The Startupbootcamp FinTech London and PwC have released a new report which finds more companies are investing in artificial intelligence; the report's findings are based on program applicants; findings show that artificial intelligence is significantly impacting customer service solutions; report also provides insight on top trends in fintech including an increasing number of companies focused on B2B and SME solutions. Source
Old Mutual has reduced its stake in the VPC Specialty Lending Fund to less than 6%; the Fund's performance has been struggling since September 2016 and it has been steadily shifting to balance sheet investments; over half of the portfolio is now contained in balance sheet investments which is an increase from 43% in June 2016. Source
The Finance Innovation Lab and Toynbee Hall will partner to create a fintech incubator; the incubator will focus on companies in financial health; the Financial Health Fellowship will be a six month endeavor helping companies to scale their businesses; more details about the program can be found here and the program is accepting applications through April 10. Source
CapitalRise has announced the launch of an innovative finance individual savings account (IFISA) offering its investors a tax free account for investing in the firm's real estate investments; investors can invest in the IFISA with a minimum of 1,000 British pounds ($1,223); the investment maximum for the current tax year is 15,240 British pounds ($18,632) and the maximum will increase to 20,000 British pounds ($24,451) in the following tax year; the platform offers a range of real estate loan property investments in the UK with tax-free returns of approximately 10% to 14% per year. Source
RateSetter has added additional detail to its annual performance statistics to provide greater transparency; the additional details provide data on loan originations by lending type with a breakdown of consumer and commercial loans; for commercial lending the firm will now also disclose loans to property developers, small and medium size enterprises, and wholesale lenders; the changes were prompted by a request from the Financial Conduct Authority for greater disclosure on wholesale lending across the industry; the update from RateSetter also included a report on a defaulted loan that RateSetter has taken onto its balance sheet to protect investors. Source
Revolut will now offer its customers investment at property platform Bricklane; investors can invest in Bricklane tax efficient individual savings accounts for a minimum of 100 British pounds ($122); Bricklane investors receive rental income and capital appreciation from the properties they invest in. Source
Commercial credit data sharing scheme (CCDS) is a market solution providing data sharing for alternative lenders in the UK; the CCDS was launched on April 1, 2016 and is now nearing full integration which means the majority of mandated banks have implemented systems to share their data with UK credit agencies; CCDS will provide current account banking data to credit agencies for approximately 98% of small businesses in the UK which is expected to help improve credit underwriting and broaden credit availability. Source
The marketplace lending industry's first peer-to-peer lender has created a waiting list for new investors and is currently only accepting funds from existing investors; the investor waiting list began on March 9 and follows the previous halting of new money from all investors on its platform in December; the waiting list is another effort to keep processing times down; demand for loans on the platform was higher in February as more investors identified the loan investments for their high yields among other regional alternatives; Zopa has reported plans for expansion to secured car loans and is also continuing with its plans for launching a digital bank. Source
The business lending P2P platform will offer innovative finance individual savings accounts (IFISA) with three year fixed rate terms on A+ rated secured residential property loans targeting returns of 7%; the IFISA announcement follows the firm's February authorization from the UK's Financial Conduct Authority; the firm will offer the eighth UK IFISA and according to HMRC 30 firms have now received authorization for IFISAs. Source
Chancellor Hammond has reported the UK Spring Budget which provides insight for the region on the UK's economy as it separates from the European Union; the Spring Budget included a 270 million British pound ($328 million) investment by Industrial Strategy challenge fund for development of innovative technologies; Crowdfund Insider provides comments on the Spring Budget from a few executives in alternative finance; of note is the Budget's continued provision that prevents investors from diversifying across innovative finance individual savings accounts and a change in the tax on dividend income. Source