UK based Lendable raised $400mn to continue lending to UK consumers amid concerns over growing household debt; the capital infusion comes from Castle Trust who is backed by the US private equity shop JC Flowers; this is the second big deal for Lendable in 2017 as they were able to secure over $130mn from Waterfall Asset management in March. Source.
Deposit Marketplace Raisin has seen their investor count top 100,000, bank partners top 40 and deposits cross $4.5bn; the bank partners are in 18 different european countries and customers hail from 32 different countries; with interest rates so low their deposit marketplace offers savers a significant boost in interest and they have seen customers earn more than $41mn in excess interest thus far. Source.
Revolut continues its crypto expansion, receiving the regulatory nod from Cyprus to create a crypto hub to serve its 17 million EU customers.
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
UK debt crowdfunding platform Property Crowd has announced the launch of its innovative finance individual savings account (IFISA); the minimum investment for the IFISA is 5,000 British pounds ($6,220) and the account will target returns of 7% to 10%; Property Crowd will compete for investment across the alternative debt market however its offerings vary slightly from traditional P2P lenders since the firm's debt products include structured real estate bonds. Source
UK based Zopa has warned investors that defaults on high risk loans are rising; Zopa increased originations to high risk borrowers in 2016 and introduced their Zopa Core and Zopa Plus Products; the company originally expected default rates for 2016 at 4.14 percent but have revised that number to 4.93 percent; they also raised their estimates for 2017 loans to these borrowers to be 4.86 percent from 4.52 percent. Source.
The list covers all industries, but includes the fastest growing financial services businesses in Europe; TransferWise came in at #24, reporting 3,392% revenue growth from 2013-2016; the company hired 670 people over the same time period. Source
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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