In an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Ant Financial's CEO Eric Jing talked about his plans for growth in payments and blockchain; firm is targeting two billion users by 2027; says it will more deeply integrate blockchain and artificial intelligence. Source
Pepper Hamilton will be hosting a webinar on Tuesday, January 24 at 12:00 PM EST providing insight on the considerations for fintech companies interested in applying for the new fintech charter; topics will include fintech charter advantages, the application process, OCC requirements, OCC oversight and capital requirements; the panel will include Pepper Hamilton lawyers with OCC experience; participants can register here.
Payments company Dwolla has received $6.85 million and relaunched its white label API, Access API; the funding was led by Union Square Ventures and Foundry Group; the investment will be used to expand its employees; the new API will now manage same-day transfer services and include a new dashboard for transactions. Source
Tempoe has completed a deal with its financing partner for a $150 million credit facility; the firm provides alternative leasing solutions for durable goods including furniture, appliances and electronics; the additional capital will help the firm to invest in the online shopping market, expand to additional retailers, explore new markets and make strategic acquisitions. Source
Credit China Fintech is forming a consortium to acquire a 36.58% equity interest in Ping An Securities Group (Holdings) Limited; upon completion the consortium intends to make a cash offer for all of the issued shares of Ping An Securities; Credit China Fintech's CEO Phang Yew Kiat says, "Ping An Securities' product offerings are valuable resources that we believe will generate significant synergies with our existing businesses." Source
Ning Tang, founder of CreditEase speaks about 2016 headwinds faced by Yirendai, the company's P2P lending arm; in August, 2016 the stock declined after new rules were put in place by Chinese authorities on P2P lenders; according to Ning Tang, "We need to do more in terms of investor education and communication as most of the international investors do not have a clear understanding of China's credit market and financial innovation."; 2016 transaction volume was 20 billion yuan ($2.92 billion) in 2016; Tang eyes 100 billion yuan ($14.59 billion) by 2020; looking forward, the company plans to form closer relationships with traditional banks to reach offline customers. Source
Millennials are becoming more influential in the market for financial advice and investment management; currently a $71 trillion business, baby boomers have been the leading drivers over the past three decades; millennials however are gaining increased consideration since they now account for the greatest majority of the population in the US and UK; while they currently only hold a small percentage of the asset management market with $250 billion invested, venture capitalists are taking bets on their potential influence; the tech savvy generation has greater preference and confidence in tech powered solutions than the baby boomer generation with 85% of UK-based millennials surveyed by Legg Mason Global Asset Management reporting they were comfortable with robo advice while only 37% of investors aged 40 to 75 trusted online advice; leading robo advisors have initially attracted the attention of millennials however it's likely that more traditional asset managers will expand their offerings to capitalize on the growing opportunity. Source
China Merchants Bank is exploring biometric solutions for client identification; it has launched face recognition at ATMs as an option for identification; the bank has 1,000 ATMs in 106 cities and plans to offer face recognition at all of its Shanghai ATMs by the end of 2017. Source
The registered investment advisory business reported 138 transactions in 2016 setting a record for industry merger and acquisition (M&A) activity; since 2009 the industry has reported a compound annual growth rate of 16% for M&A deals; increased regulatory oversight from the Department of Labor has been one factor; the market data provided by Echelon Partners also provides additional information on the industry landscape for the registered investment adviser market. Source
Venture capital firm QED Investors has partnered with Fifth Third Bank to advise the bank on its fintech strategy; QED Investors has worked with Fifth Third Bank on previous fintech acquisitions; Fifth Third Bank will work with QED Investors to identify new opportunities for fintech innovation and promote growth of US fintech companies. Source