Acting Comptroller of the Currency Keith Noreika spoke about the online lending industry, discussing the potential of companies taking deposits and seeking banking charters; he shared,"One way a maturing industry adapts to changing market conditions is to diversify its funding sources and expand into other sources that offer greater stability. As the industry matured, companies have found a balance that includes selling loans to retail and wholesale investors, securitizing loans, and even exploring the potential for deposits." American provides more on his remarks in their article. Source
Bloomberg and Quartz have recently been granted access to one of the largest bitcoin mines in the world operated by Bitmain; this Bitmain mine generates about a quarter of a million dollars a day worth of bitcoin; Bitmain's valuation is in the billions and the company is preparing for a possible IPO; Bitmain is also investing in an expansion to US. Source
The Finance Innovation Lab and Toynbee Hall will partner to create a fintech incubator; the incubator will focus on companies in financial health; the Financial Health Fellowship will be a six month endeavor helping companies to scale their businesses; more details about the program can be found here and the program is accepting applications through April 10. Source
The State Council's "Made in China 2025" initiative is seeking to transform China into a greater innovator of technology; the initiative seeks to capitalize on artificial intelligence, big data analytics and robotics and is being designated as a three-step national guideline; along with the initiative the country's State Council has identified 17 national-level innovation demonstration zones that will be allowed favorable policies in order to bolster their respective geographical strengths and support increased regional innovation. Source
While writing in the FT Karen Petrou, Managing Partner of Federal Financial Analytics, discussed the risks associated with fintech sandboxes...
Speaking with American Banker the former Comptroller of the Currency, Eugene Ludwig, says that because non-bank lenders are considerably larger...
For the first time ever, the U.S. Department of the Treasury is taking aim at bitcoin miners operating in Russia.
We have changed our agenda for LendIt Fintech USA. Gone is Green Fintech, and in its place is Data, Fraud, and the Future of Identity.
PitchIt winner Nova Credit presents their company's solution to build what they call the Nova Credit Passport; a cross border credit reporting agency that connects to leading credit bureaus through a single API; PitchIt 2017 was a competition for fintech startups, in exclusive partnership with global venture capital fund 500 Startups, the world leader in investing in and mentoring early-stage fintech startups. Source
Denver-based small business lender Funding Circle announced a partnership with Nationwide Insurance, in a move designed to improve access to capital for businesses that use Nationwide as their insurance providers. The move is a continued trend in the small business financing industry to create access to resources surrounding business financing in places that merchants are...