US Bank saw a 104 percent increase in Zelle transactions the past four months and a 50 percent increase in customer enrollment in the peer to peer payment offering; this is another success story for Zelle as they have seen significant usage in their product with $33.6bn in volume versus $14.8bn by Venmo; Zelle is integrated with over 40 banks and has reached over 85 millions users. Source.
JoinedNov. 30, 2016
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Todd is the host of PitchIt: the fintech startups podcast, a weekly interview show featuring emerging fintech founders and leading venture capitalists. He is responsible for leading the content team which covers fintech through daily & weekly email newsletters, editorial, virtual events, and in-person conferences. He has been covering fintech, banking, and venture capital for more than 15 years, including speaking regularly at industry events.
As the CBOE bitcoin futures product goes live there are lingering questions with the exchange where they will base their pricing; Gemini is run by the Winklevoss twins but has had a number of issues including low volumes and system outages; Gemeni is currently ranked 14th according to CoinMarketCap; while well connected because of the Winklevoss twins critics worry they can be potential targets for price manipulation; as the futures market goes live there will be a lot of interest to see how this plays outs. Source.
Bitcoin futures debuted on Wall Street Sunday by the CBOE and some of the biggest banks are unsure whether or not to offer them to clients; JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup are playing a wait and see game; some firms are excited to get started though they are hesitant to open discuss it as they risk potentially contradicting previous statements by their CEOs; the volatility is the biggest concern for banks as they just are not comfortable with the wild swings. Source.
The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance’s new report Entrenching Innovation showed that the UK online alternative finance market grew 46 percent in 2016; investors surveyed by the report said that online platforms offering debt based products were on equal footing to that of typical fixed income assets but more transparent; industry veterans say this points to the long term chances of the market and its wider acceptance in broader financial services. Source.
Looking to broaden their presence in Silicon Valley the e-commerce firm JD.com partnered with accelerator Plug and Play; JD.com said it will share technologies like artificial intelligence, cloud and smart supply chain tech with the new program; they will look to focus on companies in robotics, AI, AR/VR and the cloud; “Partnering with Plug and Play, we hope to unlock the potential of the next generation of companies, and help them succeed both in the US and China,” JD’s chief strategy office Dr. Jianwen Liao told TechCrunch in a statement. Source.
This weeks PeerIQ Industry Update looks at strong job growth despite the hurricanes, Lending Club’s investor day and the latest in securitization; Rep. Patrick McHenry accused the Cleveland Fed, who recently had their p2p lending report retracted, of trying to block the bill entitled Protecting Consumers Access to Credit Act; Lending Club’s first Investor day was not received well by the markets as their stock hit all time lows; PeerIQ reviews the full scope of the investor day including positioning & strategy, product & financial innovation, funding mix, investor returns and stress tests. Source.
While hosting their first investor day the online lender again cut guidance for profits and shares fell to record lows; “The last 18 months have been among the most challenging of my career, but my conviction has never wavered: consumer credit is a data problem that a technology-driven marketplace is well positioned to solve,” CEO Scott Sanborn said at the investor day; Lending Club has had is share of issues and new entrants like Marcus have begun to crowd the market; not all investors are put off by the news, Chinese investor Shanda said he was keeping the faith in the lender as they recently made a big investment. Source.
American Banker’s Penny Crossman volunteered as a mentor for Barclays New York Accelerator and found that succeeding as a fintech startup is quite a challenge; she was tasked with helping entrepreneurs deal with the media, she found that most were looking to be featured in the WSJ or FT; she also sat down with Jon Zanoff, managing director, recruiter and top coach of the program to discuss the program; interesting tidbits from the interview include 4 of 9 company founders are female, the program is a lot more in depth than other bank accelerators and the challenge the program presents on a daily basis. Source.
PNC Financial Services Group is looking to launch a national consumer lending product through their mobile app and new branches; they plan to launch into new markets with branches in Minneapolis, Dallas, Kansan City and more; “We're going there to be there with our full-service capabilities, patiently banking the clients that we ultimately want to bank,” Chairman and CEO William Demchak said this week; the new plans will take place in 2018. Source.
A recent review done by the International Monetary Fund found Chinese Banks face capital shortfalls, in particular medium and small banks; the IMF stated that China should consider boosting risk-weighted assets by 0.5 to 1 percent in the next 12 months; Jin Zhongxia, China’s representative on the IMF’s executive board said the assessment was for the most part correct but that they have already begun implementing remedies; the IMF said the problem is manageable but laid out a set of potential reforms to improve the shortfalls going forward. Source