Marketplace crowdfunding platform Lenderwize is reporting success as the first online lending and project financing platform for telecommunications businesses; the firm offers invoice financing, project financing and equity financing with rates of return averaging 6% to 14% annually; they recently surveyed telcos in the industry finding among other statistics a cash flow market opportunity of $22 billion; the platform now has $7.3 million in borrower requests and $10 million committed from institutional investors and six equity investors; it is also expecting new capital from business development presentations at TechFluence's Fintech Meets Telecom in Frankfurt and the Fintech Circle and AngelDen's Pitch in London. Source
Europe is leading the global market in challenger banks and also providing examples for the future of banking; as digital banks increasingly gain market share a number of Europe's large banks have announced branch closings including Lloyds, RBS and NatWest; AltFi discusses the ideal bank of the future reporting on the growth of challenger banks and their potential to open physical branch locations. Source
MoneyThing has announced its authorization from the UK Financial Conduct Authority; says it will no longer be pre-funding loans and revising its terms for new lenders; plans to seek HMRC approval for innovative finance individual savings accounts. Source
Passporting could increase fintech competitiveness across Europe as the UK prepares to leave the European Union; passporting would lower regulatory requirements for fintech firms in the European Union allowing them to operate more freely across Europe; it would also create greater incentive for firms to move their business to the European Union and away from London; the European Commission has launched a three month consultation period on passporting and new legislations for fintechs which will be followed with legislative proposals; on Thursday, March 23 the European Commission also published a plan for European Union financial services companies that will focus on reducing costs and increasing consumer protection. Source
The Royal Bank of Scotland is closing 158 branches in the UK in an effort to reduce costs; it has continued to struggle since the financial crisis reporting nine consecutive years of losses; the firm has been increasingly integrating automation to cut costs and says it will make a decision on its robo advisory service for mortgage lending by the third quarter; the robo advisory service offers customers advice and insight that helps them decide on a mortgage loan product, also giving them an option to connect with a human advisor at any time during the process. Source
Business Insider provides data on the number of challenger banks by country; this week Carrefour Banque, a subsidiary of Carrefour, that also operates a multinational retailer, shared that they were launching a new current account under the name C-Zam; the retailer operates in 30 countries and has over 1,000 stores in France which puts them in a unique position to acquire customers; other players prevalent in the French market include BNP Paribas which launched Hello Bank in 2013 and ING Direct which launched in 2010; startups Qonto and N26 also operate in Europe. Source
Goji is marketing a P2P lending bond product, the Goji Diversified P2P Lending Bond, which is targeting annual returns of greater than 5%; the firm is based in London and offers a range of services for the P2P lending industry including tools and resources for investors and financial intermediaries, an investing platform, IFISA account servicing technology for platforms and now a new P2P lending bond; the Bond will invest in a minimum of 200 loans across all options available in the UK P2P lending sector. Source
Revolut is launching a premium account giving members a range of benefits; the premium account will cost 6.99 British pounds ($8.75) per month or 72 British pounds ($90.10) per year, and will include unlimited money transfer, a premium Mastercard, overseas medical insurance and 24-hour customer support; the digital bank is also launching a crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs for 4 million British pounds ($5.01 million) with investing priority for its first 5,000 premium customers. Source
Nested has reported an 8 million British pound ($10 million) fundraising from investors Passion Capital, GFC and Tim Bunting; the growing company is another example of proptech innovation in residential real estate; targeting the UK housing market, the company guarantees the sale of listed property within 90 days either to a new owner or by buying the property themselves. Source
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and Austrade have signed an agreement with the UK that will facilitate fintech innovation in both countries; the agreement will help to support introductions and the sharing of information on regional fintech business; as part of the agreement the CBA will also utilize its London Innovation Lab for UK and European networking. Source