While announcing earnings for Q3 Wells Fargo and Bank of America both revealed how important digital channels are to their bottom line; BofA saw mobile banking users jump 11 percent, mobile usage grew at 19 percent and digital payments grew 9 percent in the past year; Wells Fargo saw digital usage grow 2 percent and digital sessions grow 6 percent; the digital trend shows how much banks businesses are changing. Source.
According to data from FT Partners, the third quarter brought the highest financing deal count ever with 412 transactions; banking (including p2p lending) and payments had the most deals in the quarter; transactions of note include Softbank’s $250 million investment in Kabbage and raises by Toast Inc. and Raise Marketplace. Source
The FT has seen regtech as one of the fastest growing areas of fintech with a surge of applications to their Future of Fintech awards; new regulations such as the EU’s Mifid II rules, increased compliance and KYC checks by financial institutions looking for more cost efficient ways to verify customers has helped to bring new startups into the market; fintech has moved well beyond lending and the diversification of the market continues to grow. Source.
Lending Club has a new deal for investors to earn United miles; last year the initial program awarded 1 mile for every $2 invested; now investors will earn 1 mile for every $1 investors; the program is open to new and existing investors and is valid until January 9, 2018. Source
The deal help to increase their efforts to bring credit scoring and ID verification to emerging markets; “We’re thrilled to join forces with Lenddo and create an undisputed, global category leader in alternative data for credit decisioning,” said Jared Miller, CEO of EFL to Bankless Times; they will work with banks, telcos, retailers, microfinance institutions and insurers to help bring credit to people with little or no credit history. Source.
Cybercrime is a growing problem with ID theft hitting a record high in 2016 affecting 15.4 million people; Credit card fraud resulted in $21.84 billion in losses across the world; synthetic identities are a top risk for the banking industry and banks need next-generation KYC tools to protect themselves. Source
Invoice finance platform BlueVine secured $130mn in debt financing; the financing comes from Silicon Valley Bank, SunTrust Bank, Bank Leumi and TriplePoint Venture Growth BDC Corp.; BlueVine founder and CEO Eyal Lifshitz tells Bankless Times, “Business owners have diverse needs, and by augmenting our product offering, we are able to offer the solution that fits best.” Source.
Blockchain capital is a venture firm focused on bitcoin, blockchain and other crypto projects; according to SEC filings they are raising $150 million between their two funds Blockchain Capital IV and Blockchain Capital Parallel Fund IV; the funds have raised $60 million and $25 million respectively to date; the funds are similar when it comes to deploying capital, but in the parallel fund investors will contribute cryptocurrencies to invest. Source
P2PGI aims to raise £209 million through the deal and is working with Deutsche Bank to facilitate the Zopa loan book securitization; the portfolio will contain 31,153 loans with an average weighted interest rate of 7.2%; according to AltFi, P2PGI will hold a material net economic interest for the duration of the transaction and will also purchase at least 5% of each class of notes. Source.