A new report from Equiniti found that 30 percent of millennials borrowed more than $1300 in the past year; borrowing has increased by 17 percent since 2015; 44 percent prefer to search for a loan on their phones and 47 percent said they would be willing to borrow from an unfamiliar lender; this is clearly encouraging for fintech firms but also shows challenges remain as millennials look for the cheapest, quickest way for funds. Source.
In looking for a new CFO the company posted an ad stating that the new officer would help to lead the company through an IPO in 3 to 4 years; Monzo has recently raised capital and talked about global expansion into Asia and the US; the UK based digital bank has also stated they are launching new products in 2018. Source.
Spanish banks have been focusing on going digital to help keep ahead of competition; banks like Santander and BBVA have improved their mobile app access and started innovation teams to invest or partner with fintech companies; they have also changed their culture to better resemble a startup and have started talent competitions; while the banks have had their share of issues the digital focus can help to drive down costs and keep the banks ahead of the curve. Source.
Innovate Finance published their annual list of women in fintech and while progress has been made, more work is needed; Innovate Finance CEO Charlotte Crosswell said "We’ve still got work to be done. When you look at statistics of women in fintech — it’s not there yet.”; other leaders like Anne Boden of Starling Bank said we all need to try harder; studies also show that the more diverse a team the better they perform. Source.
The CEO and Co-Founder of Younited Credit talks banking, technology, Brexit, and his international expansion plans. Source
Glint is based in London and today revealed their product offering; it is a multi-currency account, app and card that lets users store money in gold; funds are converted back to fiat currency at the point of payment for those who choose to store their money in gold; the company is regulated by the FCA. Source
UK based Digital Bank Monzo is planning a crowdfunding round to give customers a greater share of ownership; the round will look to raise between $13mn and $40mn; while they will use the round for hiring it is meant to provide customers “a genuine sense of ownership”; the crowdfunding round follows the recent $94mn private equity backed fundraising. Source.
French based DreamQuark is looking to provide an AI solution to banks, asset management firms and insurance companies; the product, Brain, helps financial services companies to make smarter decisions in fraud detection, anti-money laundering and credit scoring; they can also help to better organize data so firms can offer customers tailored products and cut down on false positives so consumers don’t need to call for verification purposes. Source.
The UK fintech market saw $2.8bn invested across 182 deals through three quarters, which surpassed all of 2016; the third quarter alone saw a record of $1.6bn in invesment; the number of deals closing was down when compared to 2016, though bigger deals have made the amount invested significantly higher; the figures can be attributed to Fintech Global, a UK based consulting firm. Source.
Innovative Finance Individual Savings Accounts or IFISAs has the potential to see millions pour into UK P2P lenders from retail investors; Samir Desai, CEO of Funding Circle, tells the FT, “We have done lots of surveys and a huge proportion of the base told us they would like to put all of the money they invest with us through the ISA.”; the IFISAs were approved in April 2016 but the big P2P lenders in the UK have just started to offer them. Source.