In an effort to increase security banks have started to move to the internet domain dot-bank; the switch has not been widely adopted but those who have done it say the investment is worth it; “Anybody can have dot-net or dot-com,” said J. Marty Filogamo, SVP and marketing manager of Farmers & Merchants State Bank. “Not everyone can have dot-bank.”; this is part of a wider trend in banking as more banks look to increase digital products and security. 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.
After a wild night of trading the value of bitcoin cash reach $2,500 and total market cap surpassed Ethereum for second place; bitcoin cash split from bitcoin back in august and up until recently was trading between $300 and $500; bitcoin has been coming back down as of late with news of a new split not happening and the rise of bitcoin cash both eating into bitcoin’s overall value. Source.
The Federal Reserve released a report saying that P2P loans resemble predatory loans; the report cautions on the industry’s rapid origination growth and rising defaults; they also say the industry as a whole has the potential to destabilize consumer balance sheets; the research also shows taking out a P2P loan hurts credit scores and credit card balances increase; the report also points to the benefits of taking out a loan as well. Source.
A consensus over the upcoming bitcoin split was not reached and the plan was cancelled; the hope was for a new version that could handle double the number of transactions; upon hearing the news bitcoin’s value shot up to over $7,800; the current version can only handle about five transactions per second and to compete with names like PayPal and Visa that will need to change at some point in the future. Source.
To continue a global expansion of the bank they needed to remodel it around technology; they needed to transform to handle the customer base, which currently stands at over 660 million, more effectively; increasing bandwidth has been a main focus according to China Construction Bank’s CIO Jin Panshi, “We don’t just need bandwidth for 4K or HD video, but we also felt that AI capabilities, including voice and facial recognition, were urgently needed.”; they have also migrated about 83 percent of distributed applications to the cloud and continue to keep innovating to try and stay ahead. Source.
43 percent of borrowers applied for a mortgage digitally, up from 28 percent last year but satisfaction scores were down according to J.D. Power; Craig Martin, director of the mortgage practice at J.D. Power, said in a press release, "A critical element of satisfaction is setting expectations, and this tends to be a weakness of technology.”; Customers also rated non bank lenders higher than their banking counterparts as borrowers look to new lenders who provide a more seamless experience. Source.
Banks have started to push a lot more of their technology investment into mobile; banks like Capital Bank in North Carolina has seen a jump in mobile usage from 17 percent three years ago to 43 percent today; while most banks have a mobile app experience they do not offer all the features that are found online; while banks are making progress there is still significant innovation ahead. Source.
A case study at the Harvard Business School was presented as part of the executive MBA program on the bank’s digital strategy; Goldman CFO Marty Chavez recently stated “Goldman is for risk what Google is for search”; the move to becoming a tech company is not easy as other areas of the bank do not see the same benefits; Goldman is clearly on the front edge of innovation in banking today. Source.
There has been a number of news items in recent weeks about how difficult it is for banks and fintech companies to work together; banks tend to be more intrusive and fintechs come with a significant culture shift; one thing has become clear and that is the benefits outweigh the hassle; banks and fintech companies benefit greatly from partnering and customers clearly when they do. Source.
Shares in the online lender have sunk almost 20 percent on news that they will lower their full year earnings forecast; the company also announced that they are limiting lending to lower grade borrowers as they continue to tighten their credit standards; while scandal has hurt the company, they have been tightening their credit standards for close to two years as they continue to adjust models. Source.