In PeerIQ’s Weekly Industry Update they cover job growth numbers, the Fed’s planned rate rises and more fintech related stories that ended 2017; OneMain Financial received backing from Apollo Global Management and Värde Partners; GreenSky and MoneyLion completed fundraising’s; new regulation news coming out of Indiana that would cap the personal loan interest rates. Source.
As two new banking applications come to market this week, the question that comes to mind is can all of these startups survive and disrupt the banks?; there are questions surrounding business models and how each company intends to make money in a market that is becoming more crowded each day; each of these new startups has different challenges that lie ahead, some will need to be approved for a banking license and others will need to understand the regulatory framework behind PSD2. Source
Robinhood has announced details of its latest funding round which raised $110 million for the firm giving it fintech unicorn status with a valuation of $1.3 billion; investors in the Series C funding round included DST Global, NEA, Index Ventures, Ribbit Capital, Thrive Capital and Greenoaks Capital; the firm also announced that it now has over two million users; the firm says: "Our two million users have transacted over $50 billion and saved nearly half a billion dollars in commission fees. Robinhood Gold, our margin and extended hours service, is also experiencing significant growth, with signups surging 17% month over month."; the firm plans to use funds from the Series C funding round for expansion of the platform's products and services. Source
TD Bank is looking to boost their AI driven technologies by their recent acquisition of Toronto based Layer 6; Layer 6 provides AI powered prediction engine for data; Michael Rhodes, group head, innovation, technology and shared services, TD Bank, says to Banking Technology that AI has “potential to power a new generation of data-driven applications from personalized and real-time advice to predictive analytics that will shape the future of banking for millions of individuals”.; the deal represents the fourth AI focused move by the bank in the past couple of years. Source.
- Alkami Raises $70M in Series D Funding
- Robo advice platform citing AI and machine learning raises £562k on Crowdcube
- UpLift Closes Financings of $90M
- Fintech as a gateway for criminal enterprise
- Reliamax’s Michael VanErdewyk: ‘We’re seeing a move towards more private student loans’
- U2 Frontman Bono Directs Investment Fund into FinTech
- KBRA Assigns Preliminary Ratings to Marlette Funding Trust 2018-1
- Lending Marketplace Lendix Raises €200 Million Institutional Financing to Trailblaze European Alternative SME Finance
- Zopa to launch income verification tool using Open Banking
Crain's talked with JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon this week as he toured the Midwest, meeting with bank employees; Dimon discussed the credit market; also gave his perspective on online lending, noting some of the risks from depending on investor capital versus bank capital. Source
Revolut is launching a premium account giving members a range of benefits; the premium account will cost 6.99 British pounds ($8.75) per month or 72 British pounds ($90.10) per year, and will include unlimited money transfer, a premium Mastercard, overseas medical insurance and 24-hour customer support; the digital bank is also launching a crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs for 4 million British pounds ($5.01 million) with investing priority for its first 5,000 premium customers. Source
- German digital business bank Penta raises €2.2m in seed funding
- Challenger Bank Tandem Partners with Cognitive Banking Company Personetics
- Equifax launches data sharing solution to support SME lending
- Revolut ditches Wirecard for in-house card issuing
- LendingTree Mortgage Offers Report – January 2018
- Podcast Open banking role models: Fidor, Rabobank and BBVA
- Lloyds Bank cutting 930 jobs
- China is moving to eliminate all cryptocurrency trading with a ban on foreign exchanges
The SEC suspended trading of OTC-listed technology company CIAO Group (now rebranded as NuMelo Technology); trading is currently suspended until August 23; the SEC is questioning the accuracy of a planned ICO by the firm and the initiative that the ICO funding would support; the additional funding would support a digital financial products marketplace for the African market based on blockchain technology. Source