Ripple is a leading innovator in the current internet of value market also currently involved with the Federal Reserve's payments task force initiatives; the firm has enhanced its XRP product suite and rebranded it as RippleNet; their blog post provides more details on RippleNet's product offerings. Source
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In an interview with RIABiz Personal Capital Founder Bill Harris talks about the outlook for his firm, the growth they have seen and some of the challenges with growing their brand; they do not consider themselves a robo advisor, they are more complicated and detailed with call centers and multiple strategies; they currently have $4.9 billion in assets under management which is more than five times the $1 billion in assets under management they had in January 2015; Jay Shah, CEO of Personal Capital, tells RIABiz, "Our rapid growth reaffirms that we are solving a major pain point for consumers by giving them conflict-free advice and full transparency and insight into their financial lives."; they are not as cheap as Betterment or Vanguard yet they are gaining market share and their average account is $380,000; the company has received over $200 million in venture funding with the most recent round of $40 million closing yesterday; the interview also goes through the pains of building their brand and the different strategies they offer to clients. Source
The insurer launched a product based on taking a photo of yourself and their technology will then estimate a number of items based on the photo; the product is launched at SelfieQuote.com and according to Coverager this is the first products of its kind; this is currently being used in beta mode and the technology comes from Lapetus Solutions, Inc.; after the initial beta period Legal and General America will decide if this solution will become a mainstay of their offerings; Jim Galli, executive vice president of business strategy and innovation for Legal & General America, tells Coverager, "This could revolutionize the life insurance application process for millions of consumers, as it allows for a much more engaging user experience while also showing in a matter of seconds how affordable a life insurance policy can be." Source
Banks of all sizes have been trying to figure out how to adapt to the changing landscape and at LendIt USA 2017 we hosted a panel to look at the future of digital banking; panelists cover how they see the future of banking, is it mobile only or mobile first, how do millennials help to guide strategies and when life becomes more complex how many different devices do people use; panelists focused on how to leverage social networks and how important digital strategies are to grow your audience; when doing partnerships who really owns the customer, is it the bank or does the customer feel more ownership to the social network or other type of partner; how do you compete with larger incumbent banks and how are smaller more nimble players able to gain market share; the panel also touches on different types of fees, how to make money in the digital age and how smaller firms can keep costs lower as they scale. Source
PeerStreet, a platform for investing in real estate backed loans, has now integrated with Personal Capital which is powered by the Envestnet | Yodlee data aggregation platform; customers will now be able to view their PeerStreet positions within their investment portfolio on Personal Capital; this is the third such integration as PeerStreet recently announced integrations with Wealthfront and Betterment; "Many PeerStreet customers have asked for this integration with Personal Capital. We're always working to improve the experience for our customers and provide greater control and transparency," said Brett Crosby, co-founder and COO of PeerStreet." Source
Fund That Flip is a real estate crowdfunding platform; it has been around for three years and plans to add 25 employees to the Cleveland location; the company received a Job Creation Tax Credit on Monday, July 31st which applies to the company's plan to generate $1.5 million in new payroll. Source
Swedish fintech Klarna Bank has launched a free P2P payments service; the new service is called Wavy and is available for consumers across 31 European markets; the service allows for simplified payment redemption with the receiver able to redeem the funds directly to their bank account. Source
InvestCloud is helping automated investment platforms with ISA offerings through their newest product, Emerald; Nutmeg partnered with InvestCloud for its Lifetime ISA; InvestCloud now has over 670 clients using the Emerald technology. Source
Ablrate was recently authorized by the FCA and is now launching their custom Innovative Finance ISA; Ablrate offers a self-select marketplace where investors hand pick the loans they look to invest in; this is one of many products the company will launch in this arena; Ablrate facilitates asset-backed loans with specialization in aircraft and capital equipment; they currently will take cash deposits for their IFISA but no transfers as David Bradley-Ward, CEO of Ablrate, tells AltFi, "We want to be able to get everyone going with their IFISA first and then allow transfers in from other providers after the first week of our launch." Source
Dianrong has obtained $220 million from a Series D funding round; this latest funding was led by GIC Private Limited (Singapore's sovereign wealth fund), CMIG Leasing, and Simone Investment Managers, among others. Source

