RateSetter has created a new committee to monitor and report on expected losses providing increased transparency for the firm; the committee will include RateSetter's CEO, CFO and various other directors of consumer and commercial credit risk; the committee will provide quarterly reporting on expected losses for the board of directors and also plans to publicly disclose data on its website; additionally the firm plans to enhance its performance reporting with more details on materialized and expected losses; overall, new initiatives around risk monitoring are an effort to more accurately analyze and manage risk following higher than expected losses from loans in 2014 and 2015. Source
The Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee discussed concerns over consumer credit defaults in its recently released minutes; credit card, bank loan and car loan borrowing has increased and the Bank is also concerned about prolonged interest free offers and eased underwriting standards; stress testing has revealed potential losses for banks of 18.5 billion British pounds ($23 billion) on their consumer credit loans and 11.8 billion British pounds ($15 billion) on their mortgage loans; as the Bank monitors consumer lending, it is likely new constraints will be required to manage risks in the new economic environment. Source
European venture capital firm 83North has announced the closing of a $250 million investment in its fourth fintech fund; the firm focuses on startup investments in Europe and Israel and says that its fourth fund will continue to invest in those regions; the firm's latest investment brings its total capital under management to $800 million; the firm says it sees a greater opportunity for startup investment throughout Europe following Brexit. Source
The UK's MarketInvoice, a working capital lender for businesses, has been gaining significant market traction and is reporting ambitious plans for future business growth; it is estimating total lending of 2 billion British pounds ($2.5 billion) by the end of the year and is planning to offer its service to incumbent banks; the firm has also appointed Zopa's Giles Andrews as its chairman and hired Shaun Alexander as head of risk to improve its risk reporting, integrate more artificial intelligence programming and facilitate greater deal communication with large traditional banks. Source
P2P lenders have been debating the definition of default as many investors seek standardization; Peer-to-Peer Finance Association (P2PFA) members define a default when a loan is 45 days overdue and begin recovery collection at 120 days; non-P2PFA platforms have varying standards that fit with their business models, ranging from two consecutive months to 180 days to three missed payments; in the banking industry banks do not have a standard definition, focusing more on delinquent payment collections than actually labeling a loan in default. Source
Monzo has received a full banking license from the Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority; the licensing follows new fundraising that meets the banking capital requirements; it now plans to launch a current account and a current account overdraft product. Source
P2P ISAs launched one year ago and have now been introduced by eight P2P platforms; industry participants are slightly disappointed by the offerings which have not gained significant traction; the slow start appears to be a factor of the platforms authorized, with the largest P2P platforms still awaiting authorization; it seems the lack of authorization for the region's largest platforms is delaying interest in the investment accounts from both individual investors and financial advisers. Source
The UK's MarketInvoice has reported record originations of 130 million British pounds ($161 million) for the first quarter of 2017; originations increased by 160% from the comparable quarter giving the firm cumulative originations of 1.2 billion British pounds ($1.5 billion); origination growth for the firm has been helped by a new product called MarketInvoice Pro which provides businesses an open funding line for their invoice borrowing. Source
The Funding Circle SME Income Fund has doubled its investments with a 142 million British pound ($176 million) fundraising; the fundraising is the result of a new C share offering which will convert to ordinary shares within nine months; the Fund is now valued at over 300 million British pounds ($371 million) and has the capacity to issue approximately 350 million more shares in the next twelve months. Source
Deloitte has released a report on global fintech hubs with London reported as the strongest fintech hub for the second consecutive year; the report was generated in collaboration with Innovate Finance and released at the Innovate Finance Global Summit in London; the report results were based on six main factors including: access to technical expertise, proximity to the customer base, regulatory framework, government support, innovation culture and international diversity. Source