During the week I share the latest marketplace lending and fintech news on Twitter as it happens. Then every Saturday I take the most interesting news items and blog posts from the past week and share them here.
Google and PayPal explored OCC’s fintech charter, then walked away from American Banker – This is a bit of a moot point now with the lawsuits proceeding but it is interesting nonetheless. Google, PayPal and “dozens of other technology and fintech companies” met with the OCC during the past year to discuss the new charter.
This bank is ditching fees amid the rise of cheap checking accounts from fintech upstarts from CNBC – One bank has seen the light. Discover is dropping fees from online checking and savings account in response to customer expectations that have been changed, in part, by fintech companies.
Borrowell Closes $20 Million Series B as it Tops 1 Million Users from BetaKit – Our northern neighbors appear to be on a roll this month. Toronto-based Borrowell has closed a $20 million Series B and announced they now have more than one million users.
The 5 Keys To U.K. Digital Bank Monzo’s Success In The U.S. from Forbes – Interesting perspective from Ron Shevlin on what Monzo needs to do to be successful in the US. I think they could well struggle in part because, as Ron says, “It’s momentum and success in Europe isn’t relevant in the US”.
What The Launch Of Facebook’s Libra Means For Payments from PYMNTS.com – Details of Libra are now available and the best analysis I have read is by Karen Webster who suggests the real reason that Facebook is doing this. She also articulates a use case that I immediately thought of: micropayments.
Led by a16z, Tally raises $50 million in Series C Funding from IBS Intelligence – Another day, another big fintech funding round. This time it is Tally out with a $50m Series C led by Andreessen Horowitz with heavy hitter Angela Strange joining the board of directors.
Dave, a fintech startup backed by Mark Cuban and Diplo, is launching a checking account that helps users build their credit score from Business Insider – With a new funding round, a new tagline and a new checking account Dave is poised to help millions more users maintain their financial health.
Chinese P2P lending platforms look to Southeast Asia amid industry purge back home from TechNode – With regulatory challenges at home some Chinese p2p lending platforms are looking to India or Indonesia to expand their operations.
HSBC launches digital mortgage platform with help from Roostify from HousingWire – Another fintech platform partnering with a major bank. Roostify will be powering the digital mortgage lending platform for HSBC ‘s US bank.
JPMorgan is reportedly planning a digital bank in the UK to rival Monzo and Goldman Sachs’ Marcus. Here’s why that’s a big deal. from Business Insider – It was revealed this week that JPMorgan Chase is quietly working on a digital banking initiative in the UK. We know very little about it yet (almost nothing) but that hasn’t stopped the speculation.
What Money Should Be from TechCrunch – This week’s Libra news has prompted this Interesting opinion piece by Nik Milanovic on what properties money should have in the 21st century.
LendingClub Pays Off $40,000 Loan Of 3 Millionth Borrower from LendingClub – We close the week with news this morning from New York. LendingClub rang the opening bell at the NYSE to celebrate crossing $50B in total loans originated and 3 million borrowers.
