
- Lendio Reports Q2 Results: 90% Year-Over-Year Revenue Growth (Lendio) Rated: A
- GM Maven CEO: Peer-To-Peer Auto Lending Will Be A Large Market (Bloomberg) Rated: A
- Whitepages Pro Unveils Pro Insight, a Global Identity Review Solution Powered by Machine Learning (Global Newswire) Rated: A
- Center For The New Middle Class: Non-Prime Consumers Spending More Responsibly On Vacation (Payment Week) Rated: A
- United Kingdom
- P2P Lender Crowdstacker Now Seeking £800,000 Through Seedrs Funding Round (Crowdfund Insider) Rated: AAA
- BNP Paribas launches UK fund for SME lending (FinTech Futures) Rated: AAA
- Podcast 159: Christoph Rieche of iwoca (Lend Academy) Rated: A
- Navigating through the P2P property maze (Peer2Peer Finance) Rated: A
- London Proptech Firm Goodlord Forms New Open Banking Partnership With TrueLayer (Crowdfund Insider) Rated: B
- Starling Bank takes on Monzo with daring debit card design (FinTech Futures) Rated: B
- China
- PPDai to boost technology investment (Shine) Rated: AAA
- Alipay and WeBank competition heats up as China reins in leverage (Financial Times) Rated: AAA
- Zennon Kapron on what’s next for Chinese fintech (China Economic Review) Rated: A
- China’s P2P Online Lending Dominoes Continue to Fall (Ciaxin) Rated: A
- Chinese P2P Lender’s Controller Disappears After Sponsoring Portugal (Yicai Global) Rated: A
- European Union
- FinLeap Partners With Fabrick to Launch Financial Management Startup for Small Businesses (Crowdfund Insider) Rated: AAA
- Rabobank’s novel approach to protecting customer data (American Banker) Rated: A
- International
- MoneyGram And Visa Team To Deliver Real-Time Global P2P (PYMNTS) Rated: A
- Australia
- Property Connect enters technology agreement with Clearmatch to market new lending products (Small Caps) Rated: A
- India
- P2P lending platform Monexo partners with Cube Wealth for new-clientele (Business Standard) Rated: B
United States
eBay & Square Partner on Business Loans (Crowdfund Insider) Rated: AAA
eBay (Nasdaq:EBAY) and Square Capital (NYSE:SQ) have signed an agreement to provide up to $100,000 in credit to sellers – in as little as one day. The partnership is not only a streamlined offering of financing for small businesses that use eBay but also a whack at traditional banks which are mostly unable to match such a speedy lending agreement.
Scott Cutler, Senior Vice President, Americas at eBay, says that eBay is committed to helping their sellers and providing credit in partnership with Square simply makes sense.
Lending Club: There’s Good News And There’s Bad News (Seeking Alpha) Rated: AAA
For example, if you have $30,000 CC debt and good credit you can get a 3-year payoff at about 6% and a 5 year at about 7%. That is a big improvement over a typical rate of 17.5% on purchases and an amazing 23.5% on cash advances. So you take out the $30,000 loan, pay off your credit cards and save thousands in interest while you are at it. In addition, your CC is now zero and you can start using it again.
They came to market via an IPO late in 2014 and were an immediate hit rising over 50% their first day. They were immediately valued at over $9 billion. Today they are at less than $2 billion, a drop of almost 80%.
And finally here is LC’s chart since the IPO. Talk about ugly.
Americans are splurging on personal loans thanks to fintech startups (Quartz) Rated: AAA
The stock of personal loans outstanding has grown to about $120 billion as of March, according to TransUnion data. That compares with $71.9 billion a decade ago—worth around $90 billion adjusted for inflation—when the subprime mortgage crisis crescendoed. About 17 million Americans have this type of debt which, unlike mortgages and automobile loans, isn’t collateralized by an asset.
Upstart financial technology companies like Lending Club, Prosper, and Avant account for about a third of this lending, up from less than 1% in 2010.
How Irresponsible Mortgage Lenders Created A Second Housing Bubble (Seeking Alpha) Rated: AAA
Rents Are Falling, But Prices Are Surging
I believe the culprit is a new crop of lenders who are outside of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac regulations on FICO scores and DTI. For example, San Francisco lender Social Finance (SoFi) is offering up to 3 million dollar loans with 10 percent down and “flexible DTI.“
Firms like SoFi are the engine driving the madness in the California housing market. Here’s what Michael Tannenbaum, former Vice President of SoFi, had to say about their loans in 2016, “Sixty-five percent of the business we do is first-time home buyers; it’s a big deal we’re opening up to the jumbo first-time market.” A year later, he was gone. Other gems from the San Francisco Chronicle article – SoFi’s average loan at the time was $800,000 and two-thirds were in California. I shudder to think what their average loan size and DTI is now. Also, in addition to not being big fans of debt to income ratios, SoFi isn’t big on using other traditional measures like FICO scores to evaluate borrowers. In 2016, they declared their company a “FICO Free Zone” in a press release. Said a former business development associate, “The volume of applications coming in was crazy.” Other sources reported on the wild sex culture at the firm. As for their underwriting practices? As long as housing prices went up, they were more or less irrelevant. But, if prices go down, SoFi and their backers stand to lose a lot of money.
A Conversation with Figure’s Mike Cagney (Financial Revolutionist) Rated: A
Mike Cagney’s return to fintech’s center stage had been foreshadowed by a handful of reports suggesting that his new company would be focused on the origination of real estate-related assets and that, somehow, blockchain would figure into the mix. But Cagney, who played a foundational role in building SoFi into one of fintech’s biggest success stories before his departure, isn’t the type of entrepreneur who thinks small and nichey. With his new company, Figure, and the blockchain protocol it has built, Provenance, Cagney and his team of 80 professionals are taking aim at the gigantic world of institutional capital markets transactions. Why? Because that’s one place where the vig (i.e., rent-seeking) still sloshes around in copious amounts. But unlike SoFi, which is taking aim at banks, Cagney is now fixing his gaze on the administrators, trustees, custodians and other intermediaries who take a cut out of each securitization and other types of deals. On the eve of the first transaction to be put on Provenance (a HELOC), The FR’s Gregg Schoenberg sat down with Cagney to learn more about his plans and how blockchain is central to his mission.
Could Fintech & Blockchain Lending Further Drive The Housing Market Boom? (Forbes) Rated: A
Those who do not have the scores to secure loans from traditional lenders now have alternatives particularly in the form of P2P lenders. These platforms pool together money from interested investors and loan them out to borrowers.
They also have a much quicker turnaround compared to what customers might experience with banks and other large lenders. While these services started out only to fund smaller personal loans, some like LendingClub have grown and expanded to allow larger-value loans like mortgages to be made on the platform.
Blockchain-based lenders have built upon this crowdfunding concept and enhanced it with blockchain’s capabilities with smart contracts and tokenization. While initial efforts as espoused by the likes of
Employer-focused PFM company gets $ 40 million (Business Insider) Rated: A
US-based personal finance management (PFM) company Even has raised a $40 million Series B funding round led by Keith Rabois of Khoshla Ventures, and including Valar Ventures, Allen & Company, Harrison Metal, Ron Conway, and Silicon Valley Bank.
Even integrates with attendance, payroll, and banking systems to help consumers improve their financial health. Its features include Instapay, which enables users to request the money they have earned before their actual payday, and it uses AI to give users an “okay to spend” amount, so they don’t get surprised by sudden expenses. Additionally, it offers an automatic savings feature, similar to other PFM companies including Acorns and Cleo.
Fintech Startup LoanSnap Raises $ 8m in Series A Financing (Finsmes) Rated: A
LoanSnap, a San Francisco, CA-based developer of technology that protects people against dumb loans, raised $8m in Series A financing.
The round was led by True Ventures with participation from Baseline Ventures, Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, Core Innovation Partners, Joe Montana’s Liquid 2 Ventures, OVO Fund, Transmedia Ventures, and angel investors.
BlockFi Raises $ 52.5M for Cryptoasset-backed Loans (Business Wire) Rated: AAA
BlockFi, the leading cryptoasset to USD lender, announced today it has raised $52.5M to expand operations. Galaxy Digital Ventures LLC, a digital currency and blockchain technology investment firm founded by Mike Novogratz led the deal. This marks the industry’s first institutional investment in cryptoasset backed loans. BlockFi’s existing investors, which include ConsenSys Ventures and PJC, also participated in the funding round.
- BlockFi planning rapid expansion of cryptoasset-to-USD lending platform
- BlockFi partners with Galaxy Digital Lending LLC on loan purchasing facility and receives equity investment from Galaxy Digital Ventures LLC
- Marks first institutional investment in cryptoasset backed loans
Credit Card Payoff App Tally Raises $ 25 Million (Cheddar) Rated: A
Tally, an automated debt-managing app, has raised $25 million in Series B funding with the goal of expanding its reach and finding new ways to alleviate consumers’ financial anxiety, Cheddar has learned.
Southern States Multifamily Portfolio Sells, Exceeding Targeted Returns for ArborCrowd Investors (The Daily Times) Rated: A
ArborCrowd (the “Company”) today announced its Southern States Multifamily Portfolio (SSMP) investment has been realized ahead of schedule, outpacing targeted return estimates. One of the properties in the portfolio is located in Mississippi and sold in late 2017. The two remaining properties, located in Alabama, recently sold. The aggregate portfolio sales price was $25.85 million, generating an internal rate of return (IRR) of over 29% for ArborCrowd investors.
The transaction marks the first of ArborCrowd’s six deals to complete its investment cycle, and its success is a great sign of the long-term viability of the Company’s growing platform. The SSMP investment opportunity was quickly oversubscribed when ArborCrowd presented the deal on its platform in February 2017, raising over $2.1 million in just 5 days. The over 29% IRR generated by the sale of the portfolio far exceeded the targeted 17% to 20% IRR projected by ArborCrowd at the time of the offering.
Lendio Reports Q2 Results: 90% Year-Over-Year Revenue Growth (Lendio) Rated: A
Lendio, the nation’s leading marketplace for small business loans, today announced record growth across all areas of its business, including 90 percent year-over-year quarterly revenue growth. To date, Lendio has helped facilitate more than $900 million in financing to over 45,000 small businesses across the U.S. and Canada through its marketplace of more than 75 small business lenders. The growth milestone comes after an 80 percent increase in loans funded through the Lendio platform in the last year.
From July 2017 to June 2018, Lendio facilitated nearly $400 million in loans to more than 22,000 small businesses. The average initial loan size among Lendio’s small business customers grew to nearly $35,000. The top five industries funded through Lendio’s marketplace include construction, retail, restaurants, health care and information media.
GM Maven CEO: Peer-To-Peer Auto Lending Will Be A Large Market (Bloomberg) Rated: A
Julia Steyn, Maven CEO, on their new peer-to-peer lending program for GM car owners, and the progress Maven is making in the shared economy.
Navigating through the P2P property maze (Peer2Peer Finance) Rated: A
Landbay investors can expect returns of around 3.54 per cent on its fixed-rate product, or 3.18 per cent with its tracker-rate option, by investing in loans secured by UK property.
The Peer-to-Peer Finance Association member launched its IFISA in February last year, meaning that Landbay customers can also benefit from tax-free earnings on their investments.
LandlordInvest’s investors have earned average annual returns of 11.3 per cent to date, secured by residential or commercial property, with the option of an IFISA wrapper
London Proptech Firm Goodlord Forms New Open Banking Partnership With TrueLayer (Crowdfund Insider) Rated: B
Goodlord, a UK-based proptech platform, has formed a new open banking partnership with TrueLayer. Founded in 2014, Goodlord reports that its cloud-based platform is trusted by hundreds of agencies across the UK. The company has created a one-stop-shop by providing access to a dynamic suite of specialized services, including insurance, e-signing, referencing, and e-payments.
Starling Bank takes on Monzo with daring debit card design (FinTech Futures) Rated: B
UK digital challenger Starling Bank is upping its design game with the launch of a new teal-coloured vertical debit card as it plays catch up with Monzo.
The new card has all customer details, including name, card number and expiry date, on the back – and it’s rolling them out this week.
The card is inspired by the blue-green tones of the plumage of the starling bird. It is also one of the initial group of 16 original “web colours” formulated in 1987 to display web pages, reflecting Starling’s digital heritage.
China
PPDai to boost technology investment (Shine) Rated: AAA
PPDai, China’s first online peer-to-peer lending platform listed in the US, said today it would increase its registered capital to 1 billion yuan (US$149 million) and expand its artificial intelligence applications to hedge risks and improve investor confidence amid concerns over P2P lending.
The Shanghai-based company, which has about 71 million users ,employs AI, Big Data and blockchain to fight against risk and fraud.
Alipay and WeBank are set up perfectly to take advantage of new priorities from Chinese policymakers to increase the flow of capital to small companies and households, their approach is different as WeBank looks to use bank partnerships to make capital connections.
Alipay uses scale, data and technology capabilities to compete with banks for deposits and funds its borrowing through the ABS market.
Alipay and WeBank plan to list their finance arms soon which will continue to put pressure on the rivalry as well as the broader financial market in China.
Zennon Kapron on what’s next for Chinese fintech (China Economic Review) Rated: A
Analysing these questions is all part of the day job for Zennon Kapron, the head of fintech research and consulting firm Kapronasia. In this interview with China Economic Review, Kapron gives his take on some of the market’s recent developments, and explains why China’s fintech industry is such an exciting space to watch.
CER: How worried should we be about the recent panic surrounding China’s small P2P lending platforms?
ZK: The fact that P2P lending platforms are failing is not surprising. Many of these platforms had inadequate internal operational processes, poor lending practices, and in some cases, were just complete scams. What will be interesting to see is if retail investors will still want to put new money on these platforms. I get the impression at the moment that many investors are just trying to get their money out. Even if the P2P industry manages to right itself, it may find that all the investors are gone.
China’s P2P Online Lending Dominoes Continue to Fall (Ciaxin) Rated: A
Another domino in China’s peer-to-peer lending industry fell.
Beijing-based iqianbang.com was the latest online P2P lending platform to close down. The company announced a “benign exit” last Friday night, citing “deteriorating online lending environment and drying up liquidity.”
Investors in several P2P platforms, including iqianbang.com, gathered Monday at a local Beijing police station to report the loss of money to police.
Chinese P2P Lender’s Controller Disappears After Sponsoring Portugal (Yicai Global) Rated: A
Zheng Yansen, the controller of peer-to-peer lender Guangzhou Leader Internet Financial Information Service has disappeared, the firm announced yesterday.
It also acknowledged that ‘some of its projects are delayed’ and said it will set up a work group as soon as possible to inventory its assets and businesses, request borrowers to repay loans earlier than scheduled, and liquidate collateral as quickly as possible.
European Union
FinLeap Partners With Fabrick to Launch Financial Management Startup for Small Businesses (Crowdfund Insider) Rated: AAA
FinLeap, the fintech start-up platform behind Germany’s SolarisBank, announced on Monday it has teamed up with Italian open banking platform Fabrick to launch a new financial management startup specifically for small businesses. According to FinLeap, the startup, called Beesy, will simplify accounting, tax and banking services for micro-enterprises and freelancers.
As soon as Beesy is launched, FinLeap added it will provide more details about the services and how they work.
Rabobank’s novel approach to protecting customer data (American Banker) Rated: A
Take Dutch-based Rabobank, for example, which now converts customer data to the Latin names of flowers and animals in order to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation that sensitive client information be disguised.
At the heart of all these regulations is the mandate that companies must make sure no one can access customer data who shouldn’t, and that every effort is made to protect that data from breaches. Storing customer data in the clear — not encrypted, anonymized, or pseudonymized — is not acceptable, to regulators or anyone else.
International
MoneyGram And Visa Team To Deliver Real-Time Global P2P (PYMNTS) Rated: A
MoneyGram and Visa announced today (July 24) that they have partnered to deliver real-time digital disbursements to MoneyGram customers using Visa’s push payments platform, Visa Direct.
Launching in October in two key markets, Mexico and the Philippines, MoneyGram will expand its options in which receivers from those markets may receive and use funds instantly — via their bank-issued Visa-branded debit card or Visa-branded prepaid card — and senders may choose the option by which to send those funds. The partnership leverages the trust that consumers globally have in the MoneyGram and Visa brands, as well as the ability for receivers to access funds 24/7/365 without having to visit an agent location to pick up cash.
Australia
Property Connect enters technology agreement with Clearmatch to market new lending products (Small Caps) Rated: A
Realty services group Property Connect Holdings (ASX: PCH) has entered into a minimum five-year licence agreement to use a technology platform powered by marketplace treasury company Clearmatch, in the development and marketing of its own lending products designed to ease property market transactions.
The binding heads of agreement allows Property Connect to use the SocietyOne platform owned by Clearmatch to develop products focused on the emerging project development finance and residential mortgage sectors within the private peer-to-peer lending market.
India
P2P lending platform Monexo partners with Cube Wealth for new-clientele (Business Standard) Rated: B
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lender, Monexo Fintech has partnered with Cube Wealth to provide clients with an alternative avenue for investments. The app-based wealth management firm’s user-base of 350,000 customers will have an option of placing a portion of their investments onto Monexo’s platform.
The P2P market space is only three years old and until last October operated without any regulatory oversight. While there are 3,000 P2P lenders in China with a total lending book of $500 million, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is said to have approved P2P licenses to around eight firms.
Authors:
Wednesday May 9 2018, Daily News Digest
News Comments Today’s main news: SoFi is planning a credit card. LendingClub reports Q1 results. OnDeck reports Q1 results. Kabbage closes Orchard acquisition. Cross River passes $600M in monthly originations. Mintos achieves profitability. iZettle to pursue $1.1B valuation through IPO. TransferWise moves into Canada. Today’s main analysis: Review of OnDeck earnings. Today’s thought-provoking articles: Review of Marcus. Cities where borrowers save the most […]
News Comments
- Today’s main news: SoFi is planning a credit card. LendingClub reports Q1 results. OnDeck reports Q1 results. Kabbage closes Orchard acquisition. Cross River passes $600M in monthly originations. Mintos achieves profitability. iZettle to pursue $1.1B valuation through IPO. TransferWise moves into Canada.
- Today’s main analysis: Review of OnDeck earnings.
- Today’s thought-provoking articles: Review of Marcus. Cities where borrowers save the most on mortgages. The future of credit.
United States
- SoFi’s planning a credit card. AT: “I wonder how this will play out with their primary target, millennials, who aren’t warm on credit cards.”
- LendingClub reports Q1 results. AT: “Looking good.”
- OnDeck’s Q1 results. AT: “Still at a loss, but looking better.”
- Review of OnDeck’s results. AT: “Lend Academy breaks it down and shows why OnDeck’s performance is improving.”
- Kabbage closes acquisition of Orchard. AT: “Besides the technology acquisition, a big benefit to Kabbage is that Orchard’s co-founders Matt Burton and David Snitkof are staying aboard.”
- Business Insider’s review of Marcus. AT: “Not only should traditional financial institutions be concerned about Marcus, but up-and-coming technology companies should be, too.”
- Cities where borrowers save the most on mortgages. AT: “It pays to shop around. Alt lending firms that offer mortgages should look at the competition.”
- Cross River passes $600 million in monthly loan orginations. AT: “Congratulations.”
- MoneyGram seeks more digital gains.
- Credit Karma monitors the dark web.
- Zillow invests in house flipping.
- Why fintechs should move on from millennials.
- Strategies for saying good-bye to student loan debt.
- Goldman, Wells Fargo look to credit cards for big returns.
- Making the ask is key to success.
- SmartBiz Loans adds Seacoast Bank.
- Fidelity’s student debt employer contribution program still hot in attracting talent.
European Union
International
India
- BigWin Infotech gets P2P lending license.
- The future of credit is here.
- Finzy wants to change how lending is viewed.
Other
News Summary
- United States
- SoFi Is Said to Plan Credit Card With Help From Former Citi Executive (Bloomberg) Rated: AAA
- Lending Club Corp.: LendingClub Reports First Quarter 2018 Results (The Wallstreet Transcript) Rated: AAA
- OnDeck Reports First Quarter 2018 Financial Results (PR Newswire) Rated: AAA
- Review of OnDeck Q1 2018 Earnings Results (Lend Academy) Rated: AAA
- OnDeck swings to loss, but loan demand surges (American Banker) Rated: A
- Kabbage’s Acquisition of Orchard Officially Closes (Crowdfund Insider) Rated: AAA
- We tried Goldman’s Marcus, here’s our conclusion (Business Insider) Rated: AAA
- LendingTree Reveals Cities Where Borrowers Save the Most by Shopping Around for Mortgage Loans (PR Newswire) Rated: AAA
- Cross River Passes $ 600 Million in Monthly Loan Originations (The Public Opinion) Rated: AAA
- MoneyGram Seeks More Digital Gains In 2018 (PYMNTS) Rated: A
- Credit Karma Partners with SpyCloud to Add Dark Web Data Monitoring (Finovate) Rated: A
- Data Sheet—Zillow’s Audacious House Flipping Plan Scares Wall Street (Fortune) Rated: A
- Fintech Companies Should Move On From The Millennials (Forbes) Rated: A
- 3 Strategies To Help You Say “Bye, Felicia” To Student Loan Debt (Forbes) Rated: A
- Goldman, Wells Fargo Look to Credit Cards for Bigger Returns (Bloomberg) Rated: A
- Making the Ask, Part 1: The Key to Entrepreneurial Success (Newswise) Rated: A
- SmartBiz Loans Adds Seacoast Bank to Technology Ecosystem (Business Wire) Rated: B
- Fidelity’s Student Debt Employer Contribution Program Continues to Be Selected by Leading Businesses to Attract and Retain Top Talent (Business Wire) Rated: B
- United Kingdom
- What are the benefits of IFIsas? (Bridging & Commercial) Rated: A
- China
- Chinese Rural Fintech Firm Shenma Completes $ 47.3M Series C Round (Chinese Money Network) Rated: A
- European Union
- Riga-based fintech startup Mintos reaches profitability as it eyes global expansion (EU Startups) Rated: AAA
- Swedish fintech group iZettle to seek $ 1.1bn valuation in IPO (Financial Times) Rated: AAA
- International
- ArthaCoin ICO (ATH Token): Long Term Crypto Lending Program? (Bitcoin Exchange Guide) Rated: A
- What’s The Difference Between Trading Crypto VS. Lending Crypto (Finsmes) Rated: A
- Australia
- Do You Still Only Have One Bank Account? Here’s How Many You Should Have By Now (MyDomaine) Rated: A
- India
- BigWin Infotech gets P2P lending licence (The Economic Times) Rated: AAA
- The Future Of Credit Is Here (Businessworld) Rated: AAA
- P2P loan marketplace Finzy wants to change how India sees lending (Your Story) Rated: A
- Latin America
- Ripio CEO: Reinventing P2P Lending With The Blockchain (PTMNTS) Rated: A
- Canada
- Fintech company TransferWise to launch borderless debit card in Canada in 2019 (Financial Post) Rated: AAA
United States
SoFi Is Said to Plan Credit Card With Help From Former Citi Executive (Bloomberg) Rated: AAA
Social Finance Inc., a startup looking to offer a range of banking services to millennials, is working on a credit card and is bringing in a former Citigroup Inc. executive to help oversee the initiative, said people familiar with the matter.
The San Francisco-based company hopes to offer credit cards within the next year, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans are private. In preparation, SoFi is hiring Richard Garside to help lead the company’s operations, the people said.
Lending Club Corp.: LendingClub Reports First Quarter 2018 Results (The Wallstreet Transcript) Rated: AAA
Financial highlights for the first quarter include:
- Delivered revenue of $151.7 million, up 22% year-over-year
- Achieved 18% year-over-year growth in originations to over $2.3 billion
- Improved Contribution Margin to 49.1% from 42.7% in the same quarter last year
- Delivered Adjusted EBITDA of $15.3 million, or a 10.1% Adjusted EBITDA margin, compared to an Adjusted EBITDA of $0.2 million, or a 0.1% Adjusted EBITDA margin, in the same quarter last year
- GAAP Consolidated Net Loss was ($31.2) million, including $17 million of expenses related to outstanding legacy issues disclosed by the Company in 2016, related to ongoing legal costs from government investigations, as well indemnification costs for the previous management.
Operational highlights for the first quarter include:
- In the first quarter of 2018, LendingClub continued to execute on its mission to make credit more affordable and investing more rewarding, now having served over 2.4 million borrowers.
- For Borrowers: LendingClub saw strong adoption of a new feature called Direct Payoff that allows borrowers to seamlessly pay off their credit card balances in exchange for a better rate – thereby improving their financial profile and lowering their monthly payments.
- For Investors: LendingClub’s recently launched innovation, CLUB Certificates, attracted over $160 million in funding from several of the top names in asset management. The new CLUB Certificates give investors easy access to consumer credit and provide a single security that offers greater flexibility and liquidity.
- Scott Sanborn, LendingClub CEO said, ‘We feel good about how we’ve kicked off the year and the fundamentals of our business continue to be strong. Our strategic initiatives are working on both sides of our marketplace and we’ll keep innovating to help more Americans on their journey to financial success.’.
OnDeck Reports First Quarter 2018 Financial Results (PR Newswire) Rated: AAA
OnDeck (NYSE: ONDK) today announced first quarter 2018 Gross revenue of $90 million, Net loss of $1.9 million, and Adjusted Net income of $6.4 million.
“Our first quarter results reflect a strong start to 2018 as we continue to execute on our strategic priorities to position our business for future success,” said Noah Breslow, chief executive officer, OnDeck. “We delivered 8% sequential loan growth while managing our sales and marketing costs, and had positive credit performance, as the 15+ Day Delinquency Ratio and Net Charge-off rate both improved significantly from a year ago.”
Review of OnDeck Q1 2018 Earnings Results (Lend Academy) Rated: AAA
While the company posted a net loss of $1.9 million for the quarter, this was within guidance. Gross revenues were $90 million, coming in at the top end of projections for the quarter. The increase in revenue was attributable to higher interest income or the company’s effective interest yield, or EIY which came in at 35.6%, compared to 34.8% in the previous quarter. OnDeck also beat on adjusted income which came in at $6.4 million (Q1 2018 guidance was between $1 and $5 million).
Originations were up 8% from the previous quarter at $591 million.
OnDeck swings to loss, but loan demand surges (American Banker) Rated: A
Kabbage’s Acquisition of Orchard Officially Closes (Crowdfund Insider) Rated: AAA
Orchard co-founder Matt Burton has emailed industry members stating the previously announced acquisition of his company by SME lender Kabbage has formally closed. The purchase had been rumored for weeks with an official announcement hitting the press at the end of April.
Burton, and co-founder and Chief Analytics Officer David Snitkof, have both joined Kabbage in leadership roles. In total, Kabbage will add more than twenty Orchard employees who are predominantly focused on advanced analytics, data science and engineering to its New York City office.
We tried Goldman’s Marcus, here’s our conclusion (Business Insider) Rated: AAA
Goldman Sachs’ consumer lending platform, Marcus, appears well on its way to becoming a full-scale digital banking offering. The platform has originated some $2.5 billion in loans since launching in October 2016, and now offers savings accounts with a minimum threshold of $1.
Here’s why FIs should be worried about Marcus:
- It’s backed by Goldman’s reputation, and deep pockets.
- The interface is sleek and consumer friendly.
- Its offerings are extremely competitive.
LendingTree Reveals Cities Where Borrowers Save the Most by Shopping Around for Mortgage Loans (PR Newswire) Rated: AAA
LendingTree today released its Mortgage Rate Competition Indexes for the 50 largest cities in the U.S. to assess how different markets behave across the country.
Cross River Passes $ 600 Million in Monthly Loan Originations (The Public Opinion) Rated: AAA
Continuing its strong record of growth, Cross River, a leader in the emerging Fintech industry, announced today that it has set a new monthly loan origination record of more than $600 million in April.
Cross River’s April 2018 volume represents approximately 60% growth in loan origination from April 2017, and keeps Cross River on pace to exceed $7 billion in loan originations for 2018.
MoneyGram Seeks More Digital Gains In 2018 (PYMNTS) Rated: A
MoneyGram revenue declined 2 percent year over year in the first quarter, to $380 million. That was lower than analyst expectations of about $386 million. Net income declined 19 percent, to $7.1 million, with earnings per share at $0.15 per share — below analyst expectations of $0.26.
Moneygram.com, the digital business, posted a year-over-year revenue gain of 21 percent in the first quarter, with most credit going to customer acquisitions, the company said in its financial release. Digital revenue accounted for 16 percent of all money transfer revenue in the first quarter.
Credit Karma Partners with SpyCloud to Add Dark Web Data Monitoring (Finovate) Rated: A
Credit Karma has expanded its identity theft monitoring offering to include data from the dark web. Courtesy of a partnership with fellow Finovate alum – and Best of Show winner – SpyCloud, Credit Karma will dramatically increase the number of data breaches it is able to review for its 80 million users. Currently searching 4.5 billion public breaches, the new service will boost the total number of data breaches searched to 13 billion.
Data Sheet—Zillow’s Audacious House Flipping Plan Scares Wall Street (Fortune) Rated: A
Looking merely at the numbers, Zillow reported a fine quarter Monday. The Seattle company doesn’t make money. But it does grow quickly on top of a billion-dollar-plus annual-revenue clip. It is worth more than $10 billion and is the winner of its category, having absorbed competitor Trulia and outlasted others.
Yet Zillow isn’t satisfied. It is starting a new home-flipping business using its own balance sheet to buy, touch up, and sell homes. Wall Street hates the idea, wondering why a perfectly respectable online business would wade into the messy and highly variable world of investing real money in actual houses.
Fintech Companies Should Move On From The Millennials (Forbes) Rated: A
These days, for consumer fintech companies in wealth management (we will call them fintechs for short), it is, to paraphrase Meghan Trainor, all about the millennials. Fintech unicorns are courting millennials and garnering billion-dollar valuations for succeeding at it. The Robinhood is 28, and 78% are under 35. The average age of a Betterment customer is 35 and . With three million accounts, Acorns has primarily a millennial customer base as well. However, if these companies and their millennial-chasing brethren are hoping to raise meaningful assets under management, it is time for them to move on from the millennials.
According to the , millennials today have just 4% of the nation’s wealth, compared to 50% for Baby Boomers and 33% for the Silent Generation.
3 Strategies To Help You Say “Bye, Felicia” To Student Loan Debt (Forbes) Rated: A
Goldman, Wells Fargo Look to Credit Cards for Bigger Returns (Bloomberg) Rated: A
Two of the biggest U.S. banks, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co., are on the brink of piling into credit-card lending, seeking a share of the $183 billion in fees and interest tied to the product.
Making the Ask, Part 1: The Key to Entrepreneurial Success (Newswise) Rated: A
Professor Saras Sarasvathy, a renowned scholar of entrepreneurship at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, has discovered that successful entrepreneurs are not only relentless “askers,” but they also have a repertoire of asks for different startup scenarios.
Rather than develop business plans to raise money, experienced entrepreneurs start with their means at hand — who they are, what they know and whom they know — exploring what they could do with those means. At the same time, they enlist others who want to work with them. Together, they iteratively co-create new products, ventures and markets. As more stakeholders self-select, committing their resources to the emergent ideas, the goals start to coalesce.
In the early stages of venture creation, effectual asks start as open-ended conversations.
SmartBiz Loans Adds Seacoast Bank to Technology Ecosystem (Business Wire) Rated: B
SmartBiz Loans today announced the addition of Seacoast Bank ( to the company’s unique technology ecosystem, taking the total number of banks on their platform to nine. SmartBiz Loans’ intelligent technology platform matches Florida-based Seacoast Bank to the right loan customers in a fraction of the time a referral typically can take, allowing the bank to originate SBA loans more efficiently while increasing the likelihood that small business owners get approved for funding.
Fidelity’s Student Debt Employer Contribution Program Continues to Be Selected by Leading Businesses to Attract and Retain Top Talent (Business Wire) Rated: B
With student debt levels reaching crisis proportions in the United States, Fidelity Investments announces significant response to its Student Debt Employer Contribution benefit, with 25 employers making plans to offer the Fidelity program and nearly 9,000 of their eligible employees expected to be enrolled in the program by the end of June.
United Kingdom
What are the benefits of IFIsas? (Bridging & Commercial) Rated: A
Over a third of UK savers (36%) would place their money in an IFIsa if they had the available funds, a new study has found.
The Next Gen: Investors and Savers report from P2P lending platform ArchOver found that 61% of respondents acknowledged the prospect of higher returns and better interest rates from an IFIsa.
However, over half (57%) claimed that they still didn’t fully understand the service.
China
Chinese Rural Fintech Firm Shenma Completes $ 47.3M Series C Round (Chinese Money Network) Rated: A
Shanghai-based Shenma Finance, a fintech company focused on rural mobility, has raised a RMB300 million (US$47.25 million) series C round led by China Growth Capital, Hina Group and Chinese fintech firm Tongbanjie Group.
Existing investors Credit Ease Financial Industry Investment Fund and ChinaEquity Group also participated in the round, the firm announced on its official WeChat account.
European Union
Riga-based fintech startup Mintos reaches profitability as it eyes global expansion (EU Startups) Rated: AAA
Three years after launch, the Riga-based fintech startup Mintos has turned an annual profit for the first time. The company’s revenue increased more than four-fold in 2017 to over €2.1 million and net profit for 2017 was €197K.
In more than three years since its establishment, Mintos has exceeded €660 million in cumulative investments by investors and the company expects the amount of loans funded to reach €1 billion by the end of the year.
Swedish fintech group iZettle to seek $ 1.1bn valuation in IPO (Financial Times) Rated: AAA
Some of the biggest names in payments, including Mastercard, American Express and Santander, have invested in iZettle, as have venture capital firms including Index Ventures and Dawn Capital.
International
ArthaCoin ICO (ATH Token): Long Term Crypto Lending Program? (Bitcoin Exchange Guide) Rated: A
Arthacoin is a sustainable investment-lending platform that aims at providing prosperity and guaranteed returns to its investors. Arthacoin is viewed as an alternative investment, which uses different investment methods to ensure investors get active returns using their collected funds. The platform purposes to create returns by use of derivatives and leverage in cryptocurrencies.
Besides, it is a self-managed financial system, which supports peer-to-peer transactions with a basis on the open-source platform. Arthacoin is built with a vision of creating a regular passive and sustainable income in the end for its investors.
What’s The Difference Between Trading Crypto VS. Lending Crypto (Finsmes) Rated: A
When it comes to investing in cryptocurrencies, the most common way to invest is by trading. Cryptocurrencies have revolutionized how we do business, make investments and raise funds. Some would even call blockchain technology the invention that would shape the 21st century. Trading cryptocurrencies is a fast and easy way to profit and can be interesting too.
But there is also another way to earn profits from cryptocurrencies and make your money work for you – crypto lending.
Let’s take a look at both crypto trading and crypto lending.
Crypto lending is a relatively newer way to earn profits. It revolves around the concept of shorting.
Australia
Do You Still Only Have One Bank Account? Here’s How Many You Should Have By Now (MyDomaine) Rated: A
If you’re living from pay cheque to pay cheque and can’t seem to break the cycle, chances are you’re not alone, dear millennial. In fact, it may not have even been bad shopping habits that landed you here. Whether it’s an underpaying job, or a weekly rent payment that is far from sensible, in the words of financial adviser, from Honest Money, Jacqui Park: “There’s no time like the present” to stop spending frivolously and start saving. But before you downsize, start a side-hustle, or, cut up the credit cards; it’s worth noting the basics of saving, so when you do decide to forgo life’s little luxuries you are able to make the most of it.
India
BigWin Infotech gets P2P lending licence (The Economic Times) Rated: AAA
Online lending platform BigWin Infotech has received an in-principle approval from RBI to start peer-to-peer lending operation as a non-banking finance company.
The company claims to be the first among all the P2P applicants to have received the licence and is planning to commence operations under the brand name of Paisadukaan.
P2P loan marketplace Finzy wants to change how India sees lending (Your Story) Rated: A
The rules of investment have changed over the years. First it was traditional methods like saving with fixed deposits, and then came insurance and stock markets.
However, the rules have changed yet again, and peer-to-peer lending is being viewed as an investment avenue that is expected to give returns to the tune of 18-22 percent, according to industry estimates.
According to the company, the rate of return for investing in Finzy is 15.5 percent for investors.
Latin America
Ripio CEO: Reinventing P2P Lending With The Blockchain (PTMNTS) Rated: A
Ripio has had more than one name in its evolution as a firm – but only a single goal. Originally known as BitPagos at launch, and then rebranding to Ripio in advance of its late 2017 ICO – the Argentina-based firm wants to use the blockchain to unlock the power of P2P lendingon a global scale.
The problem with traditional credit systems, according to Ripio, is that when it comes to access, geography is more or less destiny in many cases.
Canada
Fintech company TransferWise to launch borderless debit card in Canada in 2019 (Financial Post) Rated: AAA
European financial technology company TransferWise is planning a Canadian launch next year for its borderless debit MasterCard, which allows users to hold and spend a balance in multiple currencies with lower fees than traditional banks.
Kaarmann says there would be no transaction fees for people making purchases on the borderless debit card in the currency a balance is held in.
Authors:
Friday April 27 2018, Daily News Digest
News Comments Today’s main news: Kabbage buys Orchard.Ascentium Capital issues $330M securitization.LendingTree reports record Q1 results.Funding Circle issues second MPL deal.Revolut raises $250M, achieves unicorn status.BBVA issues first blockchain loan from a global bank.IOU Financial releases 2017 results. Today’s main analysis: Canadian fintech funding declines 60 percent in Q1. Today’s thought-provoking articles: Where the oldest […]
News Comments
- Today’s main news: Kabbage buys Orchard.Ascentium Capital issues $330M securitization.LendingTree reports record Q1 results.Funding Circle issues second MPL deal.Revolut raises $250M, achieves unicorn status.BBVA issues first blockchain loan from a global bank.IOU Financial releases 2017 results.
- Today’s main analysis: Canadian fintech funding declines 60 percent in Q1.
- Today’s thought-provoking articles: Where the oldest cars are bought.Mobile banking one of top 3 apps Americans use.APAC’s game-changing proptech.
United States
- Kabbage acquires Orchard. AT: “This will be good for both companies. Orchard’s CEO Matt Burton will remain with Kabbage.”
- Orchard deal will allow Kabbage to expand offering to banks, small businesses. AT: “This will undoubtedly spur Kabbage’s further growth. And a consequence of the deal is that Orchard will stop offering services that Kabbage’s competitors can use, which will give Kabbage another competitive advantage.”
- Ascentium Capital to issue $330 million securitization. AT: “Glad to see it.”
- LendingTree reports Q1 results. AT: “LendingTree is looking good overall. Mortgage revenues increased and the company achieved a record for non-mortgage products.”
- Which locations buy the oldest cars. AT: “Good stuff if you’re in the used car lending business.”
- Mobile banking one of the top three most used apps Americans use. AT: “No surprise. I suspect some day it will be No. 1.”
- How to avoid be overcharged for loan fees.
- Digital bank in a box.
- RealtyMogul, Comunidad Realty Partners close $30M property deal in Texas.
- PeerStreet scales real estate crowdfunding.
- Citizens Bank uses Finastra, Infosys for trade finance.
- Columbus consumers less likely to put fraud alerts on credit reports.
- U.S. banks get more freedom to offer unsecured loans.
- Big and small banks to expand in Orlando.
- Free research reports on MoneyGram, Navient, Oaktree, OnDeck.
- Covr appoints BOD, advisory board members.
- 6th Avenue promotes Darren Schulman to president.
- Best Egg partners with Junior Achievement in Delaware.
United Kingdom
- Funding Circle issues secon MPL securitization deal.
- KBRA assigns preliminary ratings to Small Business Origination Loan Trust 2018-1 DAC.
- Revolut becomes a unicorn.
- Ranger Direct Lending rejects investor call to wind up.
- Goji passes 50 million GBP in assets.
- Fat Lama raises $10 million in capital. AT: “Weird business model.”
- Artificial intelligence reduces P2P lending defaults.
- Review of ArchOver.
European Union
International
- BBVA issues first blockchain loan from a global bank.
- The war for talent.
- Deserve raises $50 million.
- Fintech for the financially excluded.
Canada
- Funding for fintechs decline 60 percent in Q1. AT: “A must-read report.”
- IOU Financial releases 2017 results.
- BlackChain Solutions signs LOI with DMG Blockchain Solutions on crypto P2P lending.
Other
News Summary
- United States
- It’s Official: Kabbage To Acquire Orchard (Lend Academy) Rated: AAA
- Kabbage plan in Orchard deal: Expand offerings to banks, small businesses (American Banker) Rated: A
- Ascentium Capital Announces $ 330 Million Securitization (Ascentium) Rated: AAA
- LendingTree Reports Record 1Q 2018 Results (Markets Insider) Rated: AAA
- LendingTree Study Reveals Which Places Buy the Oldest Used Cars (PR Newswire) Rated: AAA
- Mobile Banking One of Top Three Most Used Apps by Americans, 2018 Citi Mobile Banking Study Reveals (Citigroup) Rated: AAA
- LendingClub was sued for the fees it charges — how you can avoid being overcharged (Market Watch) Rated: A
- Digital bank in a box: Fintech offers branding tool (American Banker) Rated: A
- RealtyMogul and Comunidad Realty Partners Close $ 30 Million in Texas Multifamily Properties (Citizen Tribune) Rated: A
- Scaling Real Estate Crowdfunding: PeerStreet Establishes a Culture of Excellence at the Top (Crowdfund Insider) Rated: A
- Citizens Bank Taps Finastra and Infosys for Trade Finance Solution (Citizens Bank) Rated: A
- Consumers in Columbus less likely to put fraud alerts on their credit reports (The Columbus Dispatch) Rated: A
- US banks to get more freedom to offer unsecured loans (Financial Times) Rated: B
- Growth plans: Both big and small banks set to expand locally (Orlando Business Journal) Rated: B
- Free Research Reports on These Credit Services Stocks — MoneyGram, Navient, Oaktree Specialty Lending and On Deck Capital (PR Newswire) Rated: B
- Covr Financial Technologies appoints Chris Growney to Board of Directors; Gregory Fleming and Robert Kerzner, join Covr’s Advisory Board (PR Newswire) Rated: B
- 6th Avenue Capital Announces Promotion of Darren Schulman to President (deBanked) Rated: B
- Best Egg Teams with Junior Achievement of Delaware on Financial Education Initiatives (Business Wire) Rated: B
- United Kingdom
- Funding Circle brings second marketplace loan deal (Global Capital) Rated: AAA
- KBRA Europe Assigns Preliminary Ratings to Small Business Origination Loan Trust 2018-1 DAC (Business Wire) Rated: A
- New UK banks challenge dominance of ‘big four’ (Sky News) Rated: AAA
- Ranger Direct Lending rejects investor call to wind up (City Wire) Rated: A
- Goji passes £50m in assets (Goji) Rated: A
- A lending site where you can rent anything just scored millions in venture capital (Business Insider) Rated: A
- Artificial intelligence backed to reduce P2P defaults (Peer2Peer Finance) Rated: A
- TURNING TO YOUR PEERS (BQ Live) Rated: A
- European Union
- Klarna integrates with Magento for streamlined checkout (Payments Source) Rated: AAA
- Taaleri increases its ownership in Fellow Finance by 7.3 per cent (Globe Newswire) Rated: A
- International
- BBVA and Indra deliver the world’s first blockchain-supported corporate loan (BBVA) Rated: AAA
- BANKS VS FINTECHS: THE WAR FOR TALENT (International Banker) Rated: A
- Deserve Raises $ 50 Million in Debt Financing (Finovate) Rated: A
- Fintech for the Financially Excluded? (Stanford Social Innovation Review) Rated: A
- APAC
- Game-changing technologies at work in Asia Pacific’s real estate (JLL) Rated: AAA
- Coast Labor MP Calls For Ban On Loan Machines (TripleM Network) Rated: A
- Latin America
- Brazil’s Central Bank authorizes peer-to-peer lending (Rueters) Rated: AAA
- Canada
- Funding for Canadian Fintech Companies Declines 60 Percent in Q1 (Investing News) Rated: AAA
- IOU Financial Inc. Releases Financial Results for the Year Ended December 31, 2017 (Benzinga) Rated: AAA
- BlackChain Solutions Signs LOI With DMG Blockchain Solutions to Bring P2P Lending to the Cryptocurrency Market (Investing News) Rated: B
- MENA
- Global REIT’s crypto-powered real estate investment model will be first of it’s kind… (Global Cryptocurrency Press) Rated: AAA
United States
It’s Official: Kabbage To Acquire Orchard (Lend Academy) Rated: AAA
It was the worst kept secret in fintech. There were rumors flying around during LendIt Fintech earlier this month and then Bloomberg published this story a couple of weeks ago about the pending deal. Well, today it became official. In a press release this morning it was confirmed that Kabbage, the tech-focused small business lender, will acquire Orchard.
So, what will become of Matt Burton and his team? Some clues are provided in the press release:
Orchard’s CEO and co-founder, Matt Burton, as well as Chief Analytics Officer and co-founder, David Snitkof, will both join Kabbage in leadership roles upon the closing, helping oversee technology integrations and future innovations. In total, Kabbage will add more than twenty Orchard employees who are predominantly focused on advanced analytics, data science and engineering to its New York City office.
Kabbage plan in Orchard deal: Expand offerings to banks, small businesses (American Banker) Rated: A
Kathryn Petralia, president and co-founder of Kabbage, said the acquisition will help the company diversify its business and offer more data-driven services to small businesses and financial institutions. It currently works with ING, Santander and Scotia Bank. Kabbage’s U.S.-based loans are issued by Celtic Bank in Salt Lake City.
The Orchard name will not survive. “At closing we will be Kabbage,” Burton said.
Until now, Orchard has been providing loan and portfolio analysis to other online lenders. This business model will be discontinued and those relationships will most likely end. Orchard’s current clients are being told about its sale to Kabbage, Burton said.
Ascentium Capital Announces $ 330 Million Securitization (Ascentium) Rated: AAA
Ascentium Capital issued a $330 million small ticket equipment securitization of Ascentium Equipment Receivables 2018-1 Trust.
This represents the company’s ninth securitization since 2012 and the first time a non-investment grade, independent equipment finance company received triple AAA and Aaa ratings from both Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.
LendingTree Reports Record 1Q 2018 Results (Markets Insider) Rated: AAA
LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ: TREE), operator of LendingTree.com today announced results for the quarter ended March 31, 2018.
First Quarter 2018 Business Highlights
- Revenue from mortgage products of $73.5 million represents an increase of 17% over first quarter 2017 driven by strong growth in both purchase and refinance revenues at 13% and 18%, respectively. According to Mortgage Bankers Association, originations industry-wide were projected down 4% in the comparable period.
- Record revenue from non-mortgage products of $107.6 million in the first quarter represents an increase of 55% over the first quarter 2017.
- Revenue from our credit card offerings continued its momentum, growing to $46.1 million in 1Q, up 36% over the first quarter 2017.
- Personal loans revenue of $26.0 million grew 53% over first quarter 2017.
- Home equity revenue continued to climb, growing 81% over first quarter 2017.
- More than 8.0 million consumers have now signed up for free credit scores and savings alerts through My LendingTree. Revenue contribution from MyLendingTree grew 76% in the first quarter compared to the prior year period as new features, such as Credit Analyzer and free credit monitoring, are driving increased engagement.
LendingTree Study Reveals Which Places Buy the Oldest Used Cars (PR Newswire) Rated: AAA
LendingTree today released the findings of its study on the places that buy the oldest used cars. LendingTree analyzed auto loan offers for borrowers in the top 50 U.S. metros (based on population) to find the average age of used cars financed in each metro, as well as which makes of used cars were most popular.
The national average age of a used car people sought to finance was six years old, but some parts of the country prefer older used cars more than others.
Mobile Banking One of Top Three Most Used Apps by Americans, 2018 Citi Mobile Banking Study Reveals (Citigroup) Rated: AAA
Apps for mobile banking have become some of the most widely used by Americans, according to Citi’s 2018 Mobile Banking Study, released today. The survey of 2,000 U.S. adults found that, measured by top two ranked responses, 31 percent of consumers use their mobile banking app the most, behind only apps for social media (55 percent) and the weather (33 percent).
“Over the past year we’ve witnessed this increase in engagement first-hand, with mobile usage in North America increasing by almost 25 percent, and we don’t see this trend slowing down any time soon.”
LendingClub was sued for the fees it charges — how you can avoid being overcharged (Market Watch) Rated: A
Pay attention to both the interest rate advertised, as well as the annual percentage rate (APR), Clements said. If they’re different, the lender is likely factoring additional fees into your annual percentage rate.
You may need to borrow more money than you expected if that’s the case, he said, because the total amount you would receive will be less than you asked for.
Research several lenders before choosing which one you want, he said. And if there are any unfamiliar terms, or any confusion about how much you’ll pay back monthly, ask.
Digital bank in a box: Fintech offers branding tool (American Banker) Rated: A
The core systems provider Nymbus is offering a new product for bank customers that want to get in on the burgeoning trend of having a stand-alone, digital brand.
Dubbed SmartLaunch, the offering enables financial institutions to create a digital brand under their existing charter in as little as 90 days, according to Nymbus. The product is built on Nymbus’ cloud-based SmartCore platform, and the company says it provides banks that use the service with all outsourced operational and technological requirements to run the digital bank. Also included are client support, digital marketing and website services.
RealtyMogul and Comunidad Realty Partners Close $ 30 Million in Texas Multifamily Properties (Citizen Tribune) Rated: A
RealtyMogul, a pioneer in providing private real estate to discerning investors, announced that MogulREIT II, its real estate investment trust or “REIT,” has completed investments in multifamily apartment complexes in Fort Worth, Texas and San Antonio, Texas, consisting of over 450 units.
The properties were acquired through a partnership with Comunidad Realty Partners, a dynamic real estate investment firm specializing in workforce housing communities in culturally diverse neighborhoods.
Scaling Real Estate Crowdfunding: PeerStreet Establishes a Culture of Excellence at the Top (Crowdfund Insider) Rated: A
Loans on PeerStreet are sourced and curated from vetted private lenders throughout the United States. These lenders have real estate expertise and established borrower relationships. To date, PeerStreet has helped to finance over $900 million in loans by using this partnership approach. The properties they help finance are typically smaller in value – a segment of the industry that is usually overlooked by big institutional money. Loans range from 6 to 24 months and are first lien so investors have a good degree of security. Most of the loans are below a loan to value of 75%. About a year ago, PeerStreet announced having funded $300 million in loans. In less than 12 months, PeerStreet has funded double that number.
PeerStreet is doing small loans commercial, some multi family and mixed used properties. The largest loan size is around $5 million but there can be exceptions. The rate of return for investors during 2017 stood, on average, at 8% net of fees. As for defaults, so far only five loans have gone into foreclosure but they have not experienced any loss of principle – a positive metric.
Citizens Bank Taps Finastra and Infosys for Trade Finance Solution (Citizens Bank) Rated: A
Citizens Bank, working with Infosys as its implementation partner, has selected Finastra to power the trade finance solution it offers to its corporate clients. This new capability will enable Citizens’ corporate clients to digitize traditionally paper-based trade processes, leading to increased efficiencies and reduced costs.
The new trade finance offering will allow the bank to meet increased client demand. Citizens picked Finastra’s Fusion Trade Innovation for its end-user experience, ability to support all trade products, capacity to integrate with downstream systems through open APIs and its high level of configurability.
Consumers in Columbus less likely to put fraud alerts on their credit reports (The Columbus Dispatch) Rated: A
However, a new study finds that consumers in the biggest Midwest cities, including Columbus, are much less likely to put alerts on their credit reports than those in other cities, such as Las Vegas, Houston, Miami and New York. The study by online lender Lending Tree was based on a random sample.
Joseph Otting, Comptroller of the Currency, said he believed standards should be relaxed to allow banks back into the small dollar loan market; loans would range from $500 to $5,000 and be paid back in 45 and 90 days; right now payday lenders dominate this space and typically take advantage of borrowers by charging high fees and rolling over the principal; allowing banks back into the market will help to bring more regulation and cut down on abuses.
Growth plans: Both big and small banks set to expand locally (Orlando Business Journal) Rated: B
David Stahl, senior vice president, SunTrust Bank: We acquired an online lender called LightStream two years ago, and that has been a huge opportunity for us. The days of people walking into a bank and applying for a loan are pretty much gone.
Free Research Reports on These Credit Services Stocks — MoneyGram, Navient, Oaktree Specialty Lending and On Deck Capital (PR Newswire) Rated: B
This morning, WallStEquities.com observes MoneyGram International Inc. (NASDAQ: MGI), Navient Corp. (NASDAQ: NAVI), Oaktree Specialty Lending Corp. (NASDAQ: OCSL), and On Deck Capital Inc. (NYSE: ONDK). Credit Services companies originate, acquire, and service loans to individuals and corporations. Their products include student loans, mortgages, lines of credit, private equity, and venture capital. All you have to do is sign up today for this free limited time offer by clicking www.wallstequities.com/registration
Covr Financial Technologies appoints Chris Growney to Board of Directors; Gregory Fleming and Robert Kerzner, join Covr’s Advisory Board (PR Newswire) Rated: B
Covr Financial Technologies, a digital, multi-carrier life insurance platform for financial institutions, announced that Chris Growney, an advisor with venture capital and advisory firm Nyca Partners has joined Covr’s Board of Directors following Nyca’s role in Covr’s June, 2017 fundraising. Growney, a director, advisor and investor in a broad range of start-up and growth companies was most recently the founder of Clearwater Analytics, an investment analytics and accounting software company based in Boise, Idaho.
6th Avenue Capital Announces Promotion of Darren Schulman to President (deBanked) Rated: B
6th Avenue Capital, LLC (“6th Avenue Capital”) announced today the promotion of Darren Schulman to President, effective immediately. In his new position, Schulman has oversight over originations, underwriting, operations, collections and strategic initiatives. He previously served as Chief Operating Officer, and will continue to report directly to Chief Executive Officer Christine Chang.
The company also announced today that Chang and Schulman have been appointed to the company’s Board of Directors.
Best Egg Teams with Junior Achievement of Delaware on Financial Education Initiatives (Business Wire) Rated: B
Best Egg, the consumer lending brand of Marlette Funding, LLC, is providing both classroom education and other inspiring financially-related activities for Junior Achievement of Delaware (JA of DE). This announcement coincides with National Financial Literacy Month, being celebrated throughout the month of April.
United Kingdom
Funding Circle brings second marketplace loan deal (Global Capital) Rated: AAA
Sole arranger and lead manager Deutsche Bank announced Thursday a £207m UK SME securitization from Funding Circle, Small Business Loan Origination Trust 2018-1, the second ABS offering from the online lender.
In addition to being just the second deal from Funding Circle, and the third European marketplace loan ABS overall, SBOLT 2018-1 marks the first time Kroll Bond Rating Agency has assigned a public rating for a European securitization deal.
KBRA Europe Assigns Preliminary Ratings to Small Business Origination Loan Trust 2018-1 DAC (Business Wire) Rated: A
Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited (KBRA) has assigned preliminary ratings to four classes of notes (“Rated Notes”) issued by Small Business Origination Loan Trust 2018-1 DAC (“SBOLT 2018-1”). This is a £206.6 million ABS transaction collateralised by unsecured loans made to small and medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”) incorporated in the United Kingdom (“UK”).
This transaction represents the second ABS securitisation collateralised by unsecured loans to SMEs originated through the online lending platform operated by Funding Circle Limited (“Funding Circle”), and the first European rated ABS securitisation for KBRA.
Confirmation of that came on Thursday as Revolut became the first of Britain’s digital-only banks to achieve “unicorn” status – in other words, a privately held start-up company with a valuation of more than $1bn (£720m).
Revolut, which was only founded in July 2015, has been valued at $1.7bn (£1.22bn) in its latest funding round.
The bank, which started out as a currency exchange app but later moved into providing personal banking and cryptocurrency trading services, raised $250m (£180m) from backers including DST Global, an investment firm backed by the Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, whose previous early-stage tech investments have included Facebook, Twitter, Airbnb and Spotify.
Ranger Direct Lending rejects investor call to wind up (City Wire) Rated: A
Ranger Direct Lending (RDL) has criticised shareholder Oaktree Capital Management for trying to force the struggling alternative income fund to wind up.
Oaktree, the second largest shareholder in the fund that invests in and through lending platforms, has made public its correspondence with Ranger, which it described as a ‘sub-scale platform’ with shares ‘too illiquid to attract large institutional investors, especially in light of its persistent trading discount to net asset value (NAV)’.
Goji passes £50m in assets (Goji) Rated: A
Goji has now got more than £50m of assets on its platform a little over a year after opening its doors to investors. With over 5,000 customer accounts, our hard earned growth is testament to the work the whole industry has done in selling the asset class to the UK public.
After campaigning hard to change the tax laws to open up the ISA rules so that non-lending platforms could also offer an IFISA, Goji was the first firm to offer investors diversification across a number of platforms through a single Innovative Finance ISA. Goji’s Diversified Lending Bonds target 5%, whilst it’s Renewables Lending Bond targets returns in excess of 8%.
A lending site where you can rent anything just scored millions in venture capital (Business Insider) Rated: A
Fat Lama, which announced $10 million in its Series A on Wednesday in a round led by Blossom Capital, says it will use its latest funding to further its reach within the US and to create a mobile-first offering (so far, the site’s mobile app is only available in the UK).
Fat Lama lets users borrow everything from drones to camera equipment to printers.
The site insures any item listed on its site for up to $30,000, and Englander said his company has plans to raise that amount to $50,000 in the near future.
Artificial intelligence backed to reduce P2P defaults (Peer2Peer Finance) Rated: A
ARTIFICIAL intelligence (AI) could provide peer-to-peer lenders with greater lending security and less chance of defaults, a technology consultancy claims.
Nick Parham, technical pre-sales consultant at NashTech, said there is much P2P platforms can learn about AI from traditional lenders.
“The traditional lending market offers us a powerful insight into the potential for AI in P2P lending,” he said.
TURNING TO YOUR PEERS (BQ Live) Rated: A
They created ArchOver, a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform that allows firms that have been operating for more than two years to borrow money from lenders using its website. Companies borrow a minimum of £250,000, with interest rates starting at 7.7% a year.
Since it launched in the autumn of 2014, ArchOver has helped its lenders to inject more than £65m into British businesses, bringing in more than £2.5m in interest at an average return of 7.3%. In an age when bank savings accounts are paying less than 0.5%, it’s easy to see the attraction for investors who understand the risks as well as the rewards.
European Union
Klarna integrates with Magento for streamlined checkout (Payments Source) Rated: AAA
Commerce platform Magento is giving merchants the option to activate Klarna instant credit for online checkouts.
Sweden-based Klarna is built into the latest version of Magento Commerce, giving merchants a streamlined path to offer goods consumers may opt to pay for immediately, within 30 days, or longer via installments, Klarna said in a Thursday press release.
Taaleri increases its ownership in Fellow Finance by 7.3 per cent (Globe Newswire) Rated: A
Taaleri Plc has decided to exercise its option to acquire an additional 7.3% holding in Fellow Finance Oy, as outlined in the shareholders’ agreement signed in 2015. After the transaction Taaleri’s shareholding in Fellow Finance, which offers a crowdfunding platform for companies and for consumers, will increase to 45.7%. The transaction is scheduled to be realized in April-May.
International
BBVA and Indra deliver the world’s first blockchain-supported corporate loan (BBVA) Rated: AAA
BBVA has successfully completed the first global corporate loan transaction using blockchain technology from the negotiation of the deal to its signing, in line with their close collaboration to leverage cutting-edge technologies to streamline business processes.
The pilot enabled the closing of a €75 million loan using a solution developed by BBVA based on distributed ledger technology (DLT). This demonstrates how BBVA continues to incorporate innovative and disruptive technology into its customer solutions, including those products that up to now have seen limited digital innovation, as is the case with wholesale finance.
BANKS VS FINTECHS: THE WAR FOR TALENT (International Banker) Rated: A
Many of these start-ups, moreover, are equipped with enough cash to be able to compete with their banking counterparts on salaries. According to assessments by recruitment site Glassdoor, for example, a London-based software engineer at online lender Funding Circle will earn a base salary of £51,000 on average, which is equal to the salary paid at Goldman Sachs for a similar role. At UBS, that figure is £59,000, while at challenger Monzo Bank it is currently £64,000. Speaking recently to Bloomberg, co-founder and CEO of property lending platform LendInvest, Christian Faes, asserted that between 30 and 40 percent of the company’s hires are from major financial institutions, while banks also account for 100 percent of its small-risk and compliance team. Similar trends are also being reported by UK online lender MarketInvoice Ltd., where three-quarters of its 85 employees have come from either the financial-services or accountancy space.
Deserve Raises $ 50 Million in Debt Financing (Finovate) Rated: A
In rebranding his company from SelfScore to Deserve, CEO Kalpesh Kapadia explained “we believe that access is everything and everyone deserves a chance to build a positive credit history. So we are making our products available to all students, U.S., and international, and to all those who seek to build and/or maintain a good credit history.”
And now Deserve is $50 million closer to serving this broader population of potential customers. The Accel-backed fintech has just secured a $50 million debt facility from Keystone National Group to drive growth in account receivables and help “jumpstart” first-time credit owners’ financial journeys.
Fintech for the Financially Excluded? (Stanford Social Innovation Review) Rated: A
At Bamboo Capital Partners, we believe fintech can help low-income people reduce vulnerabilities, build assets, manage cash flow, and increase income, and we have invested as such: In the last couple of years, we have made four equity investments in fintech companies in Colombia, Mexico, Chile, and Tanzania, committing more than $16 million. Our investees are helping democratize access to finance through peer-to-peer lending platforms (KuboFinanciero), promoting access to insurance (ComparaOnline), enabling mobile payments and savings for low-income people through nano deposits (Movii), and providing a smart data platform for emerging market financial institutions (First Access).
APAC
Game-changing technologies at work in Asia Pacific’s real estate (JLL) Rated: AAA
Singapore-based mall operator Capitaland has a chatbot called Sparkle on its app that responds to shoppers’ queries and make reservations or hail a ride from its malls. National Australia Bank is participating in a A$9 million investment round for real estate crowdfunding platform Brick X.
The rise of proptech, however, could be a cause for cybersecurity concerns, as highlighted in JLL’s report Clicks and Mortar: The Growing Influence of Proptech.
Coast Labor MP Calls For Ban On Loan Machines (TripleM Network) Rated: A
There are calls for the Berejiklian Government to outright ban payday loan machines cropping up on the Central Coast.
There’s a Cash N Go kiosk at Wyoming offering up to $1000 at a time with minimal checks, while the devices, which look like ATMs, have also been spotted in the Hunter and Illawarra.
Latin America
Brazil’s Central Bank authorizes peer-to-peer lending (Rueters) Rated: AAA
Brazil’s Central Bank on Thursday released rules for credit start-ups that include authorization for peer-to-peer lending, as a way to increase competition in loans in a country with notoriously high interest rates for consumers.
Credit fintechs will be allowed to operate with a minimum capital of 1 million reais ($288,000), according to the new regulation. Peer-to peer lending had not yet been formally authorized in the country. The practice involves lending between individuals through online services.
Canada
Funding for Canadian Fintech Companies Declines 60 Percent in Q1 (Investing News) Rated: AAA
Canadian fintech companies received $88 million in investment over the first quarter of 2018, representing a 60-percent decline, says a new report from PwC.
Total investment in Canada in the first quarter of 2018 was over $1 billion, which is a 52-percent increase over the last quarter. A total of 105 deals were signed as compared to 81 in the previous quarter, representing a 30-percent increase.
Read the full report here.
IOU Financial Inc. Releases Financial Results for the Year Ended December 31, 2017 (Benzinga) Rated: AAA
IOU FINANCIAL INC. (“IOU” or “the Company”) (TSXV:IOU) announced today its results for the year ended December 31, 2017.
- Reached profitability during the year with positive adjusted net earnings of $0.1 millionin Q4.
- Surpassed the half-billion loan origination mark with loan originations of $91.3 million(US) for the year.
- Increased interest revenue of 8.1% to $14.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2017 vs 2016.
- Reduced operating costs (excluding non-recurring costs) by 20.3% to $9.0 million for the year ended 2017.
- Raised $3.5 million via a private placement.
BlackChain Solutions Signs LOI With DMG Blockchain Solutions to Bring P2P Lending to the Cryptocurrency Market (Investing News) Rated: B
Under the proposed license, BlackChain will retain exclusive rights for use of the technology for P2P Lending. DMG will be entitled to a royalty on commercial revenues generated by Blackchain using the technology. The parties intend to negotiate and finalize a definitive agreement by May 15th, 2018.
MENA
Global REIT’s crypto-powered real estate investment model will be first of it’s kind… (Global Cryptocurrency Press) Rated: AAA
Moving this structure onto the blockchain, and powering the investments with cryptocurrency now means the average cryptocurrency investor can easily access the real estate investment market. Global REIT will begin in their home of Dubai, a place where real estate is currently exploding, and acquire assets within the U.A.E, before branching out globally.
Authors:
Digital Identity Verification for Alternative Lenders
Trust is the root of all business transactions. For any financial institution to lend money or offer a banking service, being able to identify the counterparty is a must. And though anonymity is a blessing in a lot of situations, business cannot be conducted under the cloak of secrecy. Financial services are a particular focus […]
Trust is the root of all business transactions. For any financial institution to lend money or offer a banking service, being able to identify the counterparty is a must. And though anonymity is a blessing in a lot of situations, business cannot be conducted under the cloak of secrecy.
Financial services are a particular focus area for the highest standards in identification, especially due to the strong regulatory push on money laundering, terrorism financing, and KYC (Know Your Customer). Also, according to the World Bank, around 1.1 billion people worldwide cannot prove their identity. They form a major chunk of the 2.5 billion people who don’t have access to financial services. This highlights that identity is a fundamental part of financial inclusion.
Mitek Systems, a global leader in mobile capture and identity verification software solutions, is in the forefront of this growing niche industry. We had an exclusive chat with the company CTO, Stephen Ritter. He gave his views on the opportunity and developments in the ID verification space and how it will be an underlying pillar for the growth of fintech lending and blockchain-led services.
Mitek’s Business Model and Technology
Mitek started as a software company and has evolved to become the leader in mobile banking and mobile deposit solutions. It enables bank customers to take picture of checks for depositing, rendering the physical deposit process redundant. It has entered the digital ID verification market and has developed artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning-powered proprietary algorithms. It will verify the ID by having the user take a picture of a government-issued ID and compare it with a selfie. This allows the software to cross verify the selfie face with the picture on the government-issued ID.
Mitek’s solutions specializes in accurately identifying the personal document, and can even recognize and evaluate IDs of multiple countries. It can also extract relevant information from the document. Its advanced forensic algorithms can detect signs of forgery or fake documents. Further, it can distinguish good and bad documents and provide a risk score to determine if the document can be trusted. Its algorithms can also determine if the human face is real or a spoof.
The company’s core competency is computer vision, a specific niche within machine learning. The company has been developing software in the field for the last 15 years and considers itself among the pioneers in the space. With the intense speed of development in the field, the company is actively working with partners for integrating third-party sophisticated technology into their own solutions.
The main solutions provided by Mitek include:
- Mobile Fill – A solution which allows personal information to be pre-filled in the forms of the applicants, taking help of the Mobile ID capture solution provided by Mitek.
- Mobile Verify – A combination of Mitek’s computer vision technology and auto capture experience, Mobile Verify validates the authenticity of identity documents thereby simplifying the KYC compliance processes.
- Mobile Deposit – Mobile deposit is a solution that helps in saving time by allowing the person to deposit checks to the participating banks by uploading the image using the device’s camera.
Mitek’s Competition, and Its Impact on Lending
Mitek has an operating history of over two decades. With more than 6,100 banks and financial institutions as customers, the company has a wide moat compared to startups entering the field. Its direct competitors are few and usually early-stage companies. The more traditional players in the space would be the ones that follow the data bureau approach and are beginning to integrate mobile verify solutions for verification of IDs into their platforms.
Lending will receive a boost across the board as lenders, both traditional and alternative, will be able to onboard customers faster and more securely. Alternative lenders, in particular, should see higher approval rates for prospective borrowers with increased confidence they are not being defrauded. Mitek is currently processing over several million ID documents a month. Both MoneyGram and Kabbage use Mitek’s MobileVerify technology. The company is seeing major traction in the fintech lending industry as players are nimble and the first target for most fraudsters.
Financial Inclusion, Privacy, and Real Life Applications
Ritter believes governments need to step up their efforts in ensuring everyone has access to an identity proof. Financial inclusion is positioned prominently in the United Nation’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals agenda, and the need for a digital identity goes far beyond the ability to participate in the formal economy. Its impact is multifold and helps to increase overall trade and access to healthcare and government services. Mitek is also focused on data privacy laws, with GDPR the hot topic in Europe. It has taken GDPR as its baseline for information security and is operating with GDPR recommended data security not only in Europe but across the globe.
Kabbage Case Study
Kabbage facilitates easy funding options to small and medium enterprises through its automated technology-backed data platform. With Mitek’s digital identity verification solutions integrated into the Kabbage platform, users are able to automatically populate the loan application form with pre-filled data in less than a second allowing customers to access funding quickly. Mitek’s solution applies advanced algorithms that automatically assess the authenticity of the driver’s license, providing assurance about the identity of the ID’s holder and reducing the likelihood of fraud during the loan application process.
Anonymous Payments Processor Case Study
Customers were facing a lengthy identity verification process, which forced them to leave the platform before completing the transaction. Driven by the need to comply with Anti Money Laundering (AML) and KYC regulations, a leading global payment processor selected Mitek’s Mobile Verify to provide the customers with more efficient ways to reduce the verification process from days to just minutes. Mitek was able to eliminate 92% of the temporary restrictions that the company previously had to place on customer accounts whenever they would reach a certain dollar threshold. By eliminating these temporary restrictions, the company has improved customer experience as well as increased profitability.
Mitek’s Collaboration with Nocks
Mitek’s digital verification identity has enabled blockchain payments platform Nocks to improve their customers’ onboarding by 98%. A cryptocurrency payments platform, Nocks also has to execute AML and KYC compliances. Nocks has now been able to verify the identity of applicants in real-time, dramatically improving new customer conversion rates due Mitek’s Mobile Verify interface.
MoneyGram Case Study
MoneyGram, the money transfer giant, is also using Mobile Verify to validate its customers’ ID. To complete the identity verification step in the money transfer process, MoneyGram customers simply take a picture of their passport or other identity document using their mobile device camera. Mobile Verify then uses advanced machine learning technology to instantly validate the authenticity of the ID.
Mitek is Experimenting With the Blockchain
Mitek is also developing technology to leverage blockchain infrastructure. The public ledger approach in general is interesting as it could allow for generating self-sovereign IDs which are owned and managed by the users themselves. When businesses need their information, people can control their data and allow only limited or conditional access. Moreover, even banking customers are exploring blockchain-based solutions, and Mitek is experimenting to integrate its ID verification systems on a distributed ledger.
Mitek’s Technology Leadership
Mitek was founded in 1985 and is listed on NASDAQ with a market cap of an estimated $250 million. Mitek’s innovative solutions are embedded into the apps of more than 6,100 organizations and used by more than 80 million consumers.
Stephen Ritter is the Chief Technology officer (CTO) of San Diego-based Mitek Systems. He helps in the technological development of the key processes of the company, along with overseeing Mitek Labs. He has more than 22 years of experience bringing new commercial software solutions to market. Ritter worked as tech lead with Emotient (acquired by Apple) before he joined Mitek.
With the increase in regulatory complexities and fraudulent practices, it is critical for businesses to make sure that they are on the right side of the law and yet are simultaneously making their customers’ life easier. Mitek helps them balance this fine line with its suite of sophisticated identification technologies.
Author:
Written by Heena Dhir.
Friday January 12 2018, Daily News Digest
News Comments Today’s main news: More LendingClub-IEG drama.Black Fish raises $145M.Moneygram partners with Ripple.Kreditech expands into India with Mambu. Today’s main analysis: JP Morgan Chase’s investments into digital technology.Is Yirendai undervalued? Today’s thought-provoking articles: Investors go into debt to buy bitcoin.Small business financing trends.How open banking could change how people manage money.Banks, trade finance, and […]
News Comments
- Today’s main news: More LendingClub-IEG drama.Black Fish raises $145M.Moneygram partners with Ripple.Kreditech expands into India with Mambu.
- Today’s main analysis: JP Morgan Chase’s investments into digital technology.Is Yirendai undervalued?
- Today’s thought-provoking articles: Investors go into debt to buy bitcoin.Small business financing trends.How open banking could change how people manage money.Banks, trade finance, and big data.ESG and credit risk.Myanmar’s focus on SMEs.
United States
- More on the LendingClub/IEG Holdings drama. AT: “This is more about IEG Holdings and its bizarre founder Paul Mathieson, who claims to have left Australia in fear of his life.”
- IEG Holdings is planning a cryptocurrency for lending.
- Investors buy bitcoin with debt. AT: “Am I the only one thinking this is foolish?”
- Small business financing trends. AT: “A heavy focus on online lending.”
- JP Morgan Chase teardown on digital technology. AT: “Besides Goldman Sachs and Citi, no other big bank is investing in digital technology like JP Morgan Chase. Whether their investments will make them a strong competitor in digital banking remains to be seen, but this is one area–at least, in the U.S.–that desires way more exploration and focus than it’s getting.”
- Nav facilitated more than 20,000 small biz credit approvals in 2017. AT: “Congratulations.”
- Bono investment fund backs Acorns.
- LendingPoint acquires LoanHero. AT: “LendingPoint is making some moves as of late.”
- Oportun is opening 20 Florida offices.
- Key trends in fintech. AT: “Some of these are obvious, but I like the mention of emerging economies because some, like Africa and Latin America, tend to get forgotten.”
- Google rebrands payments tools into one umbrella.
- Ladder nabs $30M.
- Fifth Third regains top CRA grade, enters M&A.
- Beginners guide to college loans.
- Roostify hires VP of engineering.
- Roofstock appoints CMO.
United Kingdom
- Open banking could change how people manage money. AT: “No kidding. It will change how banks acquire and attempt to retain customers, too.”
- ThinCats looks for a great year in SME lending.
- Loan Store to reduce interest rates on instant cash loans.
- Crowdstacker joins P2PFA.
China
- Yirendai undervalued, says analyst.
- Black Fish raises $145M.
- Renren poised to grow with blockchain.
- Dianrong partners with Dalian Finance Development Bureau.
- Shangai tightens supervision of finance sector.
European Union
International
- Moneygram partners with Ripple.
- How banks can use trade finance, data to increase wallet share.
- Principles, ESG, credit risk.
- ABS braces for more auto deals.
- Ways fintech will change the world. AT: “Some interesting insight into payments and lending.”
- Overstock’s innovation and expansion. AT: “And people are talking about Amazon.”
- TradePlus24 partners with Trade Ledger.
- Bankers fear Amazon-like tech disruption. AT: “Maybe they should fear being Overstocked.”
- Karma token trading opens.
India
APAC
Africa
News Summary
- United States
- Lending Club has a bitcoin pivoting suitor (Financial Times), Rated: AAA
- SeeThruEquity Issues Update on IEG Holdings Corporation (Bay Street), Rated: A
- Desperate to get into bitcoin, investors slip into debt (CNBC), Rated: AAA
- Small Business Financing Trends To Stay Abreast Of (CXO Today), Rated: AAA
- JPMorgan Chase Competitive Strategy Teardown: How The Bank Stacks Up On Fintech & Innovation (CB Insights), Rated: AAA
- Online Marketplace Lender Nav Facilitated More Than 20,000 Small Business credit Approvals in 2017 (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A
- Bono’s Fund Makes Its First Fintech Investment, Backing Acorns (Bloomberg), Rated: A
- Georgia Company Acquires S.D. Fintech Startup LoanHero (San Diego Business Journal), Rated: A
- Small-dollar lender Oportun to open 20 offices in Florida (American Banker), Rated: A
- 6 Key Trends in Fintech to Watch in 2018 (Lend Academy), Rated: A
- Google Pay brings payment tools under a single brand (Tearsheet), Rated: A
- Ladder Secures $ 30M Series B Led by RRE Ventures (coverager), Rated: A
- Fifth Third regains top CRA grade, an entree to M&A (American Banker), Rated: A
- A Beginner’s Guide to Applying for College Loans (Student Loan Hero), Rated: A
- Roostify adds tech veteran Adnan Habib as vice president of engineering (Housingwire), Rated: B
- Roofstock Appoints Suresh Srinivasan as Chief Marketing Officer (BusinessWire), Rated: B
- United Kingdom
- An invisible banking reform that ‘could fundamentally change how we manage our money’ is days away (Business Insider), Rated: AAA
- ThinCats Says 2018 is Poised for Growth in SME Lending (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A
- Loan Store Reveals to Reduce Interest Rates on Instant Cash Loans for the UK People (MENAFN), Rated: A
- Crowdstacker joins the Peer-to-Peer Finance Association (P2P Finance News), Rated: B
- China
- 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices (The Motley Fool), Rated: AAA
- Chinese finance platform Black Fish raises $ 145m from Gobi, Lightspeed, others (Deal Street Asia), Rated: AAA
- China’s Renren Is Poised To Unlock Value From Its Investment Portfolio And Grow With Blockchain (Seeking Alpha), Rated: A
- Dianrong Signs Strategic Agreement with Dalian Finance Development Bureau & Dalian Finance Industry Investment Group (PR Newswire), Rated: A
- Shanghai tightens financial sector supervision (Ecns), Rated: B
- European Union
- Rocket Internet CEO says ready to pounce with cash pile (Business Insider), Rated: AAA
- International
- MoneyGram Signs Deal to Work With Currency Startup Ripple (WSJ), Rated: AAA
- How Banks Can Use Trade Finance Services and Data to Increase Share of Wallet (Traxpay), Rated: AAA
- PRINCIPLES, ESG, AND CREDIT RISK (All About Alpha), Rated: AAA
- ABS braces for more auto deals after strong start to year (IFR), Rated: A
- FROM BANKING TO BITCOIN, FINTECH IS POISED TO CHANGE THE WORLD (Tech Genix), Rated: A
- Overstock.com’s 2017 Highlights: Innovation, Expansion, and Recognition (Business Insider), Rated: A
- Global lender selects Aussie fintech, Trade Ledger, as worldwide technology partner (PR Newswire), Rated: A
- Bankers fear they will get Amazon-ed in tech disruption (Financial Times), Rated: A
- Karma token trading opens after successful $10 million ICO campaign (Crypto Ninjas), Rated: B
- India
- German Online Lender Kreditech Heads to India (Bank Innovation), Rated: AAA
- Kreditech selects Mambu’s SaaS banking engine for its passage to India (Finextra), Rated: A
- NiYO Solutions Raises $ 13.2M in Series A Funding (FINSSMES), Rated: A
- APAC
- Myanmar takes small steps towards providing greater liquidity for SMEs (Myanmar Times), Rated: AAA
- Cloud Lending Solutions Recognized as a Top 25 FinTech Company of 2017 (BusinessWire), Rated: B
- Africa
- Local digital currency eyes real estate disruption (ITWeb), Rated: AAA
United States
Lending Club has a bitcoin pivoting suitor (Financial Times), Rated: AAA
Lending Club has all kinds of problems: a history of profit warnings, faint traces of scandal after a management upheaval almost two years ago, and a share price still more than 80 per cent adrift from its peak.
Add to that list: a bizarre, crypto-fuelled activist campaign waged by a Las Vegas-based payday lender called Paul Mathieson, who told authorities in his native Australia that he fled to America in 2008 because he feared being killed by a mobster.
Mathieson’s case for change at Lending Club, laid out in a letter to the company’s board on 2 January, is not a terrible one, on the face of it. He argues that the cost structure at the loss-making company, a pioneer in peer-to-peer lending, is “excessive,” noting fancy headquarters in San Francisco and “hundreds” of “excess” developers. He says that the board should consider a pivot to using its own balance sheet to lend, rather than acting as a broker, taking fees for matching borrowers with lenders. Underwriting has been sloppy, he says, resulting in sub-par returns to investors.
Mathieson is offering 13 shares in his own penny-stock company, IEG Holdings, for every share in Lending Club. At the time of the offer on Monday morning, that was a premium of 19 cents, or about 5 per cent.
SeeThruEquity Issues Update on IEG Holdings Corporation (Bay Street), Rated: A
IEG Holdings Corporation (OTCQB: IEGH) provides online unsecured consumer loans under the brand name “Mr. Amazing Loans” via its website, www.mramazingloans.com, in 20 US states. The company offers $5,000 and $10,000 personal loans over a five-year term at rates ranging from 19.9% to 29.9% APR. IEG Holdings plans future expansion to a total of 25 US states, which would cover 240mn people and represent approximately 75% of the US population.
Since 2013, IEGH has obtained additional state lending licenses, and they are licensed and originating direct consumer loans in 20 states including: Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The Company was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.
IEG Holdings Plans to Create its own IEGH Crypto/Blockchain Currency Backed by Gold Metal and SEC Registration as a Security
IEGH announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Investment Evolution Crypto, LLC (“Crypto”), is negotiating to purchase a gold project with gold metal in the ground and prospecting licenses. IEG Holdings plans to utilize a gold resource to investigate creating, through Crypto, and a joint venture with Investment Evolution Corporation, also a wholly owned subsidiary of IEG Holdings, its own gold metal-backed crypto/blockchain currency, and potentially offer loans and accept loan repayments in its own crypto/blockchain currency.
IEGH increases loan originations
The company stated that it provided $960,000 in new consumer loans through its online property mramazingloans.com, from the October 2017 to December 2017 period. This represented a 12.3% increase over its July to September 2017 operating period, during which the company’s new loan originations were $855,000.
Desperate to get into bitcoin, investors slip into debt (CNBC), Rated: AAA
Roughly 18 percent of people who buy bitcoin use a credit card to do so, according to a new survey by loan marketplace LendEDU. Of those, 20 percent have not paid off their balance. The phrase “buy bitcoin with credit” has been trending on Google for weeks.
Another problem with going into debt for cryptocurrencies is that people will have to pay back their debt before they see sufficient returns, said Erika Safran, founder of Safran Wealth Advisors. That may require tapping other resources, potentially creating further financial trouble.
Small Business Financing Trends To Stay Abreast Of (CXO Today), Rated: AAA
- Traditional bank loan rejections are notoriously high in all markets
- Small Business Administration (and equivalent agencies) are nefarious for overextending the time-to-credit tolerances of small businesses
- Volatility of markets, and exposure of almost all markets to disruption by startups could pose urgent cash needs for businesses, which are generally not considered for loan applications by traditional lenders.
Online Lending And Its Deepening Hold Over The Small Business Finance Market
In 2014, a Federal Reserve (US) survey concluded that one in five small business owners opted for loans from online lenders. Since then, the proliferation of online lending platforms has been on the surge, to the extent that traditional brick and mortar lending institutions have also had to move base to the online domain. In the coming years, multiple factors will result in the success and sustainability of online lending platforms. These include:
- Growing confidence among small business owners to trust online lending platforms
- Availability of cheaper, quicker, and more convenient loans
- Options to truly personalize and customize the loan repayment terms to suit the business’ interests
The Call for Transparency in the Online Lending Market
Though the online lending market has been growing year on year, this doesn’t detract from the concerns around lack of transparency in the way some of these platforms operate. Some of the key concerns are around undisclosed APRs and hidden fees. In fact, some online lenders have been castigated for charging significantly high rates of interests from borrowers, often with service quality issues post-approval. Thankfully, there’s already some progress towards bringing a degree of regulation in place for online lending platforms to be at par with traditional lending regulations.
JPMorgan Chase Competitive Strategy Teardown: How The Bank Stacks Up On Fintech & Innovation (CB Insights), Rated: AAA
JPMorgan is making a bigger push into payments technology as digital banking becomes a strategic priority.
In 2016, the bank spent $9.5B on technology and Dimon has committed $300M alone to improve JPMorgan’s technology for its asset management products. Relative to its peer group, JPM claims the highest number of mobile banking customers and its Chase Mobile app currently sports a 4.7 (out of 5) rating in the App Store.
Earnings call analysis – Barclays, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley talking up digitization
- JPM discussed continued digital consumer banking growth, which grew 6% in Q3’17.
- Bank of America spent portions of its Q1’17 and Q3’17 talking about digital banking initiatives and technology investment. Specifically, CEO Brian Moynihan mentioned the bank spent $2.25B on technology initiatives in the first three quarters of 2017. The bank also now sees mobile devices account for 1 of every 5 deposit transactions.
- On Morgan Stanley’s Q3’17 earnings call, Morgan Stanley CFO Jonathan Pruzan mentioned the bank is beta testing new customer-facing digital products it plans to launch, potentially in the robo-advisory space. Specifically, Pruzan noted: “When we think about our wealth business, it’s a business that’s built on scale. And it’s built on the fact that people with wealth want personal advice. So it’s going to be both a mix of technology and digital with the personal element of the advice channel. And we think that’s the winning formula going forward.”
Based on the data, JPMorgan ranks ahead of most bulge bracket banks when it comes to overall fintech investment since 2013, but behind its peers Goldman Sachs and Citi.
Online Marketplace Lender Nav Facilitated More Than 20,000 Small Business credit Approvals in 2017 (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A
Nav, a small business marketplace lending platform, announced this week it has facilitated more than 20,000 small business credit approvals in 2017.
The company currently has more than 327,000 entrepreneurs now using its platform to manage their data and access capital.
Bono’s Fund Makes Its First Fintech Investment, Backing Acorns (Bloomberg), Rated: A
The Rise Fund, a private investment firm co-founded by the U2 lead singer, is making its first known bet on a fintech business by backing Acorns Grow Inc., said people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the details are private.
Georgia Company Acquires S.D. Fintech Startup LoanHero (San Diego Business Journal), Rated: A
LoanHero, one of San Diego’s few financial technology startups, has been acquired by Georgia-based company LendingPoint.
Terms of the deal, announced Jan. 11, were not disclosed.
Small-dollar lender Oportun to open 20 offices in Florida (American Banker), Rated: A
Oportun, a community development financial institution that provides small loans to individuals with little or no credit history, is planning to open 20 lending offices in Florida.
The Redwood City, Calif.-based lender said this week that it has already opened four offices in Miami and Hialeah and that it expects to add 16 more in the Sunshine State, primarily in South Florida, by the end of the year.
6 Key Trends in Fintech to Watch in 2018 (Lend Academy), Rated: A
- Convergence of Software and Financial Products One of the important lessons that Square taught the market is that bundles of software solutions (loyalty, POS, analytics, scheduling and many others) and lending are essential drivers in advancing growth of payment processing.
- InsureTech
- The Power of the Machines Companies like LendingClub are using machines to discover new relationships and patterns to introduce more tailored financial offers to their customers.
- Emerging Economies Many growing companies in Africa, Asia, and Latin America are developing and adopting financial solutions, often faster and with more innovation than in developed economies.
- Last year, Alipay and WeChat processed nearly $3 trillion of payments, up from $80 billion in 2012
- In Kenya last December, fintech lending companies like Branch and Tala ranked higher in the Google Play Store than Facebook and Instagram.
- Wealth Management
- Rise of Crypto and Blockchain
Google Pay brings payment tools under a single brand (Tearsheet), Rated: A
The Internet giant is finally putting its many payments capabilities — Google Wallet, Android Pay and Pay with Google — under a single name, Google Pay, after lagging for years behind Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.
Ladder Secures $ 30M Series B Led by RRE Ventures (coverager), Rated: A
CA-based life insurance MGA Ladder announced it has raised $30M in a Series B round led by RRE Ventures, with participation from Thomvest Ventures, as well as Ladder’s existing investors: Canaan Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Nyca Partners . Ladder launched its fully-digital life insurance solution in California on January 10, 2017, and has since expanded to nearly every state across the country.
Fifth Third regains top CRA grade, an entree to M&A (American Banker), Rated: A
Fifth Third Bancorp has received top marks from the Federal Reserve on its most recent Community Reinvestment Act examination as expected.
Fifth Third announced the results on Wednesday, saying in a press release that the Fed gave it an “outstanding” rating on its most recent exam. The Cincinnati company had said in a regulatory filing last month that it expected to ace the test, which covered the period between Jan. 1, 2014, and June 30, 2016.
A Beginner’s Guide to Applying for College Loans (Student Loan Hero), Rated: A
Student loan debt statistics show that more than 70 percent of students graduating from four-year colleges have debt, so you aren’t alone if you need to borrow to cover educational costs.
Step 1: Understand your options
- Federal loans for students
- Federal loans for parents
- Private loans for students
- Private loans for parents
Step 7: Determine if you’ll need to apply for private loans
- Family contributions if parents or other family members are willing and able to pay
- Savings
- Scholarships or grants from community groups or other sources
- Parent PLUS Loans
- Private student loans
Step 8: Learn how to apply for private student loans
Because there are many private student loan lenders, it’s a good idea to shop around. You should consider:
- Loan eligibility requirements: What do you need to qualify?
- Loan terms: How long do you have to repay the loan?
- Repayment terms: When do you need to start repaying, and is there a prepayment penalty?
- Fees: Is there a cost to apply for the loan or a loan origination fee?
- Interest rates: Is the rate fixed or variable? How much will you pay to borrow?
You can visit our private student loan marketplace to find private student loan lenders offering loans to parents and students.
Here are the top 6 lenders of 2018!
LENDER | RATES (APR) | ELIGIBLE DEGREES | |
---|---|---|---|
CHECK OUT THE TESTIMONIALS AND OUR IN-DEPTH REVIEWS! | |||
2.58% – 7.25% | Undergrad & Graduate |
VISIT SOFI | |
2.57% – 6.39% | Undergrad & Graduate |
VISIT EARNEST | |
2.76% – 7.25% | Undergrad & Graduate |
VISIT COMMONBOND | |
2.99% – 5.15% | Undergrad & Graduate |
VISIT LAUREL ROAD | |
2.74% – 7.26% | Undergrad & Graduate |
VISIT LENDKEY | |
3.11% – 8.46% | Undergrad & Graduate |
Roostify adds tech veteran Adnan Habib as vice president of engineering (Housingwire), Rated: B
Roostify announced Thursday that it hired Adnan Habib as the company’s new vice president of engineering.
In this role, Habib will lead Roostify’s growing product delivery team and will be responsible for making improvements to the Roostify’s digital lending platform.
Roofstock Appoints Suresh Srinivasan as Chief Marketing Officer (BusinessWire), Rated: B
Roofstock (www.roofstock.com), the leading online marketplace for buying and selling leased single-family rental homes, today announced the strategic hire of Suresh Srinivasan as chief marketing officer. Srinivasan has 20 years’ experience leading marketing, product, and e-commerce functions at Fortune 500 and high-growth tech startups. Most recently serving as the SVP of Marketing for Xome, Srinivasan brings a deep understanding of the fast-growing real estate technology sector to Roofstock where he will be responsible for accelerating growth of Roofstock’s marketplace for single-family rental homes and developing the company’s partnership network.
United Kingdom
An invisible banking reform that ‘could fundamentally change how we manage our money’ is days away (Business Insider), Rated: AAA
Regulators in Europe and the UK are ordering banks and credit card companies to share customer data with other companies if their customers agree. The companies will also be able to carry out payments on a customers’ behalf.
Open Banking forces lenders to offer a digital “fire hose” of data that any third party can use to get standardised access — provided the startup is registered with the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the customer agrees to share their data. They won’t have to negotiate deals with banks, just plug into their digital systems and go.
The aim of Opening Banking is to give customers greater control over their data and to encourage account switching.
An investigation by the UK Competition and Markets Authority in 2015 found just 3% of customers switched their banks in the last year, meaning many were left with accounts that were not right for them.
ThinCats Says 2018 is Poised for Growth in SME Lending (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A
ThinCats says 2018 is poised for growth. The online lender reports that December was a record month booking £12 million of funding listed on the platform followed the biggest-ever ThinCats-listed loan of £6.7 million to the Chelsea Yacht & Boat Company at the end of September.
Loan Store Reveals to Reduce Interest Rates on Instant Cash Loans for the UK People (MENAFN), Rated: A
Loan Store is the responsible lending hub that reveals to reduce the interest rates on instant cash loans for the UK people.
Hennery Dicosta, a senior adviser of Loan Store, has offered the complete details about this announcement. This is what he said- In a recent scenario, people usually try to borrow a small loan amount. That is why we have decided to provide the loans for bad credit people with no guarantor and no fees on an instant decision to resolve their short term emergencies. We never charge any processing fee and we are now providing these loans on quite low rates of interest. Besides, we do not judge the creditworthiness of the borrowers with their credit rating and give an instant decision on their loan request.
Crowdstacker joins the Peer-to-Peer Finance Association (P2P Finance News), Rated: B
CROWDSTACKER has joined the Peer-to-Peer Finance Association (P2PFA), becoming the self-regulated trade body’s eighth member.
The business lending P2P platform will be represented by chief executive Karteek Patel.
China
3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices (The Motley Fool), Rated: AAA
With that in mind, we asked three Motley Fool investors to each profile a company that has a low valuation now compared to its earnings-growth potential. They identified Yirendai (NYSE:YRD), Criteo S.A.(NASDAQ:CRTO), and Changyou.com (NASDAQ:CYOU) as strong contenders trading at attractive discounts.
China’s first P2P online lending platform
The Chinese P2P lending market blossomed in the late 2000s, catering to customers who were underserved by traditional banks, and is worth about $60 billion today.
Analysts expect Yirendai’s revenue and earnings to rise 74% and 14% respectively this year, followed by 43% revenue growth and 41% earnings growth next year. Yet the stock trades at just 14 times earnings, compared to an industry average of 26 for credit service providers. Based on those numbers, Yirendai looks likely an undervalued growth stock.
But there are some obvious reasons why investors are discounting it.
First, Yirendai is a subprime lender. Just 1.7% of its loans were rated as prime “Grade A” last quarter. Another 8.7% were Grade B, and 14.1% were Grade C — but 75.5% were rated Grade D. Yirendai collects higher fees from lower rated borrowers, but its business could collapse if its delinquency rates rise.
The company only discloses delinquency rates for loans past due by 15 to 89 days, and that rate came in at a low 1.8% last quarter. But it doesn’t report any data on loans delinquent for over 90 days.
Chinese finance platform Black Fish raises $ 145m from Gobi, Lightspeed, others (Deal Street Asia), Rated: AAA
Black Fish, a consumer finance platform based in China’s Nanjing region, has received $145 million in a series A round from a cluster of firms including Lightspeed China Partners and Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur based Gobi Partners.
Others who participated in the round include Morningside Venture Capital, JAFCO Asia, Fullcent Capital and Zhang Tao, founder of Dianping.com.
At this point, the average annual growth rate of consumer finance is 16.4 percent.
China’s Renren Is Poised To Unlock Value From Its Investment Portfolio And Grow With Blockchain (Seeking Alpha), Rated: A
Renren holds a significant investment portfolio that is easily worth $12 per share. This value will likely be realized in the near term due to multiple catalysts.
The company has started to get involved with blockchain-related businesses, which potentially turns them into a “blockchain play”.
This situation leads to an asymmetrical payoff structure in which there is very little downside and significant upside. My target price is $18.
Renren was an early VC investor in Sofi, taking part in its seed round of financing as well as a later follow-on round. They currently hold a 13% stake in SoFi, having sold 14.1% of their holdings (representing 2% of SoFi) in April 2017 for $92 million.
Dianrong Signs Strategic Agreement with Dalian Finance Development Bureau & Dalian Finance Industry Investment Group (PR Newswire), Rated: A
Dianrong and the Dalian Finance Development Bureau and Dalian Finance Industry Investment Group (DFIIG) recently signed a strategic cooperation agreement to drive financial innovation in Dalian and across China. According to the agreement, Dianrong will develop a series of specific projects in partnership with the Dalian government, including:
- Assist the Dalian Finance Development Bureau in creating a financial technology (fintech) cloud platform to provide fintech capabilities for small loan and guarantee companies, and other small and medium-sized financial institutions in the region and at large. Tools and services will include sophisticated fraud detection, big-data risk management tools, payment channel integration, and compliance reporting. The fintech cloud platform will also provide regulators with easier monitoring of local lending activities and trends in an ongoing and comprehensive way, helping them provide timely policy guidance and support on risk management.
- Work with DFIIG to establish a special Internet finance investment fund for Dalian. The fund will focus on investment in fintech projects and startups with the potential to strengthen Dalian’s new economy and financial services industry.
- Develop a supply-chain trading platform in Dalian utilizing advanced fintech and blockchain capabilities to help more small and medium-sized suppliers secure needed funding. Last year, Dianrong created the first blockchain platform for supply-chain finance with FoxConn Group, a global leader in consumer electronics.
Shanghai tightens financial sector supervision (Ecns), Rated: B
Shanghai is one of China’s largest financial markets by market trading volume. In 2017, its trading volume was 1,438 trillion yuan ($220.9 trillion).
Shanghai has already launched a campaign against fraud and illegal behavior in financial consumer markets, such as internet-based peer-to-peer lending, cash loans to college students, and pay-day loans.
European Union
Rocket Internet CEO says ready to pounce with cash pile (Business Insider), Rated: AAA
Germany’s Rocket Internet needs to hold on to its mountain of cash so it can compete with rivals from the United States and China and pounce when investment opportunities arise, the chief executive said in an interview.
CAUTIOUS MARKET
Rocket is invested in more than 100 start-ups, including in financial and property tech, logistics and travel sites, with its stakes in the five biggest of them potentially worth more than 1 billion euros to Rocket, according to Berenberg bank.
International
MoneyGram Signs Deal to Work With Currency Startup Ripple (WSJ), Rated: AAA
MoneyGram International Inc. MGI +2.63% signed on to run a pilot program testing XRP, a digital currency created by San Francisco startup Ripple, in its payments network, the companies said Thursday.
The Dallas-based company agreed to test XRP as a tool for reducing money-transfer costs and settlement times.
How Banks Can Use Trade Finance Services and Data to Increase Share of Wallet (Traxpay), Rated: AAA
While global trade presents tremendous growth opportunities, businesses of all sizes are none-the-less finding it difficult to access much needed credit, resulting in a global trade finance gap. According to an Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) 2017 Trade Finance Gaps, Growth, And Jobs Survey, that gap was $1.5 trillion in 2016.
Non-financial institution competitors are aggressively targeting this market, using innovations such as blockchain to develop products and tools that not only replace outdated paper and manual-based processes, but also deliver unprecedented levels of cybersecurity that are critical in today’s digital transaction space. The same ADB survey revealed more than $13 billion in venture capital was invested in FinTech trade finance in 2016 alone.
The recent Simmons & Simmons Hyperfinance studyof the world’s leading trade banks found that only 7% believe they are at the forefront of digital innovation in spite of the fact that 80% of innovation leaders report digitally-driven products and services introduced over the past three years have expanded revenue growth. This illustrates the reality that financial institutions recognize the importance of developing a digital strategy, but few are moving aggressively enough to take advantage of these new technologies.
PRINCIPLES, ESG, AND CREDIT RISK (All About Alpha), Rated: AAA
The question before the house right now, though, is: what about the credit rating agencies? The question comes in three parts: there are the global CRAs; the smaller/regional CRAs in most of the world, and regional CRAs in the special case of China.
First, the global CRAs [there are just two of them, Moody’s and S&P] are making “strong efforts” to incorporate an understanding of ESG issues. They are hiring staff with ESG backgrounds, equipping their existing analysts with the relevant expertise, and drawing on third party providers.
Then there is China. Its CRAs include Dagong Global, China Chengxin, and Golden Credit Ratings. The idea of integrating ESG into their analyses is thus far limited to the issue of green bonds, that is, bonds issued for the development of brownfield sites. Government policy in China encourages green bonds and the CRAs have responded. The resulting assessments are focused on the “E,” not so much the “S” or the “G.” And their environmental assessments rely on measuring the impact of the project the bond aims to finance.
- Research very generally supports the hypothesis that there exists a causal link between ESG factors and the credit worthiness of a borrower;
- Academic research in limited in that it is too exclusively content to measure credit risk by credit ratings, rather than testing the ratings themselves against alternative measures;
- But some research does employ the spread of credit default swaps as an independent measure of risk;
- Anecdotal observation indicates a clear link between G and defaults, although the linkage between E and S and defaults is more difficult to pin down;
- There is much evidence in the linkage of ESG to macroeconomic factors and potential growth, which in turn are important to sovereign risk in particular.
ABS braces for more auto deals after strong start to year (IFR), Rated: A
The asset-backed bond market is braced for a slew of new issues next week, with deal flow expected to be dominated by auto issuers including BMW and Mercedes.
Just two issuers sold deals this week – GM Financial and Consumer Portfolio Services – and both auto trades were met with strong demand from investors. One banker on the GM deal said the deal was over-subscribed across the capital stack.
The biggest tightening though was seen on the smallest and lower rated tranches. The 3.58-year Class B, rated Aa3/AA by Moody’s and Fitch, priced at 30bp over interpolated swaps versus guidance of 35-40bp and whispers of 45bp area.
The 3.58-year Class C, rated A1/A, priced at 50bp over interpolated swaps versus guidance of 55-60bp and whispers of 65bp area.
FROM BANKING TO BITCOIN, FINTECH IS POISED TO CHANGE THE WORLD (Tech Genix), Rated: A
Currently, it represents only 1 percent of the global financial industry. By comparison, digital media accounts for 40 percent while eCommerce accounts for around 10 percent.
To give you a perspective, venture capitalists invested more than $13 billion across 840 different fintech holdings in 2016, according to a report by KPMG. This is 7 percent more than they invested in 2015.
According to the McKinsey report, five areas will see high growth over the next decade. They are consumer finance, mortgage, lending, retail payment, and wealth management.
Online payments
PayPal handled $1.73 billion worth of transactions in the first quarter of 2017 alone, representing a 30 percent increase year-on-year.
Borrowing and lending
However, the delinquency rates have been increasingover the last few years. These rates have increased from 0.56 percent in January 2015 to 0.75 percent in December of the same year.
Overstock.com’s 2017 Highlights: Innovation, Expansion, and Recognition (Business Insider), Rated: A
Overstock’s blockchain-focused subsidiary, Medici Ventures, named its board of directors in 2017, and also saw a number of its portfolio companies continue to use blockchain to revolutionize industries including capital markets, money and banking, property registry, voting, identity, and underlying blockchain technology, including:
- tZERO, the world’s first SEC approved, blockchain-based alternative trading system, launched its initial coin offering (ICO), which attracted over 10,000 subscribers and raised $100M in commitments in the first 12 hours of its pre-sale. A significant portion of the tZERO security tokens issued will be available to accredited investors in the public sale beginning in January, 2018.
- DeSoto Inc., a joint venture between Overstock.com founder and CEO Patrick Byrne and world-renowned economist Hernando de Soto, was created to develop a global property registry system to surface the property rights of billions of people in the developing world.
- Bitt, a Barbados-based financial technology company using blockchain to create central banking tools and mobile money applications, named Rawdon Adams, son of former Barbadian Prime Minister Tom Adams, as its CEO. Bitt also fully launched its new mMoney digital payment product, bringing to market a blockchain-based mobile wallet that allows users to participate in digital transactions on their smartphones without the need for a traditional bank account, helping to foster financial inclusion in the region.
- South-American based Ripio (formally known as BitPagos), participated in an ICO that raised $37M to fund its Ethereum-based peer-to-peer lending platform, Ripio Credit Network.
- Belgium-based SettleMint launched a token sale for its DataBroker DAO, a peer-to-peer marketplace created to provide Internet of Things (IoT) sensor-owners with a clear path to data monetization, and data consumers with a decentralized marketplace in order to buy IoT sensor data. SettleMint also signed an agreement with The Islamic Research and Training Institute, the research arm of the Islamic Development Bank Group, to work with local partner Ateon on developing blockchain-based financial products that can be used to support development and inclusion in IsDB member countries.
Global lender selects Aussie fintech, Trade Ledger, as worldwide technology partner (PR Newswire), Rated: A
Zürich-based lender, TradePlus24, has selected Australian deep tech startup, Trade Ledger, as its global technology partner to roll out its new trade insurance wrapped lending product across their European lending network, and enter the Australian market.
Bankers fear they will get Amazon-ed in tech disruption (Financial Times), Rated: A
According to IDC, only about a quarter of US bank technology budgets is spent on digital transformation, as opposed to business as usual. They expect this to grow to nearer 40 per cent in 2020.
Secondly, this spending could substantially boost banks’ productivity, and profits.
Banks will drive up the cost of customer acquisition for start-ups who will increasingly struggle unless they build network effects and scale very quickly. Roboadvisers and peer-to-peer lenders will be on heightened alert. Some start-ups will need to rethink their plans to disrupt and look to form partnerships instead.
Changes in financial regulation, such as a lighter touch fintech charter being examined in the US or the second payment services directive in Europe, could potentially make this more likely. The tech giants have the brands, customer reach, digital processes and flair to develop good products, and to take swift advantage of any regulatory changes.
Karma token trading opens after successful million ICO campaign (Crypto Ninjas), Rated: B
India
German Online Lender Kreditech Heads to India (Bank Innovation), Rated: AAA
German online lender Kreditech is making its way to India, Bank Innovation has learned.
For this expedition, the fintech has teamed up with SaaS banking platform Mambu for providing short-term lending products specifically tailored to local consumers.
Kreditech selects Mambu’s SaaS banking engine for its passage to India (Finextra), Rated: A
Kreditech currently operates in Europe and Latin America and will expand into India in early 2018, together with its partner PayU, a global online payments provider and Mambu client in Latin America.
The loan product is expected to go live in the first quarter of 2018, all data will be hosted by AWS India.
NiYO Solutions Raises $ 13.2M in Series A Funding (FINSSMES), Rated: A
NiYO Solutions Inc., a Bangalore, India-based fintech startup for salaried employees, raised $13.2m (85 crore) in Series A funding.
APAC
Myanmar takes small steps towards providing greater liquidity for SMEs (Myanmar Times), Rated: AAA
A rising number of start-ups as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are emerging in Myanmar as business opportunities rise. However, many companies fail to achieve their full potential and contribute substantially to the economy because capital assistance is lacking in the country.
A rising number of start-ups as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are emerging in Myanmar as business opportunities rise. However, many companies fail to achieve their full potential and contribute substantially to the economy because capital assistance is lacking in the country.
Currently, local banks extend loans at interest rates ranging between 8.5 percent and 13pc. The local banks began offering SME loans at8.5pc interest in 2015. Since then, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and KfW Development Bank from Germany have also launched SME loans.
P2P lending
To get around the financial constraints, borrowing from family members and peers is common.
In fact, a rising number of businesses have resorted to P2P lending for funds to build up their businesses. Without any guarantees of success though, many entrepreneurs ultimately end up in debt. Others fall prey to fraud. Last year, The Myanmar Times reported at least three cases of fraud involving fake promises of repayments with up to 30pc interest.
Cloud Lending Solutions Recognized as a Top 25 FinTech Company of 2017 (BusinessWire), Rated: B
Cloud Lending Solutions was recognized as a “Top 25 FinTech Company for 2017” by APAC CIO Outlook Magazine. A panel of industrial experts and executives collaborated with the editorial board to curate the list with an aim to provide clarity into the ideal FinTech partners.
Africa
Local digital currency eyes real estate disruption (ITWeb), Rated: AAA
Cape Town-based fintech company, Wealth Migrate, has launched a global digital currency – WEALTHE Coin.
According to Wealth Migrate, while almost half of the world’s wealth is held in real estate, fewer than 13% of people have access or the resources to invest in and benefit from this lucrative market.
Authors:
Thursday January 4 2018 Daily News Digest
News Comments Today’s main news: U.S. blocks Ant Financial from buying MoneyGram. Victory Park exits Prosper. Money360 closes $500M in CRE loans. Prosper appoints new marketing chief. Indian startup funding at 3-month low. LaLa World Global to launch token sale. Today’s main analysis: International P2P lending volumes for December 2017. Today’s thought-provoking articles: LendingClub to turn around in 2018. Top hedge […]
News Comments
- Today’s main news: U.S. blocks Ant Financial from buying MoneyGram. Victory Park exits Prosper. Money360 closes $500M in CRE loans. Prosper appoints new marketing chief. Indian startup funding at 3-month low. LaLa World Global to launch token sale.
- Today’s main analysis: International P2P lending volumes for December 2017.
- Today’s thought-provoking articles: LendingClub to turn around in 2018. Top hedge fund trends. Valuing Funding Circle. How investors can make the most of their money. The most funded fintech segments. Kenya tops Africa’s fintech executive salaries.
United States
- U.S. blocks Ant Financial from buying MoneyGram. AT: “Considering President Trump’s insistence that China is beating the U.S. economically, this isn’t much of a surprise. Now, will a U.S. buyer step forward?”
- Money360 passe $500M in commercial real estate loans. AT: “Congratulations.”
- LendingClub to turn around in 2018. AT: “I suspect LendingClub will do well this year, and this is a solid analysis from The Motley Fool.”
- Top hedge funds trends in 2018. AT: “A mere mention of cryptocurrency investing, but I see this as one of the top trends of the year. I do agree we’ll likely see the number of hedge funds specializing in crypto assets at least double this year, and there will also be a fair degree of specialization.”
- Prosper appoints former BofA executive as marketing head.
- MoneyLion nabs $42M in Series B. AT: “Congratulations.”
- How technology sends clients to human financial advisors.
- Celsius seeks to replace futures exchanges.
- Celsius ready to launch.
- Best credit cards, according to WalletHub.
- Sapphire Reserve Card creator looks to banking.
- More regulation in store for Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
- Indiana’s bill targeting payday lending. AT: “As states continue to tighten the rules on payday lending, making it difficult for the thousands of brick-and-mortar lenders in operation, this will continue to be an opportunity for technology companies to step in and fill the gap–if they can do it profitably.”
- Cumulative household debt.
United Kingdom
- Victory Park Capital fund exits Prosper loans.
- Valuing Funding Circle. AT: “Expect more of this kind of financial tinkering as Funding Circle moves closer to an IPO.”
- How investors can make the most of their money. AT: “Quite an interesting read.”
- Folk2Folk gets new CEO.
- LendInvest financed 1,800 UK homes last year.
- Newable Lending: High touch meets high tech.
- FCA financial director steps down.
European Union
- New EU financial market off to a good start.
- New EU financial market off to a rocky start.
- Interview with Fast Invest CEO.
International
- International P2P lending volumes. AT: “PeerBerry saw the largest growth since last month at 425%. Several lenders saw >999% growth since same month last year. Bitbond saw the biggest decline since last month at 59% while Kokos saw the biggest drop from last year’s same month at 45%. A must-read.”
- The most important charts of 2017. AT: “The most funded fintech segments are lending and insurtech. Payments is No. 3. Surprised? I’ll be anxious to see how far blockchain rises this year.”
- Most returns this year are expected to be in-store.
- Will blockchain replace banks in real estate lending?
- Blockchain predictions for 2018.
- Fintech trends on O’Reilly’s radar.
Australia
India
Asia
Canada
Africa
News Summary
- United States
- The U.S. Is Blocking a Chinese Fintech Giant from Buying MoneyGram (Technology Review), Rated: AAA
- Money360 Passes $ 500 Million in Commercial Real Estate Loans Closed (GlobeNewswire), Rated: AAA
- 3 Turnaround Stocks to Consider in 2018 (The Motley Fool), Rated: AAA
- TOP HEDGE FUND INDUSTRY TRENDS FOR 2018 (All About Alpha), Rated: AAA
- Prosper Marketplace Appoints Former Bank of America Executive Justine Metz Head of Marketing (BusinessWire), Rated: AAA
- MoneyLion Secures $ 42 Million Investment to Accelerate Growth (BusinessWire), Rated: A
- How Tech Sends Clients Running Back to Human FAs (Financial Advisor IQ), Rated: A
- Celsius to replace traditional future exchanges like CME and CBOT with crypto lenders (LeapRate), Rated: A
- Crypto P2P lender Celsius readies for launch (P2P Finance News), Rated: B
- 2018’s Best Credit Cards & $ 7.4B in Extra Interest Following Fed Hikes (WalletHub Email), Rated: A
- The Mastermind Behind Chase’s Industry-Changing Sapphire Reserve Card Sets Her Sights on Banking (Bloomberg), Rated: A
- CFPB 2018 outlook: More deregulation, more upheaval (American Banker), Rated: A
- Indiana lawmaker files bill to cap payday loan interest rates at 36 percent (rtv6), Rated: A
- If in case you have debt, keep away from this massive mistake many debtors make (Kaplan Herald), Rated: B
- United Kingdom
- Victory Park Capital fund exits Prosper loans (AltFi), Rated: AAA
- Valuing Funding Circle (Financial Times), Rated: AAA
- Making the most of your money (P2P Finance News), Rated: AAA
- Folk2Folk Announces New CEO as Giles Cross Takes Over Leadership Role P2P Lending Platform (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A
- Property Lender Financed Around 1,800 UK Homes in 2017 (Landlord News), Rated: A
- High touch meets high tech (P2P Finance News), Rated: A
- FCA financial advice director steps down (Mortgage Strategy), Rated: B
- European Union
- New EU financial market rules off to smooth start: Watchdog (Khaleej Times), Rated: AAA
- Rocky start for Europe’s financial market revamp (Handelsblatt Global), Rated: A
- Exclusive Interview with Fast Invest CEO Simona Vaitkune (ChipIn), Rated: A
- International
- International P2P Lending Volumes December 2017 (P2P-Banking), Rated: AAA
- Setting the Tone for 2018 in the Most Important Charts of 2017 (Let’s Talk Payments), Rated: AAA
- Keep shoppers, the planet, and your profits happy by allowing in-store returns (Biz Report), Rated: A
- Could blockchains replace banks in real estate lending? (American Banker), Rated: A
- 18 Blockchain Predictions for 2018 (Consensy), Rated: A
- 8 fintech trends on our radar for 2018 (O’Reilly Media), Rated: B
- Australia
- Can a fintech lending firm disrupt the big four? (Asiamoney), Rated: AAA
- India
- Funds Raised By Indian Startups Hit Three-Month Low (Bloomberg), Rated: AAA
- Indian start-up ecosystem on a growth path in 2018 (Outlook), Rated: A
- Asia
- LaLa World Global to Launch $ 10M Public Token Sale Jan. 5 (BusinessWire), Rated: AAA
- 8 promising Fintech Startups in Singapore to Watch in 2018 (Fintech News), Rated: A
- Canada
- New payday loan rules still too soft, says group (CBC.ca), Rated: A
- Africa
- Kenya most lucrative market for fintech top staff in Africa (Business Daily), Rated: AAA
United States
The U.S. Is Blocking a Chinese Fintech Giant from Buying MoneyGram (Technology Review), Rated: AAA
American authorities have decided that Alibaba’s digital payment firm, Ant Financial, won’t be allowed to acquire the cash transfer company Moneygram.
Money360 Passes $ 500 Million in Commercial Real Estate Loans Closed (GlobeNewswire), Rated: AAA
Money360, a technology-enabled direct lender specializing in commercial real estate (CRE) loans, today announced it has surpassed half a billion dollars in loans closed since inception. This includes $357 million in loans closed for the year 2017. The milestone comes on the heels of other recent successes for Money360, including the initiation of a partnership with Ten-X, the nation’s leading online real estate transaction marketplace, in which Money360 works to accelerate commercial real estate transactions for buyers, sellers and brokers by offering pre-approved financing for qualified properties and buyers.
Money360 specializes in bridge and permanent loans of $1 million to $20 million. Recent loans closed during the period include:
- A $7.8 million bridge loan for an office property in Evansville, Indiana, brought to Money360 by Benjamin Kadish at Maverick Capital
- A $7.5 million bridge loan for a full-service hotel in Cromwell, Connecticut, brought to Money360 by Rushi Shah at Conlon Capital
- A $6.8 million bridge loan for a nationwide portfolio of Pier 1 retail properties, brought to Money360 by Al Dannatt at Commercial Resource Capital
- A $6.8 million bridge loan for a mixed-use center in Charleston, South Carolina, brought to Money360 by Dominick Scorzo at Ivenhoe Capital Advisors
- A $4.4 million permanent loan for a retail center in Mount Olive, New Jersey, brought to Money360 through our partnership with Ten-X
- A $4 million bridge loan for an office building in Amarillo, Texas, brought to Money360 by Steve States at States Mortgage
- A $3.2 million bridge loan for a retail center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, brought to Money360 by Martin Chera at Express Mortgage
In addition to record loan generation activity and new partnerships, Money360 has taken a number of notable steps in 2017 to further position the company as a leader in commercial real estate and alternative investing, including:
- Hired new top talent to support company growth.
- Named a top five company in the real estate fintech industry by Deloitte based on total investment dollars received.
- Gained backing and support from Ron Suber. Mr. Suber not only invested in Money360, but also joined the firm as a strategic advisor.
M360 Advisors surpasses $300M in Assets Under Management
Finally, Money360 announced that its affiliate, M360 Advisors (“M360”), surpassed $300 million in assets under management.
3 Turnaround Stocks to Consider in 2018 (The Motley Fool), Rated: AAA
One name that has been sold off very recently is Lending Club (NYSE:LC), the leader in the relatively new industry of FinTech personal lending.
Lending Club’s fee-based model depends on increasing volumes, so growth-oriented investors were likely scared off by the reduced targets.
However, I think the hate has gone too far. Lending Club is the largest and only publicly traded loan marketplace, which has made it the go-to for institutional investors looking for exposure to consumer loans. By tightening credit, Lending Club has demonstrated a long-term commitment to sound underwriting, which should deepen its relationships with these important investors.
And while Lending Club did reduce its near-term guidance, it still guided for roughly 20% revenue growth and increasing profitability next year, which isn’t too shabby. The market opportunity in U.S. credit card consolidation — Lending Club’s core business (though not its the only one) — is still large, at $300-$350 billion, which means Lending Club’s current $11.5 billion loans outstanding only amounts to about 3-4% of this market.
TOP HEDGE FUND INDUSTRY TRENDS FOR 2018 (All About Alpha), Rated: AAA
Despite the plethora of negative articles about the hedge fund industry, hedge fund assets have reached an all-time high 5 quarters in a row. Across the hedge fund investor landscape, we see a significant improvement in sentiment towards the industry. We forecast that industry assets will grow by 5.5% over the next 12 months.
Strategies that will gain assets include:
- Quant
- Asia long/short equity – The IMF predicts that 2/3 of world growth will come from Asia over the next 5 years. Less than 5% of Hedge Fund industry assets are invested with Asia based managers.
- Reinsurance
- Higher turnover fixed income
- Strategies that blur the lines between private equity and hedge funds – Most of these are private lending/specialty financing.
Strategies that will lose assets include:
- Traditional long/short equity focusing on the developed markets.
- High beta fixed income managers.
Arms race for Alpha
The industry is experiencing an information arms race with respect to how much information can be gathered and how quickly it can be processed. Information advantages are often short-lived, and many managers are investing in a host of new technologies such as quantitative analytics, alternative data sources and Artificial Intelligence in an attempt to enhance their decision making and improve traditional investment processes. Information and technology are being used to increase efficiency and accuracy in sourcing information, researching ideas and executing investments.
Increase in hedge funds shutting down
The hedge fund industry remains over saturated with an estimated 15,000 funds. We believe approximately 90% of all hedge funds do not justify their fees, as evidenced by the mediocre returns of hedge fund indices. Fed-up with poor performance, investors are increasingly more likely to redeem from underperforming managers leading to an increase in fund closures.
Bullish on Cryptocurrency industry despite potentially one of the largest bubbles in capital markets history
Cryptocurrency is in its infancy stage and will continue to experience tremendous innovation, evolution and exponential growth over the next decade. There are already more than 120 hedge funds focused on cryptocurrencies and block chain technology. We expect this number to increase 2 to 3 times in 2018.
Prosper Marketplace Appoints Former Bank of America Executive Justine Metz Head of Marketing (BusinessWire), Rated: AAA
Prosper Marketplace today announced it has appointed Justine Metz as Executive Vice President of Marketing.
Metz brings more than 25 years of marketing experience and joins Prosper from SRS Acquiom, a financial firm that specializes with M&A transactions. Prior to that, Justine served as Head of Global Wealth and Investment Management Marketing and Sales Support at Bank of America, where she was responsible for driving growth, profitability and loyalty for Bank of America’s Wealth Management business, Merrill Lynch and US Trust. She has also held senior positions at Fidelity Investments, Morgan Stanley and GE Capital (GEFA).
MoneyLion Secures $ 42 Million Investment to Accelerate Growth (BusinessWire), Rated: A
MoneyLion, the digital personal finance platform for the financial middle class, announced today it has secured a $42 million Series B funding, led by Edison Partners. Existing investors FinTech Collective and Grupo SURA, as well as new investors Greenspring Associates and Danhua Capital also participated in the round. All told, MoneyLion has now raised $67 million in equity financing.
The latest investment follows rapid growth of the MoneyLion platform, which has surpassed 1.5 million users and has experienced 178% compounded growth in revenue since 2015. The company, which is cash flow positive, plans on using the growth capital to increase investment in technology and continue to expand its product line.
How Tech Sends Clients Running Back to Human FAs (Financial Advisor IQ), Rated: A
While investors have been using digital tools as an entry into financial planning, they’re simply inundated by too much data and eventually turn to human advisors for help, Cerulli Associates says, according to the publication.
Nonetheless, investors’ appetite for digital advice isn’t subsiding: digital platforms were expected to reach $220 billion in client assets by the end 2017 and more than $600 billion by the end of 2022, according to the report cited by FA magazine.
Celsius to replace traditional future exchanges like CME and CBOT with crypto lenders (LeapRate), Rated: A
Celsius, a blockchain powered lending and borrowing platform, just announced that it aims to replace big banks and futures exchanges, like the CME and CBOT, with crypto coin holders who will earn returns through lending. Using its platform, which will launch in Q1 2018, Celsius members can easily borrow coins at significantly reduced rates compared to traditional financial institutions, while lenders can earn automatic interest by holding coins in the Celsius Wallet.
Dubbed as “The Wallet That Pays Back”, registrants who deposit coins into the Celsius Wallet will receive up to 7% per year on loaned coins.
Celsius plans to offer a variety of powerful financial tools for crypto asset holders, including:
- Peer-to-Peer Lending
- Peer-to-Peer Borrowing
- Crypto Shorting: Network members will be able to short crypto assets by borrowing coins from lenders almost instantaneously.
- Global Credit
- Capital Protection: Celsius will provide protection for all coins, by collecting a portion of the principal interest amount from borrowers.
Crypto P2P lender Celsius readies for launch (P2P Finance News), Rated: B
CELSIUS, an Ethereum-based peer-to-peer lending platform, is set to launch during this quarter.
Lenders will receive up to seven per cent year by depositing coins into the Celsius Wallet that are lent out to the platform’s network of members, according to LeapRate.com.
2018’s Best Credit Cards & $ 7.4B in Extra Interest Following Fed Hikes (WalletHub Email), Rated: A
With millions of people making a financially themed resolution for 2018 and recent Fed rate hikes expected to cost credit card users an extra
Pam Codispoti had a dilemma. She’d been brought on by JPMorgan Chase & Co.to develop a credit card for affluent millennials in 2014—a time when no one thought the group wanted credit cards. Chase’s response was the Sapphire Reserve. The $450-a-year card came with a sign-up bonus of 100,000 reward points and allowed holders to use them at a wide variety of hotels, airlines, restaurants, and more. Holders were also rewarded extra for spending in those categories, and even given a $300 annual travel credit. The first 11 months alone under former CFPB Director Richard Cordray saw a steady stream of enforcement actions and regulatory policies that by itself would make the bureau’s year more eventful than that of other agencies. That span also saw the Trump administration’s challenges to Cordray’s leadership, and the congressional repeal of the CFPB arbitration rule. State Sen. Greg Walker (R-Columbus) filed on Tuesday the first of its kind legislation that would cap small loan finance charges at 36 percent. Currently, the cap for payday loans in Indiana is 391 percent, according to Walker. In June, cumulative U.S. household debt reached $12.84 trillion, a $114 billion increase from the first quarter. Four 4 in 5 Americans are in the red, according to data from a provided exclusively to CNBC. The £336.8m VPC Specialty Lending fund has sold its total holding in Prosper marketplace loans, representing 4.1 per cent of the Company’s net asset value [NAV]. Back in 2014, Lending Club and OnDeck were riding high. The American startups led a pack of online lending companies “disrupting” consumer and business loans respectively. The hype reached fever-pitched as they floated within weeks of each other. Lending Club was valued at $5.4bn. OnDeck at $1.3bn. So, hats off to Funding Circle, the British online lender that is preparing to follow in the footsteps of its struggling peers across the Atlantic. AS INFLATION grows ahead of expectations, far too many savers are seeing the value of their hard-earned cash decline. Recent research from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found that just under a third (30 per cent) of UK adults would not be able to cope if their mortgage repayments increased by £50 a month. With the recent 0.25 per cent rate rise, it won’t be long before these households feel the squeeze. The rise of P2P UK savers and investors are also willing to back British businesses. Six in 10 (63 per cent) would be willing to lend to a business. Over a quarter (26 per cent) would lend to a business that could use their assets as security. A quarter (25 per cent) would lend to an established business that has been operating for a few years and 11 per cent would lend to a start-up business. Click here for more information on ArchOver. Folk2Folk, a unique peer to peer lending platform that combines physical locations with an online platform matching investors with small business loans, has announced the appointment of Giles Cross Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Cross joined Folk2Folk as Chief Marketing Officer in June 2017. This marks a 33% increase on the previous year’s £375m lending record. LendInvest has now lent a total of over £1.2 billion to property investors and developers. FAIRNESS IS pivotal to Newable Lending’s ethos when it comes to lending – and it’s not afraid to nail its colours to the mast. The peer-to-peer business lender is a member of Responsible Finance, a trade body working to increase access to fair finance. FCA director of life insurance and financial advice Linda Woodall has stepped down from the regulator. The regulator understands she intends to retire. A replacement has yet to be appointed. The rollout of new European Union securities rules on Wednesday has been glitch-free so far, though disruptions in coming days and months cannot be ruled out, the bloc’s markets watchdog said. But given the complexity and size of the reform, Esma could not rule out glitches in coming days or weeks, Maijoor said. Even after a year-long delay, precious few experts fully understand the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II, Europe’s biggest financial markets reform in almost a decade. Among other key changes, and in a belated nod to technological progress, telephone-based trading will be replaced with electronic platforms in bonds and off-exchange derivatives. And consumers should immediately see financial advice standards rise. Analysts estimate that MiFid II will cost $6 billion (€5 billion) to implement in the first five years. We recently sat down with the CEO of Fast Invest, Simona Vaitkune to have a chat with her about the project as well as finding out her thoughts and insights. Tell us about how you came up with the idea of Fast Invest. Did you face a problem within the industry or do you think there is a gap in the market for Fast Invest to fill? Everything started when I wanted not only to save money but to earn from my savings, to get passive income. I began to search for a platform which would fit me, but I could not find anything because I wanted to do it easily and safely without investing a lot of money. What do you think is the biggest problem Fast Invest will solve and why is the problem important to solve? Fast Invest is solving a problem that I mentioned before – complexity and large entry point of investment platforms. With Fast Invest, you can start investing from 1 Euro, Zloty or Pound. On top of that, you do not need to worry about your money, because we offer BuyBack and default guarantees. Mintos finished a remarkable month fueled by the cashback promotion. The total volume for the reported marketplaces adds up to 582 million Euro. This month I added PeerBerry, Look&Fin and MyTripleA. In 2017, lending startups around the world scored almost $4 billion in total funding, followed by $3.55 billion gathered by InsurTech startups, $3.24 billion invested in payments, and, of course, $850 million pocketed by startups building blockchain-based solutions. Reverse-logistics firm Optoro found that nearly half (45%) of people will begin sending back unwanted items no sooner than the ripped up wrapping paper has been balled and binned. UPS recently forecast that returns would peak at 1.4 million packages on Wednesday 3 January, 2018, up 8% on last year and the fourth consecutive yearly increase. UPS said consumers returned more than 1 million packages a day to retailers last month. According to Optoro’s report, the majority of returns (91%) will take place in-store. While total returns account for more than $351 billion in lost sales for U.S. retailers (Appriss Retail) the fact that most of those returns are happening in store is good news. More than half (57%) of shoppers who return items to a physical store make additional purchases during the process. The startup Propy recently sold an apartment in the Ukraine through its blockchain, and in the last week of December it began letting Californians buy and sell properties on its blockchain using bitcoin. They will be able to use U.S. dollars next year. ShelterZoom has built an Ethereum-based platform that went live Dec. 14. RealBlocks lets people invest in housing on its blockchain with fiat or digital currency (and starting in February 2018, its own tokens). It has completed seven deals so far. RealBlocks lets people invest in rental properties like Section 8 housing over a blockchain. It has also partnered with SALT Lending so that after February, participants will be able to take out a loan or line of credit using the tokens they buy from RealBlocks as collateral. A blockchain could also facilitate crowdsourced mortgages. Instead of taking out a $200,000 loan from one lender, a borrower could get $2,000 each from 1,000 investors. Bitcoin as a digital store of value is the least interesting use of blockchain … There, I said it. A Loan An Initial Public Offering or Crowdfunding 10. People will take control of their online identities We will continue to see the growing trend wherein people, companies, and machines manage their identity self-sovereignly rather then by a third party service provider like a bank, Facebook, or another internet service provider. Interestingly, governments will increasingly find themselves as attestors to these self-sovereign identities, similar to how Zug, Switzerland is attesting to citizens identity usage with uPort, Ethereum leading self-sovereign identity solution. 11. In 2018, governments and regulatory bodies will mandate the use of blockchain to track and trace high value assets. Major Fortune 50 companies are already demanding public chain track and trace use cases for which they are using the Viant platform to build their solutions. 18. The total market cap of blockchain-based digital assets will exceed $2 trillion U.S. dollars by January 1, 2019. The price of ether will exceed $2,000 in 2018. Ether will continue to outperform bitcoin, and the total market cap of ether will exceed that of bitcoin in 2018. As CVs for Australian bankers go, Jason Yetton’s background doesn’t quite scream ‘disruptor’. High-flyer perhaps, certainly ambitious and across trends. But helming a startup? Two years on from Westpac and now running SocietyOne, the Sydney-based loans fintech that is one of Australia’s more prominent financial startups, the mid-career Yetton seems to bite with near evangelistic fervour the very hand of establishment banking that once nourished him. Australian banking is backward in many critical areas, Yetton tells Asiamoney. He wants to see a tech-led democratization that would revolutionize payments and settlement, as well as lending, data and information infrastructure, while allowing customers to switch banks without penalty. The current system preserves the status quo, Yetton says, in which the formidable foursome control 80% to 85% of Australia’s banking market and from which they earned a collective A$32 billion ($24 billion) in the 2017 financial year. Funds raised by Indian startups hit a three-month low, as four startups together managed to raise just around $10 million last week. That compares with $36 million raised by 10 startups the week before in angel, seed or venture capital funding. Online lending firm Lendingkart Finance Ltd. raised around $3.7 million (Rs 25 crore) from the country’s largest public sector bank State Bank of India to grow its loan books, the company said in a statement. India’s start-up eco-system has been growing at a rapid pace and has all the right ingredients to support the fast paced economic growth of the country. With an addition of 1000 start-ups in the year 2017, the start-ups have played a big role in the growth of the Indian economy, making it a major source of employment, innovation and industrialisation. i2ifunding, India’s second largest P2P lending platform plans to expand its business across the country, instead of focussing on metro cities. Blockchain startup LaLa World is pleased to announce the long anticipated launch of the Lala Token sale to commence on January 5, 2018 and to run through February 5, 2018. A total of 150 Million LALA Tokens will be released in an initial coin sale (ICO) starting this Friday. LALA World Products from their Financial Ecosystem Include: LaLa World is a wholesome financial ecosystem for the unbanked, starting with migrants and their families back home. Investors can purchase LaLa Tokens here:
On Monday, New Brunswick became the eighth Canadian province to introduce regulations governing the payday loan industry. Earlier this week, the Financial and Consumer Services Commission announced a new set of regulations, including mandatory licensing for payday lenders, requiring then to display posters showing their rates, and making insurance on loans optional. Lenders are also prohibited from issuing more than one loan at a time to the same consumer, or lending more than 30 per cent of the consumer’s net pay. Under the new rules, the commission is able to take action against unlicensed lenders and those that fail to comply with legislation. Kenya is the most attractive market in Africa for workers in the fintech industry with new data showing that companies pay the highest salaries in comparison to their peers on the continent. In a recent survey, the Digital Frontiers Institute (DFI) found that executives and senior managers working for Kenyan fintech companies earn each a base monthly salary of Sh2 million (Sh24.6 million or $238,509 annually) and Sh1.2 million (Sh14.2 million or $137,303 annually), respectively. Authors: News Comments Today’s main news: U.S. blocks Ant Financial from buying MoneyGram. Victory Park exits Prosper. Money360 closes $500M in CRE loans. Prosper appoints new marketing chief. Indian startup funding at 3-month low. LaLa World Global to launch token sale. Today’s main analysis: International P2P lending volumes for December 2017. Today’s thought-provoking articles: LendingClub to turn around in 2018. Top hedge […] United States United Kingdom European Union International Australia India Asia Canada Africa American authorities have decided that Alibaba’s digital payment firm, Ant Financial, won’t be allowed to acquire the cash transfer company Moneygram. Money360, a technology-enabled direct lender specializing in commercial real estate (CRE) loans, today announced it has surpassed half a billion dollars in loans closed since inception. This includes $357 million in loans closed for the year 2017. The milestone comes on the heels of other recent successes for Money360, including the initiation of a partnership with Ten-X, the nation’s leading online real estate transaction marketplace, in which Money360 works to accelerate commercial real estate transactions for buyers, sellers and brokers by offering pre-approved financing for qualified properties and buyers. Money360 specializes in bridge and permanent loans of $1 million to $20 million. Recent loans closed during the period include: In addition to record loan generation activity and new partnerships, Money360 has taken a number of notable steps in 2017 to further position the company as a leader in commercial real estate and alternative investing, including: M360 Advisors surpasses $300M in Assets Under Management Finally, Money360 announced that its affiliate, M360 Advisors (“M360”), surpassed $300 million in assets under management. One name that has been sold off very recently is Lending Club (NYSE:LC), the leader in the relatively new industry of FinTech personal lending. Lending Club’s fee-based model depends on increasing volumes, so growth-oriented investors were likely scared off by the reduced targets. However, I think the hate has gone too far. Lending Club is the largest and only publicly traded loan marketplace, which has made it the go-to for institutional investors looking for exposure to consumer loans. By tightening credit, Lending Club has demonstrated a long-term commitment to sound underwriting, which should deepen its relationships with these important investors. And while Lending Club did reduce its near-term guidance, it still guided for roughly 20% revenue growth and increasing profitability next year, which isn’t too shabby. The market opportunity in U.S. credit card consolidation — Lending Club’s core business (though not its the only one) — is still large, at $300-$350 billion, which means Lending Club’s current $11.5 billion loans outstanding only amounts to about 3-4% of this market. Despite the plethora of negative articles about the hedge fund industry, hedge fund assets have reached an all-time high 5 quarters in a row. Across the hedge fund investor landscape, we see a significant improvement in sentiment towards the industry. We forecast that industry assets will grow by 5.5% over the next 12 months. Strategies that will gain assets include: Strategies that will lose assets include: Arms race for Alpha The industry is experiencing an information arms race with respect to how much information can be gathered and how quickly it can be processed. Information advantages are often short-lived, and many managers are investing in a host of new technologies such as quantitative analytics, alternative data sources and Artificial Intelligence in an attempt to enhance their decision making and improve traditional investment processes. Information and technology are being used to increase efficiency and accuracy in sourcing information, researching ideas and executing investments. Increase in hedge funds shutting down The hedge fund industry remains over saturated with an estimated 15,000 funds. We believe approximately 90% of all hedge funds do not justify their fees, as evidenced by the mediocre returns of hedge fund indices. Fed-up with poor performance, investors are increasingly more likely to redeem from underperforming managers leading to an increase in fund closures. Bullish on Cryptocurrency industry despite potentially one of the largest bubbles in capital markets history Cryptocurrency is in its infancy stage and will continue to experience tremendous innovation, evolution and exponential growth over the next decade. There are already more than 120 hedge funds focused on cryptocurrencies and block chain technology. We expect this number to increase 2 to 3 times in 2018. Prosper Marketplace today announced it has appointed Justine Metz as Executive Vice President of Marketing. Metz brings more than 25 years of marketing experience and joins Prosper from SRS Acquiom, a financial firm that specializes with M&A transactions. Prior to that, Justine served as Head of Global Wealth and Investment Management Marketing and Sales Support at Bank of America, where she was responsible for driving growth, profitability and loyalty for Bank of America’s Wealth Management business, Merrill Lynch and US Trust. She has also held senior positions at Fidelity Investments, Morgan Stanley and GE Capital (GEFA). MoneyLion, the digital personal finance platform for the financial middle class, announced today it has secured a $42 million Series B funding, led by Edison Partners. Existing investors FinTech Collective and Grupo SURA, as well as new investors Greenspring Associates and Danhua Capital also participated in the round. All told, MoneyLion has now raised $67 million in equity financing. The latest investment follows rapid growth of the MoneyLion platform, which has surpassed 1.5 million users and has experienced 178% compounded growth in revenue since 2015. The company, which is cash flow positive, plans on using the growth capital to increase investment in technology and continue to expand its product line. While investors have been using digital tools as an entry into financial planning, they’re simply inundated by too much data and eventually turn to human advisors for help, Cerulli Associates says, according to the publication. Nonetheless, investors’ appetite for digital advice isn’t subsiding: digital platforms were expected to reach $220 billion in client assets by the end 2017 and more than $600 billion by the end of 2022, according to the report cited by FA magazine. Celsius, a blockchain powered lending and borrowing platform, just announced that it aims to replace big banks and futures exchanges, like the CME and CBOT, with crypto coin holders who will earn returns through lending. Using its platform, which will launch in Q1 2018, Celsius members can easily borrow coins at significantly reduced rates compared to traditional financial institutions, while lenders can earn automatic interest by holding coins in the Celsius Wallet. Dubbed as “The Wallet That Pays Back”, registrants who deposit coins into the Celsius Wallet will receive up to 7% per year on loaned coins. Celsius plans to offer a variety of powerful financial tools for crypto asset holders, including: CELSIUS, an Ethereum-based peer-to-peer lending platform, is set to launch during this quarter. Lenders will receive up to seven per cent year by depositing coins into the Celsius Wallet that are lent out to the platform’s network of members, according to LeapRate.com. With millions of people making a financially themed resolution for 2018 and recent Fed rate hikes expected to cost credit card users an extra
Pam Codispoti had a dilemma. She’d been brought on by JPMorgan Chase & Co.to develop a credit card for affluent millennials in 2014—a time when no one thought the group wanted credit cards. Chase’s response was the Sapphire Reserve. The $450-a-year card came with a sign-up bonus of 100,000 reward points and allowed holders to use them at a wide variety of hotels, airlines, restaurants, and more. Holders were also rewarded extra for spending in those categories, and even given a $300 annual travel credit. The first 11 months alone under former CFPB Director Richard Cordray saw a steady stream of enforcement actions and regulatory policies that by itself would make the bureau’s year more eventful than that of other agencies. That span also saw the Trump administration’s challenges to Cordray’s leadership, and the congressional repeal of the CFPB arbitration rule. State Sen. Greg Walker (R-Columbus) filed on Tuesday the first of its kind legislation that would cap small loan finance charges at 36 percent. Currently, the cap for payday loans in Indiana is 391 percent, according to Walker. In June, cumulative U.S. household debt reached $12.84 trillion, a $114 billion increase from the first quarter. Four 4 in 5 Americans are in the red, according to data from a provided exclusively to CNBC. The £336.8m VPC Specialty Lending fund has sold its total holding in Prosper marketplace loans, representing 4.1 per cent of the Company’s net asset value [NAV]. Back in 2014, Lending Club and OnDeck were riding high. The American startups led a pack of online lending companies “disrupting” consumer and business loans respectively. The hype reached fever-pitched as they floated within weeks of each other. Lending Club was valued at $5.4bn. OnDeck at $1.3bn. So, hats off to Funding Circle, the British online lender that is preparing to follow in the footsteps of its struggling peers across the Atlantic. AS INFLATION grows ahead of expectations, far too many savers are seeing the value of their hard-earned cash decline. Recent research from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found that just under a third (30 per cent) of UK adults would not be able to cope if their mortgage repayments increased by £50 a month. With the recent 0.25 per cent rate rise, it won’t be long before these households feel the squeeze. The rise of P2P UK savers and investors are also willing to back British businesses. Six in 10 (63 per cent) would be willing to lend to a business. Over a quarter (26 per cent) would lend to a business that could use their assets as security. A quarter (25 per cent) would lend to an established business that has been operating for a few years and 11 per cent would lend to a start-up business. Click here for more information on ArchOver. Folk2Folk, a unique peer to peer lending platform that combines physical locations with an online platform matching investors with small business loans, has announced the appointment of Giles Cross Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Cross joined Folk2Folk as Chief Marketing Officer in June 2017. This marks a 33% increase on the previous year’s £375m lending record. LendInvest has now lent a total of over £1.2 billion to property investors and developers. FAIRNESS IS pivotal to Newable Lending’s ethos when it comes to lending – and it’s not afraid to nail its colours to the mast. The peer-to-peer business lender is a member of Responsible Finance, a trade body working to increase access to fair finance. FCA director of life insurance and financial advice Linda Woodall has stepped down from the regulator. The regulator understands she intends to retire. A replacement has yet to be appointed. The rollout of new European Union securities rules on Wednesday has been glitch-free so far, though disruptions in coming days and months cannot be ruled out, the bloc’s markets watchdog said. But given the complexity and size of the reform, Esma could not rule out glitches in coming days or weeks, Maijoor said. Even after a year-long delay, precious few experts fully understand the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II, Europe’s biggest financial markets reform in almost a decade. Among other key changes, and in a belated nod to technological progress, telephone-based trading will be replaced with electronic platforms in bonds and off-exchange derivatives. And consumers should immediately see financial advice standards rise. Analysts estimate that MiFid II will cost $6 billion (€5 billion) to implement in the first five years. We recently sat down with the CEO of Fast Invest, Simona Vaitkune to have a chat with her about the project as well as finding out her thoughts and insights. Tell us about how you came up with the idea of Fast Invest. Did you face a problem within the industry or do you think there is a gap in the market for Fast Invest to fill? Everything started when I wanted not only to save money but to earn from my savings, to get passive income. I began to search for a platform which would fit me, but I could not find anything because I wanted to do it easily and safely without investing a lot of money. What do you think is the biggest problem Fast Invest will solve and why is the problem important to solve? Fast Invest is solving a problem that I mentioned before – complexity and large entry point of investment platforms. With Fast Invest, you can start investing from 1 Euro, Zloty or Pound. On top of that, you do not need to worry about your money, because we offer BuyBack and default guarantees. Mintos finished a remarkable month fueled by the cashback promotion. The total volume for the reported marketplaces adds up to 582 million Euro. This month I added PeerBerry, Look&Fin and MyTripleA. In 2017, lending startups around the world scored almost $4 billion in total funding, followed by $3.55 billion gathered by InsurTech startups, $3.24 billion invested in payments, and, of course, $850 million pocketed by startups building blockchain-based solutions. Reverse-logistics firm Optoro found that nearly half (45%) of people will begin sending back unwanted items no sooner than the ripped up wrapping paper has been balled and binned. UPS recently forecast that returns would peak at 1.4 million packages on Wednesday 3 January, 2018, up 8% on last year and the fourth consecutive yearly increase. UPS said consumers returned more than 1 million packages a day to retailers last month. According to Optoro’s report, the majority of returns (91%) will take place in-store. While total returns account for more than $351 billion in lost sales for U.S. retailers (Appriss Retail) the fact that most of those returns are happening in store is good news. More than half (57%) of shoppers who return items to a physical store make additional purchases during the process. The startup Propy recently sold an apartment in the Ukraine through its blockchain, and in the last week of December it began letting Californians buy and sell properties on its blockchain using bitcoin. They will be able to use U.S. dollars next year. ShelterZoom has built an Ethereum-based platform that went live Dec. 14. RealBlocks lets people invest in housing on its blockchain with fiat or digital currency (and starting in February 2018, its own tokens). It has completed seven deals so far. RealBlocks lets people invest in rental properties like Section 8 housing over a blockchain. It has also partnered with SALT Lending so that after February, participants will be able to take out a loan or line of credit using the tokens they buy from RealBlocks as collateral. A blockchain could also facilitate crowdsourced mortgages. Instead of taking out a $200,000 loan from one lender, a borrower could get $2,000 each from 1,000 investors. Bitcoin as a digital store of value is the least interesting use of blockchain … There, I said it. A Loan An Initial Public Offering or Crowdfunding 10. People will take control of their online identities We will continue to see the growing trend wherein people, companies, and machines manage their identity self-sovereignly rather then by a third party service provider like a bank, Facebook, or another internet service provider. Interestingly, governments will increasingly find themselves as attestors to these self-sovereign identities, similar to how Zug, Switzerland is attesting to citizens identity usage with uPort, Ethereum leading self-sovereign identity solution. 11. In 2018, governments and regulatory bodies will mandate the use of blockchain to track and trace high value assets. Major Fortune 50 companies are already demanding public chain track and trace use cases for which they are using the Viant platform to build their solutions. 18. The total market cap of blockchain-based digital assets will exceed $2 trillion U.S. dollars by January 1, 2019. The price of ether will exceed $2,000 in 2018. Ether will continue to outperform bitcoin, and the total market cap of ether will exceed that of bitcoin in 2018. As CVs for Australian bankers go, Jason Yetton’s background doesn’t quite scream ‘disruptor’. High-flyer perhaps, certainly ambitious and across trends. But helming a startup? Two years on from Westpac and now running SocietyOne, the Sydney-based loans fintech that is one of Australia’s more prominent financial startups, the mid-career Yetton seems to bite with near evangelistic fervour the very hand of establishment banking that once nourished him. Australian banking is backward in many critical areas, Yetton tells Asiamoney. He wants to see a tech-led democratization that would revolutionize payments and settlement, as well as lending, data and information infrastructure, while allowing customers to switch banks without penalty. The current system preserves the status quo, Yetton says, in which the formidable foursome control 80% to 85% of Australia’s banking market and from which they earned a collective A$32 billion ($24 billion) in the 2017 financial year. Funds raised by Indian startups hit a three-month low, as four startups together managed to raise just around $10 million last week. That compares with $36 million raised by 10 startups the week before in angel, seed or venture capital funding. Online lending firm Lendingkart Finance Ltd. raised around $3.7 million (Rs 25 crore) from the country’s largest public sector bank State Bank of India to grow its loan books, the company said in a statement. India’s start-up eco-system has been growing at a rapid pace and has all the right ingredients to support the fast paced economic growth of the country. With an addition of 1000 start-ups in the year 2017, the start-ups have played a big role in the growth of the Indian economy, making it a major source of employment, innovation and industrialisation. i2ifunding, India’s second largest P2P lending platform plans to expand its business across the country, instead of focussing on metro cities. Blockchain startup LaLa World is pleased to announce the long anticipated launch of the Lala Token sale to commence on January 5, 2018 and to run through February 5, 2018. A total of 150 Million LALA Tokens will be released in an initial coin sale (ICO) starting this Friday. LALA World Products from their Financial Ecosystem Include: LaLa World is a wholesome financial ecosystem for the unbanked, starting with migrants and their families back home. Investors can purchase LaLa Tokens here:
On Monday, New Brunswick became the eighth Canadian province to introduce regulations governing the payday loan industry. Earlier this week, the Financial and Consumer Services Commission announced a new set of regulations, including mandatory licensing for payday lenders, requiring then to display posters showing their rates, and making insurance on loans optional. Lenders are also prohibited from issuing more than one loan at a time to the same consumer, or lending more than 30 per cent of the consumer’s net pay. Under the new rules, the commission is able to take action against unlicensed lenders and those that fail to comply with legislation. Kenya is the most attractive market in Africa for workers in the fintech industry with new data showing that companies pay the highest salaries in comparison to their peers on the continent. In a recent survey, the Digital Frontiers Institute (DFI) found that executives and senior managers working for Kenyan fintech companies earn each a base monthly salary of Sh2 million (Sh24.6 million or $238,509 annually) and Sh1.2 million (Sh14.2 million or $137,303 annually), respectively. Authors: News Comments Today’s main news: PayPal to fully integrate Swift Financial after closing acquisition.GoCardless raises $22.5M.Qudian poising for U.S. IPO.Varengold Bank AG to give $61M to MarketInvoice.Bondora hits 100M Euro milestone.Reserve Bank of India to treat P2P lenders as non-banking financial companies. Today’s main analysis: Public distrusts regulators as much as Wall Street.(a must-read) Today’s […] United States United Kingdom China European Union International Australia India Latin America Africa A little over one month after revealing plans to acquire Swift Financial, PayPal has announced that the deal is now complete. PayPal said that it plans to fully integrate Swift Financial into its payment service “over the course of the next year,” according to Darrell Esch, PayPal’s vice president and commercial officer of global credit, in a blog post. PayPal has actually offered a working capital program for lending money to small businesses since 2013, and it has loaned more than $3 billion through the program to date. This compares to the $3 billion Amazon has loaned SMEs since the launch of Amazon Lending back in 2011, and the $1.5 billion in loans Square has doled out since launching Square Capital in 2014. The new Cato Institute 2017 Financial Regulation national survey of 2,000 U.S. adults released today finds that Americans distrust government financial regulators as much as they distrust Wall Street. Nearly half (48%) have “hardly any confidence” in either. Americans have a love-hate relationship with regulators. Most believe regulators are ineffective, selfish, and biased: But most also believe regulation can serve some important functions: Americans want regulators to focus on preventing banks and financial institutions from committing fraud (65%) and ensuring banks and financial institutions fulfill their obligations to customers (56%). Few Americans Want “More” Financial Regulations—They Want the Right Kinds of Regulations, Properly Enforced Polls routinely find that a plurality or majority of Americans want more oversight of Wall Street banks and financial institutions. This survey is no different. A plurality (41%) of Americans think more oversight of the financial industry is needed. However, only 18% think the problem with federal oversight of the banking industry is that there are “too few” rules on Wall Street. Instead, 63% say the government either fails to “properly enforce existing rules” (40%) or enacts the “wrong kinds” of regulations on big banks (23%). Despite Distrust of Wall Street, Americans Like Their Own Banks and Financial Institutions Democrats and Republicans Want a Bipartisan Commission to Run CFPB, Divided on CFPB Independence Most Support Risk-Based Pricing for Loans, Say Low Credit Scores are Due to Irresponsibility Nearly three-fourths of Americans (74%) say they’d be “unwilling” to pay more for their home mortgage, car loan, or student loan to help those with low credit scores access these loans. The acquisition will expand PayPal’s ability to provide access to business financing options to the millions of small business owners who rely on PayPal and our partner platforms to run their businesses. As we’ve said before, increasing access to capital is vital to the success of small businesses and is a strategic offering for PayPal, which drives merchants’ sales growth, increases processing volume, and reduces merchant churn. Like many of you I was shocked and infuriated by the news out of SoFi last week. I think we all expected better from the company and its leaders. Some of the behavior that has been reported is reprehensible and it points to a much deeper problem that goes way beyond fintech. The problem of sexual harassment in the workplace is bigger than any one company, any one industry or even any one country. It is rampant throughout the globe. Men: we cannot keep behaving this way. I have been drinking at the bar late at night at enough conferences to know that many men believe it is still ok to treat women as objects. This kind of attitude has consequences in the workplace. And if the leaders of the company condone this behavior there will be a culture that is at best unwelcoming towards women and at worst so toxic it can endanger the very survival of the company. Women in Fintech People often complain to me about the lack of women in fintech. People say that LendIt does not have enough female speakers and there are not enough women in general at our events. This article is the first step in what I expect will be a long journey towards making fintech a more welcoming place for women. I want to see us do better as an industry. We should do everything we can to make fintech an attractive career choice for young women. We have several initiatives around this that are in the planning stages that we hope to roll out at LendIt USA in San Francisco next year. In addition, there are rumors circulating that improperly funded SoFi loan products were sold to investors. Here are the numbers: Ellevest, a nearly three-year-old, New York-based digital investment platform built for women and led by former Wall Street titan Sallie Krawcheck, has raised $34.6 million in fresh funding. It’s technically a Series A round, according to the company, which says a widely reported $10 million round that closed last year was seed capital. The round — which was led by Rethink Impact, and includes participation from PSP Growth, Salesforce Ventures, CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund, LH Holdings, SK Impact Fund, Morningstar, Khosla Ventures, Mellody Hobson, Ulu Ventures, Contour Venture Partners and Astia Angels — brings the company’s total funding to $44.6 million. Chinese payments company Ant Financial is planning to resubmit its application for U.S. review of its deal to buy MoneyGram International Inc (MGI.O) for $1.2 billion, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday. Ant Financial and MoneyGram have already refiled for clearance from Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) when they were unable to secure it within an assessment period after the first application, Reuters reported in July, citing sources. Ant Financial’s latest attempt for approval would be its third as the maximum time of 75 days for assessing such applications nears completion. JPMorgan Chase & Co. is partnering with another fast-growing technology firm, this time to help business clients eradicate paper checks. The bank is working with Bill.com, the largest U.S. business-to-business payments network, to enable customers to send and receive electronic payments and invoices, according to Stephen Markwell, a product strategy head for JPMorgan’s commercial bank. The New York-based lender will pilot the service in early 2018 and plans to offer it to more business and commercial clients later in that year, Markwell said. While many consumers already are embracing digital tools for sending money, like PayPal Inc.’s Venmo or the banking industry’s Zelle, more than half of business payments are still via check, according to Markwell. Companies write 8 billion checks a year, each costing about $4 to print and handle, he said. LendingTree Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) has acquired an online loan platform for businesses called Snap Capital, known as SnapCap, in a potential $21 million deal. SnapCap is LendingTree’s fifth acquisition since June of 2016. LendingTree says the acquisition has a potential value of $21 million. The online marketplace will pay $12 million in cash upfront and if SnapCap hits certain performance targets over time, it will receive contingent payments of up to $9 million. Charlotte-based LendingTree has been diversifying its business over the last several years beyond mortgages. And its stock price has been on the rise as a result. LendingTree’s stock was up about 7% Tuesday afternoon after the acquisition announcement. The company’s shares were trading at $251 Tuesday afternoon, up from about $93 per share a year ago. Online lender LendingPoint announced Tuesday (Sept. 19) that it had closed an up to $500 million credit facility on Aug. 22. In a press release, the company said the credit facility was arranged by Guggenheim Securities. LendingPoint noted it drew down $138.5 million of the facility at the closing, and it took an additional $32.7 million on Sept. 15. The proceeds are being earmarked to bankroll the growth of its consumer installment loan portfolio, a business element which has roughly doubled between August 2016 and August 2017. According to the company, the up to $500 million credit facility is among the largest credit facilities raised in the online consumer lending market in 2017. Pine River Capital Management is closing its $1 billion flagship hedge fund after clients asked to withdraw more money than the firm was expecting, according to a person familiar with the matter. The move will further shrink the Minnetonka, Minn.-based firm’s assets under management to $7.5 billion, half the roughly $15 billion it managed in 2015. Most of the country has never heard of Madden v. Midland Funding and the common law doctrine of “valid-when-made,” but the impact of the misguided decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on consumers is far-reaching. Rate exportation has been key to the rise of standardized nationwide financial products, like credit cards, allowing banks to lend to borrowers across state lines without necessarily establishing a physical presence in every state, giving consumers better choices. Following the Madden decision, it is unclear in the 2nd Circuit whether certain bank loans transferred to a marketplace lending platform would be ruled valid or not. Are loans bound by the bank’s “home” state rate cap, or the borrower’s “host” state rate cap? No one knows for sure. This legal uncertainty has caused nonbank investors in these loans to pull back, which, in turn, has led to a reduction in responsible and affordable online lending. Borrowers who are still trying to build credit have lost better options. According to an August study by professors at the Columbia, Stanford and Fordham law schools, “the decision reduced credit availability for higher-risk borrowers in affected states.” San Diego-based Reliant Funding and New York-based Merchants Capital Access are now joined as one under the Reliant Funding name. Four Facts about Reliant Funding Cloud computing, big data and financial technologies have raised the stakes for finance and accounting professionals according to Randstad Professionals‘ new whitepaper, Technology’s Impact on Finance and Accounting. There are three broad areas in which emerging technologies and digital tools are causing significant disruption to the way things are done: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is expected in coming days to release a long-anticipated rule curbing payday lending, now that a final review by other regulatory agencies has concluded, three people familiar with the matter said. The rule pits the country’s consumer financial watchdog against payday lenders who say the new regulation will wipe out much of their established industry, currently overseen by the states, and push poor and rural customers to use illegal loan sharks. Because the loans can carry interest rates as high as 390 percent, borrowers can become trapped in devastating cycles of taking out new loans to pay outstanding ones, the CFPB said. Payday and short-term lending is an approximately $6 billion-a-year industry, one that both critics and supporters of payday lending agree will take a major hit if the CFPB’s proposed rules on payday lending go through. To make that block happen, Republicans in the House of Representatives added a “rider,” or amendment, to a spending bill banning the CFPB from regulating the payday loan industry. The CFPB rules on payday lending have been in the works for some time and would require lenders to conduct background checks showing borrowers can afford the loans and to limit the number of loans made to a single borrower. First Associates Loan Servicing announced today the release of the Morningstar ranking report certifying their overall excellence in loan servicing. Morningstar awarded First Associates a MOR RV1 ranking of ‘stable’ which is the highest certification possible and deeply assesses risk management, call center performance, quality assurance, technology, security protocols, project management and disaster recovery protocols. Since the majority of consumers lacked insurance coverage for flood damage, the costs keep adding up from replacing furniture and appliances to renting another home or apartment until the costly repairs are completed. The Small Business Administration offers both homeowners and renters disaster loans ranging from 1.75% to 3.5% of up to $40,000 for property damage such as furniture, clothing, cars and appliances and up to $200,000 for repairs to the house. Using money from your IRA or 401(k) account is likely a better option than asking friends or family or seeking a loan from a payday lender. What makes it so diverse? The markets available or the types of real estate? Amy Kirsch: All of the above. We’ve done deals in 39 states, we offer debt and equity, commercial and residential, and we’ve done basically every asset class. Do you have a minimum for investment? The lowest limit we have now is $5,000, but it varies on how large of a fundraise we’re completing. What’s innovative about RealtyShares? The technology, or what it lets you access? On Monday, Prime-Ex Perpetual‘s real estate crowdfunding effort began in earnest with the launch of their PEX-Token cryptocurrency sale, aimed at generating $25,000,000 in USD equivalent cryptocurrencies. The PEX-Token is a dividend token in which the company will pay 80% of company profits back to the PEX-Token holders. Beginning Monday people purchasing PEX-Tokens will receive 15% bonus PEX-Tokens for purchasing PEX-Tokens early. Once again, Accel, Balderton Capital, Notion, and Passion are backing GoCardless, this time to the tune of $22.5 million and on the back of what the startup says is record annual growth in the U.K. and strong, early traction in new markets. Outside of Blighty, the company operates its bank-to-bank payments network in the Eurozone and Sweden. GoCardless isn’t disclosing revenue. Instead the company says it processes over $4bn worth of transactions across more than 30,000 organisations in the U.K. and Europe, working with small startups and large enterprises across a number of industries. It offers an API and off the shelf integrations with over 100 partners including Xero, Sage and Zuora. Customers include Sage, Thomas Cook, Box and The Guardian. Artificial intelligence (AI) will soon be everywhere. The insurance industry is facing huge changes as AI steps boldly into every aspect of its internal operations and external relationships wearing the bright new clothes of InsurTech. It has brought new players into the insurance market with some, like Lemonade, the world’s first peer-to-peer insurance carrier powered by AI and behavioural economics, experiencing phenomenal growth over a very short time. It is estimated that around £1.32 billion was invested globally in the InsurTech arena in 2016, up 32% on the previous year. The lion’s share of this was in the United States but the UK and Europe are increasing their investment (see chart below). Other innovations, such as fractional insurance where customers buy on a pay-as-you-go basis or peer-to-peer insurance, will have a deeper impact. For Rutter, one of the key cultural challenges for the insurance industry is going to be its cautious approach to regulation. he Financial Conduct Authority is the lead regulator in this area and it has been trying to engage the industry, setting up a ‘sandbox’ to encourage insurers to work with it to explore the impact of regulation on technological innovation. In particular, it will be aiming to test the boundaries of legislation such as the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD). There will be some InsurTech applications that get it wrong, predicts Rutter, potentially selling large numbers of policies to the very people underwriters don’t want on their books: “Insurers need to understand that once automated decisions have been made, you can’t pull back from them by cancelling policies. That is hardly treating customers fairly”. Falling returns, big loans going bad and news that new Innovative Finance ISA has failed to attract investors is leaving questions hanging over the future of peer-to-peer lending. The bad news began last month when RateSetter, one of the biggest peer-to-peer lenders, was forced to cough up nearly £9 million to stop customers losing money after a big loan went wrong. It’s not just Ratesetter At the same time, another peer-to-peer lender is coming under fire from its customers. Zopa is being criticised by customers who are seeing falling returns on their investments. Paltry take up on the Innovative Finance ISA Finally, interest in the new Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) has been disappointing. New stats from HMRC shows that just 2,000 IFISAs were opened in the 2016/17 tax year. Bruce Davis, co-founder and MD of green energy-focused P2P platform Abundance, has been appointed to the government’s Green Energy Taskforce. The group has been set up to help accelerate the growth of green finance and the UK’s low carbon economy. Abundance is the UK’s biggest green energy-centric peer-to-peer site, with roughly £50m in finance facilitated for projects to date, according to AltFi Data. Its investors are able to invest in debentures for projects such as wind turbines and solar farms, and can hold those investments in an Innovative Finance ISA. Online consumer microlender Qudian said it plans to raise up to $750 million in a New York IPO, in the second of two major fintech deals this month which are expected to kick off a wave of similar listings by year-end. But a source with direct knowledge of the situation told Caixin the final fundraising amount is likely to exceed $1 billion, possibly making it the largest IPO by a Chinese company in the US this year. Uncertainty around Brexit may be mounting as political leaders from the U.K. and the European Union clash on the terms of separation, but that isn’t slowing down foreign investors from betting on Britain’s top peer-to-peer lenders. Varengold Bank AG, a Hamburg-based private banking firm, will provide 45 million pounds ($61 million) in annual funding for loans to small businesses arranged by MarketInvoice Ltd., the British finance company said in an emailed statement. 2017 Company reaches cash-flow profitability 100 million euro of loans issued. Younited Credit, the Paris-headquartered consumer lender announced a capital increase of €40 million subscribed by a panel of the top of the crop growth investors in France. Next to its historical shareholders, Eurazeo, Crédit Mutuel Arkema, AG2R La Mondiale and Weber Investissements which are already very active in Fintech and alternative finance financing, the startup now takes on board new major investors: Bpifrance, Matmut Innovation, and Zencap Asset Management. Today, on the 20th of September, GoldMint is launching its ICO. GoldMint is celebrating the beginning of its ICO by attending 3 major events on the same day the crowdsale kicks off. One of these events is BlockchainLive in London – Europe’s leading Blockchain conference bringing together over 75+ global experts in various fields. Another one is Moscow’s ICO Event which this time mainly focuses on how legislation will impact the cryptocurrency space. Today GoldMint is also present at the Global Blockchain Summit in Hong Kong gathering iconic speakers from various industries to discuss about the real-world applications of blockchain technology, as well as its potential benefits, risks, and regulatory concerns. To spread the word about GoldMint in the USA – GoldMint’s advisor and business developer Evgeniy Volfman has recently completed the official Northern American road trip representing the project in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami. Simultaneously, GoldMint is opting to expand its campaign globally, with the Middle East & Singapore regions being the current primary focus. Nominations are open to Innovate Finance’s Women in Fintech Powerlist, which recognises women shaping the future of fintech around the world. UK-based membership organisation Innovate Finance compiles its Powerlist of Women in Fintech each year, with the aim of closing the fintech gender gap by showcasing the women driving the global fintech space. Bitcoin peer-to-peer lending platform Wayniloans has withdrawn its support for the SegWit2x bitcoin scaling proposal and the New York Agreement (NYA). Wayniloans joins several other companies in withdrawing support for SegWit2x and the NYA. Banking and payment processor Bitwala announced last month it will only follow the SegWit2x blockchain if it receives support from Bitcoin Core, which does not appear likely. FinTechs are certainly in competition with other FinTechs, but the real competition is the established financial service industry, epitomised by the big four banks. Consumer banking is where FinTechs aim to cause the most disruption – and many would say it’s an area where disruption is long overdue. One recent startup, Spriggy, is out to grab its fair share of the kids’ bank accounts market, for instance. Over the past 10 years, consumers have lost about $5.7 billion to financial advisers and financial services providers who put their own interests first. The scandals have included Opes Prime, Storm Financial, Timbercorp/Great Southern, Bridgecorp, Fincorp, Trio/Astarra, Westpoint and Commonwealth Financial Planning. The size of the market in Australia has grown substantially year on year. In 2014, $9.45 million changed hands by way of P2P consumer lending platforms, for instance; in 2015, the P2P consumer lending figure stood at $43.15m. And when it comes to money raised through crowdfunding, the figure jumped from $8.2m to $26m over the same time period. At the moment, there are at least 86 FinTech tools operating in Australia through which you can borrow money, most of which are P2P lending services. And there are at least 24 crowdfunding services on offer. It’s no surprise, then, that the biggest external challenge for FinTechs these days is finding customers. Nine Australian FinTech companies made the 2016 list of the top 100 FinTech innovators around the world, an annual roundup compiled by the FinTech investment firm H2 Ventures and KPMG Fintech. The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday notified that peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms would be treated as non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), an agency reported. This suggests the lending interface will now come under the purview of RBIs regulation under the RBI Act. Rubique, India’s leading FinTech company, is now taking giant strides in enhancing the level of education and training in the FinTech domain in India. In view of the highly lucrative opportunities that await young professionals in the landscape, it is leveraging its expertise to co-certify courses in FinTech at the prestigious SP Jain School of Global Management. Many Latin Americans are hard pressed to obtain credit for their businesses or family needs, as 49% of adults do not have bank accounts. The region’s fintech industry secured $186 million in venture capital investments last year, according to the Latin America Venture Capital Association (LAVCA) – with more than one-third going to startups. Deal count increased by 81%, with 38 transactions. In Brazil, 160 million adults have some type of banking relationship, but only 55 million are borrowers, according to the country’s central bank. This, combined with more than 20 million unbanked people, turns Latin America’s largest economy into a fertile ground for fintechs, says Jose Prado, founder of Conexao Fintech, an online hub for fintech entrepreneurs and enthusiasts. Creditas raised $19 million in a Series B funding round. The Sao Paulo-based firm provides asset-backed debt focused on auto and mortgage loans. In Mexico, where 55.9% of adults have no access to any form of savings deposits, fintechs are offering digital, user-friendly alternatives to traditional banking products, according to Jorge Ortiz, founding president and CEO of non-profit organization Fintech Mexico. Ripio Credit Network, a company that has raised $5 million in funding from VC like Tim Draper, Pantera, DCG, Overstock (Medici Ventures) and others. Has launched their Initial Coin Offering pre-sale as they gear up for the crowd sale scheduled to launch on October 17th. This comes just as Ripio has received a nice recognition, along with a check, from the d10e Pitch competition. Ripio, a prominent crypto-based company in Latin America, is building a global credit network solution that aims to enhance transparency and reliability in credit and lending. Ripio is designed to enable connections between lenders and borrowers located anywhere in the world, regardless of currency. FMO together with Miami based Fintech and digital transformation strategists above & beyond (a&b), launched “ FinForward”, a marketplace where Fintech companies, Financial Institutions (FIs) and Mobile Money Providers (MMPs) in Africa are matched. The objective of the new platform is to accelerate the digitization of the financial industry in Africa by supporting innovation of the core business with digital solutions. The matching and integration tool will make global Fintech companies accessible and top-of-mind to African financial institutions in order to help them to reduce costs, innovate, add services, tap into new revenue streams and work towards open banking platforms. It will also enable them to service difficult to reach segments such as the bottom of the pyramid, women and small entrepreneurs. The matching and integration tool will make global Fintech companies accessible and top-of-mind to African financial institutions in order to help them to reduce costs, innovate, add services, tap into new revenue streams and work towards open banking platforms. It will also enable them to service difficult to reach segments such as the bottom of the pyramid, women and small entrepreneurs. How does it work? Authors: News Comments Today’s main news: Investors pressure OnDeck to make bigger expense cuts. LendingClub celebrates 10 years in business. Zopa launches ISA. Earnest is not for sale, after all. Orca to launch new P2P rating service. Moody’ downgrades China on debt risk. The first ETF for ABS. Today’s main analysis: Orchard Platform reports Q1 results. Today’s thought-provoking articles: 10 years of excellence […] United States United Kingdom China European Union International Australia India Asia Middle East Activist investors are turning up the heat on OnDeck, the online lender, which said this month it would curb originations and cut costs in an attempt to turn a profit by the end of the year. The company still needed to think bigger, according to Mario Cibelli, managing partner at Marathon Partners Equity Management, who wrote to board members in April urging them to take an axe to the $194m annual cost base and explore a sale of the business. Net revenues, after loan-loss provisions and funding costs, came to $109m last year. Pressure on OnDeck is likely to come from other quarters too. EJF Capital, an activist investor, has built a stake equivalent to about 9 per cent of the shares outstanding since the turn of the year, according to disclosures tallied by Bloomberg. In February the Arlington, Virginia-based group, which ranks as OnDeck’s second-largest shareholder with more than 9 per cent, said it may seek talks with management. LendingClub (NYSE:LC), the largest marketplace lender in the US, is celebrating its tenth anniversary. It is pretty hard to believe that LendingClub is now ten years old. To paraphrase the LendingClub history: From the LendingClub newsletter: Over the past 10 years, you have helped power the loans facilitated by LendingClub’s platform for borrowers looking to finance their financial lives. Together, we have helped nearly 2 million borrowers access affordable credit. That means we’ve helped finance debt consolidation, home improvement projects, medical expenses and weddings for millions of people in the United States. Key Insights BlackRock Inc.’s planned iShares Consumer Asset-Backed Securities ETF will invest in notes supported by consumer loans, such as student debt and credit cards, according to a regulatory filing on Friday. If approved, it will be the first ETF to target the ABS market. Consumer debt has ballooned in recent years as Americans ramp up borrowing and capitalize on historically low interest rates. Household debt topped $12.7 trillion in the first quarter, up 1.2 percent from the end of 2016. Signs of trouble are however brewing, with suspicions of fraud in some auto loan applications, a decline in credit-card recovery rates and an increase in late payments on private student loans. The iShares MBS ETF has $10.6 billion under management while the iShares CMBS ETF oversees $240 million, data compiled by Bloomberg show. SCOTT SAUNDERS, CEO of the online lending company Payoff, did not set out to build a personalized financial coaching app for women. In 2014, he began assembling a team that eventually included a cognitive neuroscientist, a marketer, an advertising executive and the data scientist behind eHarmony’s match algorithm. The goal: to build an app that used psychological testing to match users of both genders with artificially intelligent financial coaches. By focusing on the intersection of money and psychology, Saunders hoped to minimize financial stress and maximize the pleasure users get from spending and saving. Last week, Crowdfund Insider referenced a report in Bloomberg that Earnest was looking for buyers as it struggled to raise new funds. A company representative has now stated that Earnest is not looking to sell the company. Zibby, the omnichannel lease‐to‐own payment option for online and in‐store shopping, today announced a $13.5 million investment led by CURO and MissionOG, with participation from Blumberg Capital, Tribeca Venture Partners and other institutional investors. This brings Zibby’stotal capital raised to more than $150 million. With the investment, Zibby will further expand its presence among retailers to offer non‐prime and near‐prime customers a monthly payment option for furniture, appliances, electronics and other consumer durables. Blispay, a Baltimore-based financial technology company, has raised $12 million to accelerate the marketing and sales outreach for its financing platform. The Series A round was led by FirstMark, Accomplice and NEA. New investors included Camden Partners and F-Prime Capital. The round brings the company’s total funding to just under $25 million. Based on its recent analysis of the automotive financing industry, Frost & Sullivan recognizes AutoGravity with the 2017 North American Frost & Sullivan Entrepreneurial Company of the Year Award. AutoGravity’s first-of-its-kind FinTech platform empowers car buyers to browse any new or used car, get multiple binding financing offers in minutes and select the deal and lender that’s right for them. Just months after launching its native mobile app in the summer of 2016, AutoGravity introduced new car leasing and used car loan features with the aim of transforming the auto financing industry. While simplifying the financing process for customers, AutoGravity’s app also saves dealers the effort of educating customers on various models and financing options. Additionally, it saves time by eliminating the need to apply for financing at the dealership and process pages of paperwork. Most significantly, it supports dealers by providing them with qualified, enthusiastic car buyers. Currently, AutoGravity has 60+ employees, and has recorded 350,000 app downloads in just one year. It has expanded to 48 states in the United States and has on-boarded many of the nation’s top-20 automotive lenders, as well as 1,500+ dealers. Due to these successes and its ability to break new ground in the auto financing industry, Frost & Sullivan is pleased to present AutoGravity with the 2017 North American Entrepreneurial Company of the Year Award. According to an EY study last year, fintech is growing in popularity, with roughly 15.5% of digitally active consumers using financial tech products — a figure that was likely to double within 12 months. The United States had the second-highest adoption rate of fintech tools (16.5%), following Hong Kong with 29.1%. Silicon Valley entrepreneurs have a knack for taking old things and making them look new. The latest example of which is Long Game, which TechCrunch tells us is “a bank account, with a twist”: The personal finance app allows users to play games and win cash prizes up to $1 million. It may sound like a gimmick, but these are FDIC-insured accounts backed by Blue Ridge Bank in Virginia. […] In addition to the possibilities of cash rewards, users accrue .1 percent interest. She hopes that participants will take saving seriously and view the games as a bonus. While Long Game touts the $1 million prize possibility, so far the largest check they’ve written is $1,000. Like the actual lottery, it’s an odds-based game and the chances of the app making you a millionaire are 1 in 227 million. This one falls under recently discovered. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report on Financial Technology, or Fintech, for Congress this past April. The GAO explained; “You asked us to provide information on the fintech industry, including the marketplace lending subsector, such as its structure and development over the last several years, as well as how federal regulators supervise fintech firms. This report, the first in a series of planned reports on fintech, describes four commonly referenced subsectors of fintech: marketplace lending; mobile payments; digital wealth management; and distributed ledger technology and their regulatory oversight.” FormFree today announced that it has hired mortgage loan quality subject matter expert and analyst Ann Fulmer as its chief strategy and industry relations officer. FormFree’s flagship product, AccountChek, is an asset verification app that streamlines the loan underwriting process for both borrowers and lenders, resulting in higher borrower satisfaction and shaving more than a week off the time it takes to close a loan. In her role, Fulmer will drive FormFree’s strategic planning and implementation, manage the firm’s institutional relationships and interactions with federal and state regulators and oversee outreach to industry associations and advocacy groups. In addition, she will spearhead the firm’s long-term development of a comprehensive mortgage compliance solution. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta on Tuesday made it clear that the U.S. Department of Labor would not delay the implementation of the rule, announcing the agency’s intentions in a Wall Street Journal opinion column. Tuesday’s announcement that the rule is going forward may not be the end of the discussion. Almost all companies find that they have to spend less money to keep customers than they have to spend to attract new people through the door or to their shopping website. Some companies may access small business loans for their initial investment. They understand that they can benefit from this investment because it provides them with an efficient way to market. The extra profits will allow them to pay the loan back and keep more for themselves. Zopa, the pioneering financial services company, announces today that it will launch its Innovative Finance ISAs in June (pending HMRC approval). With demand expected to be high, existing customers will be given priority access ahead of new customers. In preparation for the Innovative Finance ISA, Zopa is also revamping its investor products by introducing Zopa Core and announcing the retirement of Zopa Access and Classic. Investors in Zopa Core will lend in the same risk markets as Access and Classic (A*-C) but will not be covered by the Safeguard fund. Zopa Core will offer a higher target return of 3.9% after fees and expected credit losses, as compared to 3.7% and 2.9% for Classic and Access. The Innovative Finance ISA will be launched in four phases: Orca, an independent data, research and analysis providers on the UK P2P lending market has announced its plans to launch its own four-factor rating service for individual P2P providers, the Orca Rating. The rating will be designed in partnership with Dublin City University’s Irish Centre for Cloud Computing and Commerce research team, to respond to the growth of the asset class and the demand for more independent analysis and information on P2P lending. The Orca rating will individually analyze four factors — performance, liquidity, operator health and security — aiming to go beyond existing single platform ratings and enable advisers and investors to assess all fundamental criteria at once when comparing and choosing P2P lending platforms. According to Orca data, the P2P market has now surpassed £9B cumulative total lent with 2016 alone seeing a 40% increase in investment in the asset class. ArchOver, the peer-to-peer (P2P) business lending platform, has secured full authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to operate as a P2P lending platform (Article 36H). The respective managers of the £822m P2P Global Investments and the £200m HoneyComb investment trusts will merge, creating one of the largest specialist asset management firms focused on non-bank lending. MW Eaglewood and Pollen Street Capital, the respective two parties, are under discussion as to adjustments to their mandates but Lindsey McMurray, managing partner of Pollen Street, will become head of the new firm which will be called Pollen Street Capital. P2P Global Investments is the largest closed-ended fund investing in non-bank lending in the UK, having launched three years ago. While, as its name suggests, it originally was a vehicle for exposure to the P2P and marketplace lending market it has moved more into niches within the alternative Credit spectrum in recent months. The comments follow the news that bridging lender Henley Finance will be releasing its first app on 1st June in order to make applying for finance easier. Now, mobile banking has been a ‘thing’ for more than a decade and, according to research by ING, 55 per cent of us in the UK are managing our finances this way, with a further rise of 12 per cent expected this year. Atom pitches itself as so customer-centric that you can personalise the app and actually choose the colours of the logo and how the name of your bank appears on your phone. Its tone is highly conversational, quirky without seeming unprofessional. Atom pitches itself as so customer-centric that you can personalise the app and actually choose the colours of the logo and how the name of your bank appears on your phone. Its tone is highly conversational, quirky without seeming unprofessional. Whereas traditional banks are still perceived as slow, Monzo demonstrates the speed of its technology. Both businesses are inviting collaboration to help develop their services – Monzo through sharing its API so customers can build apps using their own data, and Atom through inviting members to join its community. Moody’s Investors Service cut its rating on China’s debt for the first time since 1989, challenging the view that the nation’s leadership will be able to rein in leverage while maintaining the pace of economic growth. Stocks and the yuan slipped in early trading after Moody’s reduced the rating to A1 from Aa3 on Wednesday, with markets paring losses in the afternoon. Moody’s cited the likelihood of a “material rise” in economy-wide debt and the burden that will place on the state’s finances, while also changing the outlook to stable from negative. Total outstanding credit climbed to about 260 percent of GDP by the end of 2016, up from 160 percent in 2008, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. At the same time, China’s external debt is low by international standards, at around 12 percent of gross domestic product, according to the International Monetary Fund, meaning that a downgrade isn’t likely to be as disruptive as it would be for nations more reliant on international funding. While China’s debt risks have been swelling for years, the cut by Moody’s comes as some of those pressures ease. Nominal economic growth in the first quarter rose at the fastest pace since 2012 — 11.8 percent in current-price terms — making the problem of excess leverage a little more manageable, while the return of factory price inflation is beefing up profits for indebted state-owned industries, helping them service and repay loans. Moody’s lowered China’s credit-rating outlook to negative from stable in March 2016, citing rising debt, falling currency reserves and uncertainty over authorities’ ability to carry out reforms. About a month later, S&P Global Ratings also warned that rising local debt was pressuring the nation’s rating. S&P currently rates China’s foreign and local-currency long-term debt at AA- with a negative outlook, and Fitch places an A+ rating on both foreign and local currency long-term debt with a stable outlook. The EB-5 visa grants permanent U.S. residence to anyone investing a half million dollars in a U.S.-based development project. Eighty percent of EB-5 recipients are Chinese. WANG: (Through interpreter) Actually, everyone I know has applied for EB-5s. We’re just ordinary people. We’re not wealthy. WANG: (Through interpreter) I’m only doing this for my son’s education. He is in a good local school, but all they do is study for tests. The Chinese education system turns everyone into the same type of person. The Financial Committee therefore rejected the proposal to extend the prospectus exemption of crowdinvesting ‒which currently applies only to the suboptimal shareholder loans, to all securities, including equity shares. The committee also concluded against raising the threshold of fundraising requiring a prospectus from €2.5 million to €5 million, and in favor of keeping the crowdinvesting ceiling per project per retail investor at €1,000 (€10,000, if qualified investor). On one issue, however, the German crowdfunding sector breathed a sigh of relief: the proposal made by credit institutions to exclude real estate crowdfunding from the KASG has been taken off the table. The opponents to real estate crowdfunding had alleged that real estate should be excluded from the crowdfunding exemptions because real estate projects did not foster innovation, as projects in crowdfunding should, and because crowdfunding them could trigger to a real estate bubble. These arguments were successfully rebuffed. Next to real estate, green Crowdinvesting is also a very successful branch of German crowdinvesting. Its most common form is the refinancing of existing renewable energy (photovoltaic, wind and bioenergy) plants through platforms such as fairzinsung, Greenvesting, GreenXmoney LeihDeinerUmweltGeld und Wiwin. The yield is guaranteed by feed-in tariffs. Other platforms, such as Bettervest, specialize in energy-efficiency projects. Several, such as ecoligo facilitate investments in renewable energy in developing countries. Many of the platforms are not only financial brokers between issuers and investors, they are also expert advisors, shareholders, or service operators for the issuers. In the eyes of the legislator, human or capital ties between issuers and platforms pose a risk of conflict of interest and should be forbidden. According to the committee, a platform tied to an issuer would not be able to vet its projects with the necessary objectivity, hence would not properly defend the interests of the investors. Chinese billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Financial is moving closer to getting regulatory approval to buy MoneyGram, The Post has learned — despite concerns in Washington about money laundering. “Ant and its advisers are working very constructively with [federal regulators]” to close the $1.2 billion MoneyGram acquisition, a source close to the situation said, referring to the Congressional Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, which must approve the transaction as it involves a major foreign investment in a company in a key business sector. Shareholders of Dallas-based MoneyGram, a money-transfer company, approved the sale to Ant for $18 a share on May 16. Adding to our stellar line up of leading women in FinTech, we speak to Alex Foster about how she has become Head of Insurance & Finance Sector & Post Trade Services at BT, and what she would suggest if you were just starting out as a woman in tech. What was your light bulb moment? My light bulb moment came about four to five years ago, when I began working with bankers, some who were friends, leaving their traditional roles on the trading floor to create new and exciting FinTech, RegTech, and InsurTech companies. As we know, these start-ups are a growing source of innovation in the financial markets industry. But their small size can create challenges around market adoption, delivery and meeting the stringent contractual or compliance expectations of large financial institutions. We started to work with these companies to help them scale-up to obtain a global reach. I realised the monumental impact that these technologies and FinTech firms could achieve when the right partnerships are in place. Leverate, a technology provider specializing in brokerage solutions for the financial services industry, has parted ways with its Head of B2B Sales Peter Leonidou, who ends a two-year tenure with the technology provider, Finance Magnates has learned. Peter leaves Leverate to join PROTECHFX LTD, a fintech startup, which according to its website is just starting out on its journey, or at best still operating in its early stages. The winners of FinTech Australia’s inaugural Finnie Awards have been announced, with familiar names Afterpay, Ratesetter and SocietyOne among them. The awards were handed out across 17 categories, including workplace diversity, insurtech and peer-to-peer lending, to recognise innovation and excellence in the FinTech space. Online lender RateSetter was a finalist for the FinTech of the Year award, and also successfully took out two spots, for Excellence in both consumer and business lending. These awards were both focused on “outstanding B2B lending results through innovative yet stable, sustainable operations.” SocietyOne, another online challenger to the big banks, won for Excellence in Peer-to-peer Lending. The award recognised a peer-to-peer platform that showed stringent security measures, a strong market reputation, ease of application and competitive interest rates and loan terms. Set-up by Varun Dua, previously founder of Coverfox, Acko General Insurance has received it’s in principle regulatory clearance to launch a General Insurance business in India. In a regulated business, Acko has raised $30mn, which in effect makes it one of the largest seed rounds for a startup in India. Recently, the first domestic Internet life insurance company and Thai life officially opened. It is understood that the original vice president of insurance and property insurance Li Yuquan in the life of the ceremony was held. In August 2016 the Insurance Regulatory Commission to the peace and life of the preparation and approval, the general manager is the former deputy general manager of the sea life Wang Hao. In January this year, Hetai Life Insurance was approved by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission. Registered capital of 1.5 billion yuan, registered in Jinan City, Shandong Province. The legal representative of the company Liu Xin. The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) today released the details of its Innovation Testing Licence (ITL) which allows fintech firms to go through a special testing stage prior to their approval as fully operational firms. Fintech operators will be able to use the ITL licence to test their products for a period of 6 to 12 months, which could be extended upon DFSA’s discretion. Successful applicants will then be required to obtain a full financial services licence to continue formally operating. By contrast, fintech firms that fail to meet the outcomes detailed in the regulatory test plan will have to cease activities. Authors: News Comments Today’s main news: SoFi raised new $105M fund.Landbay unveils March 2017 UK Rental Index.P2P-Banking launches IFISA comparison database.Personal loan applications surge in Australia. Today’s main analysis: Development of fintech in Hong Kong.Fintech startups in MENA raise $100M last decade. Today’s thought-provoking articles: OCC fintech plan uncertain as comptroller term expires.Goldman’s internal fintech revolution can’t […] United States United Kingdom European Union International Australia China MENA Africa SoFi, the online lending start-up sporting a lofty $4.3 billion valuation, has just raised a $105 million fund to give outside investors another way to buy into the company’s loans. In a regulatory filing Monday afternoon, SoFi Prime Income Fund is listed as the issuer of equity in a limited partnership. According to the filing, the fund has 33 investors that put in a minimum of $500,000 each. Nino Fanlo, SoFi’s chief financial officer, said the fund is the first of its kind for SoFi and provides another avenue to raise capital for issuing loans. Returns after fees are expected to be in the low double digits, he said. As the term of Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry expires and with no replacement in sight, the OCC could be headed toward a showdown with Congress over the agency’s decision to issue special charters to fintech companies. In March, the OCC published a draft supplement to its licensing manual, which contains existing regulations for chartering national banks. And although Curry said the OCC will issue charters to fintech companies, his own future is in doubt. His term expired this month and President Trump has not nominated a replacement, although Joseph Otting, a former associate of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at OneWest Bank ,has been mentioned as a possible nominee. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said earlier this year that authority to issue such charters must come from Congress. Meanwhile, traditional banking and credit union trade groups are divided over the charter proposal. Earlier this year, NAFCU said that the OCC must ensure that online lenders are subject to the same consumer protections and data standards as banks and credit unions. The American Bankers Association has said it supports the concept of the OCC issuing fintech charters, but wanted it to ensure that companies meet the same standards as traditional banks. Goldman Sachs’s internal technology revolution cannot come soon enough. Goldman’s fledgling Main Street operation is a bright spot. With more than $115 billion in deposits, it’s already one of the top 25 banks in the United States by that measure. Marcus, as the online consumer-lending unit is called, is experiencing “demand more robust than we thought,” the unit’s boss, Harit Talwar, said recently. Consumer lending can earn at least a 3 percent return on assets — triple what Goldman has been managing as a whole of late. For now, lending through new web platforms remains a small industry, with just $40 billion of credit extended over a decade, according to Deloitte. Texas-based Elevate Credit (NYSE: ELVT), which recently held its IPO at the exchange, exists because of what it sees as an opportunity in the financial services market. In between are working people, roughly 170 million residents of the U.S. and the U.K., whom Elevate refers to as “the New Middle Class.” These are people with low or no credit scores, who often have to resort to non-prime lenders in moments of personal or medical emergency. Elevate offers three products. The first, called Rise, is an unsecured, online loan vehicle; Sunny is its U.K. counterpart, and Elastic is a line of credit issued by Kentucky-based Republic Bank, Member FDIC. While the company’s customers have credit scores typically in the 560 to 600 range, those with lower credit or no credit can also be approved, depending on what Elevate’s data analysis reveals about their reliability. Elevate’s analytics platform, DORA, is home grown. It’s based on open-source software tools that enable model development and risk analytics. DORA inputs and outputs are monitored and evaluated to help ensure legal and regulatory compliance. Elevate’s IQ platform deploys business logic and algorithms. And driving the analytics and decision-making technology is the very human decision to create specific data sets, generated from sources that monitor non-prime customers. The platforms draw on more than 10 different sources of consumer information, including the big three credit bureaus as well as other bureaus that specialize in non-prime customers. In addition, Elevate acquires data from LexisNexis, ID Analytics and other unique data sources to validate the applicant’s identity and to draw inferences about the applicant’s intent to repay. Elevate uses this data in ongoing tests to optimize its underwriting, to ensure that fraud and serious credit risks are more easily distinguished from acceptable risks. In the last year, Elevate’s charge-off rates have remained steady, while its customer acquisition costs have dropped, says Rees. Elevate also uses its nimble, data-driven underwriting model to reward its best customers. Borrowers who establish a history of on-time repayment, and who take advantage of online financial literacy tools and videos, will see their APRs drop over time. Currently, the most responsible Elevate customers pay APRs as low as 36 percent. When OnDeck completed its IPO in 2009, it entered the public markets with a massive amount of buzz, ending the day with a share price north of $20 dollars and a valuation around $1.9 billion. Two years out, and the banks’ lunch remains uneaten — because those alternative lenders like OnDeck have had a rather bumpy two years. OnDeck’s share price is down 75 percent since its 2014 IPO — in the last 12 months the firm has shed 37 percent of its value. Today OnDeck’s market cap stands at $330 million. Marathon Partners Equity Management, LLC has owned 1.75 percent of OnDeck since the end of 2016 — and the activist investor is now pushing for a new direction, preferably one that involves a sale. That letter apparently did not get quiet enough of a reaction from the board — OnDeck’s official response was that they “value dialog with their shareholders,” and so as of the end of last week, the campaign ramped up. Whether or not very drastic changes are coming soon to OnDeck remains to be seen — the annual meeting for shareholders will likely be spirited. Public comments are now available from companies, regulators, advocacy groups and individuals weighing in on the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s licensing manual draft supplement for special purpose national bank charters. The OCC received only 17 total comments on its March 15 supplement for evaluating bank charter applications from financial technology companies, far from the 120 it received on the broader whitepaper Exploring Special Purpose National Bank Charters for Fintech Companies, which introduced the idea of the OCC granting fintech companies these bank charters back in December 2016. “While many states have made admirable efforts to align their regulations with technological innovation, state laws by and large were drafted for a physical branch banking environment that did not envision online delivery of financial services,” wrote Robert Lavet, general counsel of San Francisco-based personal finance company Social Finance, or SoFi, in his comments to the OCC. In her comments, personal lending company Oportun Inc.’s chief compliance officer Joan Aristei voiced no concerns with the financial inclusion standards. She wrote the guidance on this type of plan will “inform our discussions regarding how we can modify and enhance the efforts we have already undertaken,” adding that she “appreciates the OCC’s willingness to innovate and look beyond traditional measures of financial inclusion.” New York State Department of Financial Services superintendent Maria Vullo called the OCC’s proposal for fintech charters a “hasty and misguided effort.” She said that regulation for the financial technology providers is better left to the states, not the OCC. The first thing to understand is that an equity investor in a syndication is actually a partner in partnership. Investments in syndications will generally be considered “passive” activities. When combining all passive activities, if the investor has a net passive loss, then the remaining net loss is effectively “suspended” whereby they are carried forward to future years and subject again to the passive activity rules. If an investor has passive income then that is taxed at the taxpayer’s marginal tax rate. In the subsequent tax year, any passive losses that carried over can offset passive income that is generated. Crowdfunding syndications offer one additional special tax advantage and that is favorable long-term capital gains rates. When a property (apartment building, retail center, etc.) is acquired through a syndication and is held for longer than one year, the sale of the property would typically result in long-term capital gains. These gains are taxed at a rate of 15% (with certain exceptions). Any depreciation that was deducted on the property would be subject to tax rates not to exceed 25%. MortgageHippo, a mortgage-technology startup based in Chicago, has raised about $2.25 million in seed funding, the company announced Tuesday. CMFG Ventures, based in Madison, Wis., led the $1.5 million round that closed last week, Saportas said. CMFG is the venture capital arm of CUNA Mutual Group, which sells insurance and investment products to credit unions. The investment closed MortgageHippo’s seed funding. Jones said the company is “passionate about building a brand,” which it does by creating editorial content. It has a blog that profiles business owners Bond Street serves across the country, like the guys behind the Two Hands cafes and restaurants or the women that launched Sky Ting Yoga in New York City; and an online magazine that looks at the cultural and economic impact of independent businesses in New York (celebrity restaurateur Daniel Boulud and artist Baron von Fancy are among many interviews that address the importance of supporting local businesses). It also has a podcast called the Nitty Gritty that features the entrepreneurs behind brands like Sweetgreen, charity:water, McNally Jackson and Smitten Ice Cream; and a series of city-specific resources for female entrepreneurs. Jones declined to share Bond Street’s annual content marketing budget, but said the company has two dedicated employees working on content marketing, out of about 40 total employees. Marketing has become expensive for online lenders because of the high cost of customer acquisition. Partnerships are an easy way to bring that cost down, Benton said. To date, Bond Street has partnered with WeWork to offer loans to member companies of the co-working space company; SMB-focused software companies like Booker and Front Desk to offer their clients discounted loans; and most recently, with NerdWallet, the comparison shopping site for credit cards and other financial services, to help provide small business owners with financing options. Payix® and Nortridge Software announce they have formed a strategic alliance to help lenders connect with their borrowers and improve their ability to collect payments. The alliance allows Payix to offer real-time integration between its suite of collections tools and the Nortridge Loan System (NLS). Payix’s collections tools include its intuitive, engaging and affordable mobile collections application, as well as web, interactive voice response (IVR), text, and collector portal applications. Nortridge clients can add the Payix solutions to their existing collections tools with virtually no IT work on their part and in just a few weeks’ time. The Nortridge and Payix teams collaborated in the development of the seamless web services interface between the Nortridge Loan System and the Payix payment system, ensuring that transactions could be carried out in real-time and without interruption. Payix’s collections tools are white-labelled to help lenders promote their own brands with their borrowers, and they were specifically designed for any size lender to use easily and affordably. In late March, 2017 we learned that Chinese online lender China Rapid Finance filed to go public, hoping to raise up to $100 million. They will list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol XRF and will be the second Chinese online lender to go public in the United States. Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP advised College Ave Student Loans on a $30 million capital raise. The Milbank team was led by Corporate partner Roland Hlawaty with Corporate associate Joanne Luckey. RealtyShares, a leading online marketplace for real estate investing, today announced that its network of accredited investors has collectively funded a $3 million investment for the acquisition of Clarendon Park Apartments, a 138-unit multifamily property in Phoenix, Ariz. The deal is sponsored by Rincon Partners, an Arizona-based owner and operator of multifamily properties focused primarily on the Southwestern United States. Rincon Partners intends to use the funds to rehabilitate and modernize the apartment interiors and amenities to potentially improve its position within the market. The property is located in midtown Phoenix, between the city’s two largest employment corridors and close to shops, restaurants and newly developed amenities. The property itself features a swimming pool, spa, clubhouse and fitness center, as well as access to light rail within two blocks. Last week, UK-based peer-to-peer lending platform Landbay released the March 2017 Rental Index. This report reveals details about the country’s rental market. “Since March 2016, average rents in the UK have risen by 0.9% to £1,191. In England, rents were up 0.87% to £1,222; in Northern Ireland, they rose by 0.07% to £557; meanwhile in Scotland rents rose to £723 following annual growth of 1.25% and in Wales, the average rent is up 1.41% to £636. Average rents for one, two and three-bed properties hit £1,012, £1,152 and £1,321 respectively in March 2017.” P2P-Banking launches a new IFISA database, that enables investors an easy comparison of offers by IFISA providers. UK taxpayers can invest up to 20,000 GBP per year tax-free in ISAs. This amount is per tax year, so a person could invest 20,000 GBP this tax year and invest 20,000 GBP in a different ISA next year. The Innovative Finance ISA, short IFISA, was introduced in 2016 with most offers becoming approved by HRMC only in the 2017/2018 tax year. The new database of IFISA offers allows speedy selection and sorting to review IFISA products by different providers and then links to the provider’s website for in detail information. Investors can filter by interest rate, term, loan type, minimum investment amount, possibility of transfers in and out, flexible IFISA, bonus & cashback promotions and several other criteria. Starling Bank is partnering with app-based wealth manager Moneybox for real-time savings. Moneybox’s savings and investment services will be now offered by digital-only bank Starling to enable customers to easily open ISAs and round up their spending in real time. The service will be available to Starling customers as early as the end of April. The new service is made possible through Starling’s open APIs. The integration has two distinct features. Firstly, it allows customer data to be securely shared between the two apps, meaning transactions will appear within the Moneybox app in real time as customers spend. Secondly, the integration with Starling means that customers will be able to set up round ups from their Starling account in a matter of seconds. Starling Bank publicly launched its API and developer platform to enable external developers and technology companies to integrate with the banking app earlier in April, and Moneybox is the first to launch a live integration on this API. In response to growing demand from investors in search of better investment returns for their pensions, UK P2P service provider BondMason has launched a new Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) service. The new SIPP service offers a flexible, tax-efficient way to save for retirement and allows investors to access returns from a diverse set of approved P2P Lending opportunities. Investors can open with a lump sum from £5,000 and there is no tie-in – an investor can typically exit in full within 48 hours. The service also aims to allow SIPP administrators to easily and compliantly grant their clients access to returns from P2P Lending. THE FOUNDER of ThinCats has said that the regulator’s clampdown on wholesale lending will affect projects that can be funded through his social peer-to-peer lending platform Community Chest. Kevin Caley (pictured) launched the social enterprise last year and it funded its first loan in February 2017 for £130,000. The debt facility went to a local Birmingham finance company called ART Business Loans, which supports West Midlands enterprises. But Caley says the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s tighter restrictions on wholesale lending mean that loans like these will no longer be possible, as the money was lent to another lender. A well kept secret of the UK B2B banking sector, is now public. Clear Bank, a clearing Bank in the UK, is ready to compete with the four UK clearing banks, Clear Bank is the fifth UK clearing bank and the only one that is pure B2B since it does not offer services direct to the consumer. Back in the 60s there were 16 clearing banks in the UK. Consolidation in this part of transactional banking has left the UK currently with 4 clearing banks that process over 80 Trillion pounds annually worth of payments in the UK. Clear Bank will be helping Challenger banks to access the payment system at the Bank of England level, at the same level as incumbents. Clear Bank will help the 44 UK Building societies offer current account services in a cost effective way. Right now, only 2 out of the 44 offer such capabilities to their members due to prohibitive costs. Clear Bank will boost indirectly retail banking by reducing the substantially processing costs, which will facilitate competition for incumbents in the UK. Clear Bank will help Fintechs by providing Banking as a service through the Cloud at a very low cost. Clear Bank will be offering an API so that Fintechs can interconnect to the ClearBank Fabric. According to Venture Beat, U.K.-based startups raised $1.04 billion in venture capital (VC) during the first three months of 2017. That’s a slight decrease from the $1.17 billion raised during same period one year ago, but it’s above the amounts raised in each of the last three quarters. The U.K. remains number one in Europe for VC raised, with Germany second at $779 million and France third at $665 million. Peer-to-peer lending service Funding Circle helped push the U.K. into the number one spot, raising $97 million in VC funding and $43 million in debt funding during the first three months of 2017. The fintech — financial technology — sector has emerged rapidly over the last decade. The Confederation of British Industry expects it to be worth £300bn in the UK alone by 2020. Given Neil Woodford’s long-prevailing dislike of the big banks, it’s perhaps not surprising that he’s attracted by the relatively simple business models and exciting investment opportunities in the fintech sector. Woodford is invested in some unquoted fintech companies, such as RateSetter, a peer-to-peer lending platform, and Seedrs, which opens up venture capitalism “to anyone with an internet connection”. However, he also has two holdings that are listed on the stock market — and very interesting they are too. P2P Global Investments (LSE: P2P) is a FTSE 250 firm with a market cap of around £700m. VPC Specialty Lending Investments (LSE: VSL) is in the FTSE SmallCap index but is a decent-sized company with a market cap of around £290m. Its business is similar to P2P’s and like the FTSE 250 firm, considerable quantities of cash flow into shareholders’ pockets. Guarantor lender George Banco has appointed the co-founder of peer-to-peer platform RateSetter as a non-executive director. Peter Behrens (pictured above) – who also serves as the chief operating officer at RateSetter – co-founded the platform in 2010, and has seen more than £1.8bn of loans facilitated through the company in this time. Alternative funding options will be a major theme at Business, Innovation, Technology and Efficiency (BITE) 2017 hosted by MHA Carpenter Box at the Amex Stadium, Brighton on Thursday 27 April. Andy Davis (pictured), former editor of FT Weekend and author of the ‘Beyond the Banks’ report on alternative finance, will be one of the industry experts forming an ‘alternative funding panel’ at the free one-day conference, where he will share his expertise with local business leaders. The impact on fintech could be significant, as an Emerging Payments Association (EPA) report Passport to the Future makes clear: “HM Treasury estimates the UK fintech market employs 60,000 people and is worth £6bn to the UK economy. Fintech is part of the UK’s financial services sector that employs 1.9 million people and contributes 10 per cent of the UK’s GDP. Payments represents over 40 per cent of financial services in revenue terms and in 2016, 40 per cent of all fintech investments were in payments companies, amounting to £10bn globally.” In a recent survey of its members, the EPA found that 88 per cent of its members think that passporting rights are important or very important to their current businesses, while over 91 per cent think passporting is important or very important to the UK’s fintech sector and its continued growth. As the EPA’s report states: “This could see the flight of some or part of the 5,500 licensed companies abroad and have a significantly negative impact on the UK economy.” Latvia based Alfa Finance Group has launched a new peer to peer lending platform named DoFinance. The company stated it had invested €2 million to get the P2P lender up and running. The online lender is said to be available in all EU and EEA countries. Simplex Inc., one of Asia’s leading financial services technology firms, announced a strategic partnership with Risk Magazine’s FinTech start-up of the year, Beacon Platform, Inc. The partnership combines Simplex’s expertise in implementing trading and risk management solutions with Beacon’s experience in building cross-asset trading and risk management platforms for industry leaders including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Australians are shunning high interest credit cards and turning to personal loans for large purchases. Driving the switch are tech-savvy consumers taking up loans from peer-to-peer (P2P) lenders, a new breed of online competitors to banks. Credit card applications fell by almost 4 per cent in the March 2017 quarter compared with the same quarter last year, the latest report on consumer credit by credit bureau Equifax shows. That’s the biggest fall since September 2012 quarter. Reserve Bank figures suggest that more frequent but lower value transactions are being made on credit cards. One P2P lender is showing an interest rate on its website of 10.3 per cent on a $10,000 unsecured personal loan paid back over three years. Banks would typically charge 13.02 per cent for a loan on the same terms, while credit cards are higher still – typically 14.15 per cent for a non-rewards credit card and 19.6 per cent for a rewards card, plus annual fees. This paper provides an update on the local financial technologies (Fintech) landscape and measures to support the development of the industry. The number of Fintech start-ups operating in co-working spaces and incubator/accelerator programmes in Hong Kong increased by 60% between August 2015 (86) and August 2016 (138), according to Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK)’s Start-up Profiling Survey. Hong Kong attracted about US$400 million of venture capital (VC) investment in Fintech companies during 2014-2016, lower than the Mainland and India (both of which are economies with huge domestic markets) but ahead of regional peers such as Australia, Japan and Singapore1 . Universities such as The Chinese University of Hong Kong and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University will launch dedicated, publicly-funded firstyear first-degree and senior year programmes in Fintech starting from the 2017/18 academic year. Moreover, The University of Hong Kong’s School of Professional and Continuing Education has been offering a part-time, four-month programme, Executive Certificate in Internet Finance. For payment services, the general public is increasingly receptive to new products and services, as Stored Value Facility (SVF) operators are launching new services while banks are rolling out new payment services (such as a note-issuing bank’s mobile App which enables cross-bank P2P fund transfer through mobile messaging). Building on the momentum from the introduction and development of various new payment channels in the market, the Government will strive to provide more convenient means for settling government bills and fees, such as making on-line credit card payment through digital wallets in mobile phones. HKMA will also work with the Government to explore with the industry ways of improving the payment infrastructure (such as introducing the Faster Payment System in 2018) and encouraging more standardisation in payment applications across various services providers, including the use of QR codes in streamlining the payment process, and facilitating the development of new electronic and mobile payment channels by the Government for various government services. Read the full report here. Dallas based MoneyGram (NASDAQ:MGI), a global provider of money transfer services, has become quite popular. This past January, Alibaba’s Ant Financial subsidiary announced it had offered the firm $13.25 per share to acquire the company. The two companies had entered into a definitive agreement to merge. Today, it appears that agreement was not quite as definitive as thought as Ant Financial has now increased the share offer to $18/share. Last night, MoneyGram and Ant Financial announced they had updated the agreement in an effort to fend off a competing bid by Kansas based Euronet Worldwide. Chinese peer-to-peer lending platform, Dianrong, announced on Tuesday the following financial leadership changes, effective immediately: Xuxia Kuang, the lender’s CFO, has been named COO. Yawen Cui has joined Dianrong as the new CFO. Kuang and Cui will report to Dianrong founder and CEO Soul Htite. Fintech startups in the Middle East and North Africa have raised $100-million over the last decade, yet 28% fail in their initial years, says a new report by business support organisation Wamda and online payment gateway Payfort. The region was home to 105 fintech startups by the end of 2015 (see featured image), with half of these having been launched since 2012. In all 30 firms are situated in North Africa. The UAE leads with 30 fintech startups, followed by Egypt with 17 and Jordan and Lebanon with 15 each. Just 10% of fintech startups in the region account for 43% of investments and employ 55% of the 1600 employees in the sector. “The vast majority of the South African market activity – $13,8m – came from peer-to-peer consumer and business lending, with the remaining $1.2 million spread across microfinance, donation-based and reward-based crowdfunding,” according to a report published by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Funding. In order to reap the benefits of crowdfunding, it’s important to launch a great campaign. Patrick Schofield, CEO and founder of Thundafund, a crowdfunding platform that has helped several companies start or expand, says there are several things you can do to increase the chances of success for your business. “Spend as much time on pre-campaigning planning as you would on your actual campaign. If you’re thinking of [running a campaign] for up to 45 days spend, 45 five days getting your ducks in a row,” he says. Approaching journalists and key influencers will get you enough people who can make noise about what you’re doing. In an alternative funding benchmarking report by the UK’s Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, published last month, South Africa was identified as the potential leader in the growth of online and peer-to-peer lending models in Africa. In 2015 South Africa represented 18% of the total African online alternative finance market, raising more than $15-million. Kenya was the only African country ahead of it, with $16.7-million raised. South Africa’s online alternative finance market focused more on business activity and less on charitable causes. Local IT firm Khonology has partnered with the UK’s White Label Crowdfunding to develop bespoke crowdfunding platforms for entrepreneurs here. Authors:
Best For…
Card Name
Travel Rewards
The Mastermind Behind Chase’s Industry-Changing Sapphire Reserve Card Sets Her Sights on Banking (Bloomberg), Rated: A
CFPB 2018 outlook: More deregulation, more upheaval (American Banker), Rated: A
Indiana lawmaker files bill to cap payday loan interest rates at 36 percent (rtv6), Rated: A
If in case you have debt, keep away from this massive mistake many debtors make (Kaplan Herald), Rated: B
United Kingdom
Victory Park Capital fund exits Prosper loans (AltFi), Rated: AAA
Valuing Funding Circle (Financial Times), Rated: AAA
Making the most of your money (P2P Finance News), Rated: AAA
Folk2Folk Announces New CEO as Giles Cross Takes Over Leadership Role P2P Lending Platform (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A
Property Lender Financed Around 1,800 UK Homes in 2017 (Landlord News), Rated: A
LendInvest, a leading specialist property lender, lent £500m to help professional property investors, developers and landlords buy, build or renovate around 1,800 UK homes during 2017.
High touch meets high tech (P2P Finance News), Rated: A
FCA financial advice director steps down (Mortgage Strategy), Rated: B
European Union
New EU financial market rules off to smooth start: Watchdog (Khaleej Times), Rated: AAA
Rocky start for Europe’s financial market revamp (Handelsblatt Global), Rated: A
Exclusive Interview with Fast Invest CEO Simona Vaitkune (ChipIn), Rated: A
International
International P2P Lending Volumes December 2017 (P2P-Banking), Rated: AAA
Setting the Tone for 2018 in the Most Important Charts of 2017 (Let’s Talk Payments), Rated: AAA
Keep shoppers, the planet, and your profits happy by allowing in-store returns (Biz Report), Rated: A
Could blockchains replace banks in real estate lending? (American Banker), Rated: A
18 Blockchain Predictions for 2018 (Consensy), Rated: A
8 fintech trends on our radar for 2018 (O’Reilly Media), Rated: B
Australia
Can a fintech lending firm disrupt the big four? (Asiamoney), Rated: AAA
India
Funds Raised By Indian Startups Hit Three-Month Low (Bloomberg), Rated: AAA
Indian start-up ecosystem on a growth path in 2018 (Outlook), Rated: A
Asia
LaLa World Global to Launch $ 10M Public Token Sale Jan. 5 (BusinessWire), Rated: AAA
8 promising Fintech Startups in Singapore to Watch in 2018 (Fintech News), Rated: A
Canada
New payday loan rules still too soft, says group (CBC.ca), Rated: A
Africa
Kenya most lucrative market for fintech top staff in Africa (Business Daily), Rated: AAA
Thursday January 4 2018 Daily News Digest
News Comments
News Summary
United States
The U.S. Is Blocking a Chinese Fintech Giant from Buying MoneyGram (Technology Review), Rated: AAA
Money360 Passes $ 500 Million in Commercial Real Estate Loans Closed (GlobeNewswire), Rated: AAA
3 Turnaround Stocks to Consider in 2018 (The Motley Fool), Rated: AAA
TOP HEDGE FUND INDUSTRY TRENDS FOR 2018 (All About Alpha), Rated: AAA
Prosper Marketplace Appoints Former Bank of America Executive Justine Metz Head of Marketing (BusinessWire), Rated: AAA
MoneyLion Secures $ 42 Million Investment to Accelerate Growth (BusinessWire), Rated: A
How Tech Sends Clients Running Back to Human FAs (Financial Advisor IQ), Rated: A
Celsius to replace traditional future exchanges like CME and CBOT with crypto lenders (LeapRate), Rated: A
Crypto P2P lender Celsius readies for launch (P2P Finance News), Rated: B
2018’s Best Credit Cards & $ 7.4B in Extra Interest Following Fed Hikes (WalletHub Email), Rated: A
Best For…
Card Name
Travel Rewards
The Mastermind Behind Chase’s Industry-Changing Sapphire Reserve Card Sets Her Sights on Banking (Bloomberg), Rated: A
CFPB 2018 outlook: More deregulation, more upheaval (American Banker), Rated: A
Indiana lawmaker files bill to cap payday loan interest rates at 36 percent (rtv6), Rated: A
If in case you have debt, keep away from this massive mistake many debtors make (Kaplan Herald), Rated: B
United Kingdom
Victory Park Capital fund exits Prosper loans (AltFi), Rated: AAA
Valuing Funding Circle (Financial Times), Rated: AAA
Making the most of your money (P2P Finance News), Rated: AAA
Folk2Folk Announces New CEO as Giles Cross Takes Over Leadership Role P2P Lending Platform (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A
Property Lender Financed Around 1,800 UK Homes in 2017 (Landlord News), Rated: A
LendInvest, a leading specialist property lender, lent £500m to help professional property investors, developers and landlords buy, build or renovate around 1,800 UK homes during 2017.
High touch meets high tech (P2P Finance News), Rated: A
FCA financial advice director steps down (Mortgage Strategy), Rated: B
European Union
New EU financial market rules off to smooth start: Watchdog (Khaleej Times), Rated: AAA
Rocky start for Europe’s financial market revamp (Handelsblatt Global), Rated: A
Exclusive Interview with Fast Invest CEO Simona Vaitkune (ChipIn), Rated: A
International
International P2P Lending Volumes December 2017 (P2P-Banking), Rated: AAA
Setting the Tone for 2018 in the Most Important Charts of 2017 (Let’s Talk Payments), Rated: AAA
Keep shoppers, the planet, and your profits happy by allowing in-store returns (Biz Report), Rated: A
Could blockchains replace banks in real estate lending? (American Banker), Rated: A
18 Blockchain Predictions for 2018 (Consensy), Rated: A
8 fintech trends on our radar for 2018 (O’Reilly Media), Rated: B
Australia
Can a fintech lending firm disrupt the big four? (Asiamoney), Rated: AAA
India
Funds Raised By Indian Startups Hit Three-Month Low (Bloomberg), Rated: AAA
Indian start-up ecosystem on a growth path in 2018 (Outlook), Rated: A
Asia
LaLa World Global to Launch $ 10M Public Token Sale Jan. 5 (BusinessWire), Rated: AAA
8 promising Fintech Startups in Singapore to Watch in 2018 (Fintech News), Rated: A
Canada
New payday loan rules still too soft, says group (CBC.ca), Rated: A
Africa
Kenya most lucrative market for fintech top staff in Africa (Business Daily), Rated: AAA
Wednesday September 20 2017, Daily News Digest
News Comments
News Summary
United States
PayPal will fully integrate Swift Financial ‘over the next year’ after loan provider acquisition closes (VentureBeat), Rated: AAA
Public Distrusts Wall Street Regulators as Much as Wall Street (Cato.org), Rated: AAA
PayPal Officially Adds Swift Financial to Fuel More Dreams (PayPal), Rated: A
A Manifesto to All Men: We Have to Do Better (Lend Academy), Rated: AAA
Today In Data: SoFi’s Woes (PYMNTS), Rated: A
Sallie Krawcheck’s Ellevest just landed a big new round of funding (TechCrunch), Rated: A
Ant Financial to try again for U.S. approval of MoneyGram deal (Reuters), Rated: A
JPMorgan Seeks to Banish Paper Payments With a Fintech Venture (Bloomberg), Rated: A
In an ongoing acquisition streak, LendingTree buys another online loan marketplace (Biz Journals), Rated: A
LendingPoint Closed On $ 500M Credit Facility In August (PYMNTS), Rated: A
Pine River Capital Shutting $ 1 Billion Flagship Hedge Fund (WSJ), Rated: A
Don’t let court squander online lenders’ chance to reach underserved (American Banker), Rated: A
Reliant Funding and Merchants Capital Access to be known as Reliant Funding (PR Newswire), Rated: A
Randstad Professionals addresses technology’s impact on finance and accounting (Business Insider), Rated: A
Opponents Ready For US Payday Loan Rule (America Now), Rated: A
When The Payday Lending Rule Drops, Opponents Are Ready To Attack (PYMNTS), Rated: A
First Associates Loan Servicing Earns Morningstar’s Highest Ranking (PR Web), Rated: B
Low-cost loans help hurricane victims rebuild (TheStreet), Rated: B
RealtyShares Gives Investors Access To Real Estate With Just A Few Clicks (Benzinga), Rated: B
A combination of both—I’ve invested in real estate in the past, and it’s always come through people I knew, and it was concentrated to where I was living at the time. When you’re looking at middle-market opportunities or don’t have hundreds millions of dollars to invest, the opportunities become a little more rare. So access is definitely a differentiator here.Prime-Ex Perpetual Launches Pre-ICO for Residential Real Estate Crowdfunding Effort (EIN News), Rated: B
United Kingdom
GoCardless, a fintech that makes recurring payments easy for subscription businesses, raises $ 22.5M (TechCrunch), Rated: AAA
Artificial intelligence: the legal and regulatory challenges (Lexology), Rated: A
Peer-to-peer lending: should you be worried about falling returns and the poorly-performing Innovative Finance ISA? (love money), Rated: A
Abundance boss joins government’s Green Finance Taskforce (AltFi), Rated: B
China
Online lender Qudian set for New York IPO (China Economic Review), Rated: AAA
European Union
German Bank Hands $ 61 Million to U.K. Online Lender Amid Brexit (Bloomberg), Rated: AAA
28,639 investors have already invested EUR 102 million through Bondora and have received EUR 15 million in interest (Bondora), Rated: AAA
Pan-European P2P Lender Younited Credit Raises €40 million from Historical Investors & the French Public Investment Bank (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A
GoldMint, Provider of Gold-Backed Cryptoassets Launches ICO Today (The Merkle), Rated: A
International
Nominations open to global Women in Fintech Powerlist (Disrupt-Africa), Rated: A
SegWit2x, NYA Bitcoin Agreement Loses Another Signatory (Cryptocoins News), Rated: A
Australia
FinTech loans and payments (Choice), Rated: A
India
RBI notifies P2P lending platforms as NBFCs: Agencies (India Times), Rated: AAA
Company Name : Rubique (Business Wire India), Rated: B
Latin America
Fintech Startups Attract Capital In Latin America (Forbes), Rated: A
Ripio Credit Network Announces ICO Pre-Sale, Crowd Sale Starts on October 17 (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A
Africa
FMO and above & beyond launch Fintech platform for African Banks to accelerate financial inclusion (FMO), Rated: AAA
Thursday May 25 2017, Daily News Digest
News Comments
News Summary
United States
OnDeck under pressure to make bigger cuts to cost base (Financial Times), Rated: AAA
LendingClub Celebrates Ten Years of Online Lending (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: AAA
10 Years of Excellence & Innovation (LendingClub), Rated: AAA
Thank you for 10 years (LendingClub Email), Rated: AAA
Consumer Unsecured Q1 2017 (Orchard Platform), Rated: AAA
With an Asset-Backed Debt ETF, the Bet Is If You Can Pay What You Owe (Bloomberg), Rated: AAA
Futuristic Fintech, With a Female Focus (WSJ), Rated: A
Earnest Not for Sale. Securitization is Moving Forward (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A
Zibby Announces $ 13.5 Million Investment led by CURO Financial Technologies Corp. and MissionOG (LendIt), Rated: A
Baltimore fintech startup Blispay raises $ 12 million (Baltimore Sun), Rated: A
Frost & Sullivan Commends AutoGravity for Transforming Automotive Financing Industry (Frost & Sullivan), Rated: A
Fintech Tools That Can Change The World Of Finance (Forbes), Rated: A
Fintech reinvents lottery bonds (Financial Times), Rated: A
Here is the GAO Report on Fintech that was Delivered to Congress (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: B
Ann Fulmer Joins FormFree as Chief Strategy and Industry Relations Officer (PR Newswire), Rated: A
New fiduciary rule for financial advisers expected to go into effect in June (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), Rated: B
How Small Businesses Can Benefit from Loyalty Programs (Kabbage), Rated: B
United Kingdom
Zopa announces ISA launch (Finextra), Rated: AAA
1. The first stage (from 15th June) will be focused on existing customers who want to open a new IFISA (limit of £20,000) and lend through Core and Plus.
2. The second stage (1st July 2017 to 31st July 2017) will enable existing customers to sell their current loans and re-purchase similar loans in an IFISA wrapper. This will allow investors to retain Safeguarded loans in the IFISA. Any investing through new lending, or relending as capital is returned, will be onto Plus or Core only.
3. The third stage (from August 2017, but dependent on meeting demand for new IFISAs) will allow existing customers to transfer existing ISA investments with other providers to Zopa.
4. And finally, once we have met demands of existing customers, we will welcome investments from new customers.UK P2P Lending Market Researcher Orca Dives into P2P Provider Rating Services (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: AAA
P2P lender ArchOver granted full FCA authorisation (Finextra), Rated: A
M&A hits Alternative Credit: MW Eaglewood to merge with Pollen Street Capital (AltFi), Rated: A
Should more bridging lenders launch mobile apps? (Bridging&Commercial), Rated: A
Are FinTech brands a real alternative to traditional banking? (The River Group), Rated: A
China
China Hit by First Moody’s Downgrade Since 1989 on Debt Risk (Bloomberg), Rated: AAA
Chinese Investors Among Majority Of EB-5 Visa Recipients (NPR), Rated: A
European Union
Narrow Escape for German RECF, Green Crowdinvesting Now in Legislator’s Crosshairs (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: AAA
International
Ant Financial close to buying MoneyGram (New York Post), Rated: AAA
How to Make it as a Woman in FinTech: “Don’t Wait to Become a Leader” (Finovate), Rated: A
Peter Leonidou Parts Ways with Leverate to Head Early-Stage Fintech Firm (Finance Magnates), Rated: B
Australia
FinTechs Afterpay, Ratesetter and Society One pick up Finnie awards (Mozo), Rated: AAA
India
Startup Insurance Company Acko General Insurance Raises $ 30M (IndianWeb2), Rated: A
Asia
The first Internet life insurance company and Thai life opened (STCN), Rated: AAA
Middle East
Dubai Regulator Launches Special Testing Licensing for Fintech Startups (Finance Magnates), Rated: A
Wednesday April 19 2017, Daily News Digest
News Comments
News Summary
United States
Online lender SoFi has a new $ 105 million fund for yield-hungry investors (CNBC), Rated: AAA
OCC Fintech Plan Faces Uncertainty as Comptroller Term Expires (Credit Union Times), Rated: AAA
For Goldman, the Fintech Revolution Can’t Come Soon Enough (NYT), Rated: A
CREATING A BETTER TOMORROW (NYSE), Rated: A
Is An OnDeck Acquisition On Deck? (PYMNTS), Rated: A
Not Everyone Is Happy About Latest Fintech Charter Proposal (Corporate Counsel), Rated: A
The Tax Implications of Real Estate Crowdfunding (Alpha Flow), Rated: A
MortgageHippo raises $ 2.25M to help lenders give you a mortgage online (Chicago Tribune), Rated: A
Inside Bond Street’s content marketing strategy (Tearsheet), Rated: A
Payix and Nortridge Software Announce Strategic Alliance (BusinessWire), Rated: B
China Rapid Finance will be the Fifth Online Lender to IPO in the US (Lend Academy), Rated: B
Milbank Advises FinTech Lending Company College Ave Student Loans in Its $ 30 Million Capital Raise (Milbank), Rated: B
$ 3M Raised for Clarendon Park Apartments in Phoenix Through RealtyShares (Yahoo! Finance), Rated: B
United Kingdom
Landbay Unveils March 2017 UK Rental Index (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: AAA
P2P-Banking Launches Database to Enable Investors to Compare IFISA Providers Easily (P2P-Banking), Rated: AAA
Fintech synergy as challenger bank teams up with robo advice app (AltFi), Rated: A
CEO Stephen Findlay Comments on BondMason’s New SIPP Service (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A
Social P2P venture hindered by wholesale crackdown (P2P Finance News), Rated: A
ClearBank: a MSFT Azure B2B Fintech (Daily Fintech), Rated: A
UK Firms VC Funding Holds Steady Despite Brexit (PYMNTS), Rated: A
Which fintech stocks does Neil Woodford own? (The Motley Fool), Rated: A
George Banco appoints RateSetter co-founder to board (Loantalk), Rated: A
Alternative funding options come into focus (Works Management), Rated: B
European Union
Why EU Passporting Is Vital For Britain’s Fintech Firms (Forbes), Rated: AAA
Alfa Finance Launches New P2P Lender DoFinance (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A
International
Simplex Partners with Beacon – Risk Magazine’s FinTech Start-Up of the Year (BusinessWire), Rated: A
Australia
Personal loan applications surge as credit cards wane (The Sydney Morning Herald), Rated: AAA
China
Development of Financial Technologies (Legislative Council Panel on Fiancial Affairs), Rated: AAA
Alibaba’s Ant Financial Increases Bid for MoneyGram (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A
Dianrong Announces New Financial Leadership Appointments (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: B
MENA
‘Fintech startups in Middle East, North Africa raised $ 100m last decade’ (Venture Burn), Rated: AAA
Africa
How to make sure your crowdfunding campaign is successful (Destiny Man), Rated: AAA
‘Crowdfunding is the future’(Times Live), Rated: A