Goldman Sachs appears to be planning for a robo advisory service offering; the firm is advertising a job posting for a GSAM Technology digital experience developer that would build an automated robo advisory platform complementing the firm's asset management business; the bank's private wealth management business focuses on client's with approximately $50 million in investable assets; it has been broadening its client demographic recently by including business and retail products for investors with $1 million or less; a robo advisory service would add to other recent product expansions including the acquisition of GE Capital's online bank, Marcus and Honest Dollar. Source
The graphic above shares the participation of companies in various blockchain consortiums including R3, Digital Asset Holdings, Hyperledger and Ripple; the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) joined R3 last week becoming the first US regulator to join the consortium. Source
Fabric is a new insurtech startup that is looking to focus on new and expecting parents; they currently have two offerings, Fabric Instant and Fabric Premium; Fabric Instant is an accidental death policy which you can obtain in two minutes with minimal information and Fabric Premium is their 20 year policy which requires a checkup; they recently raised a $2.5 million seed round from Bessemer Venture Partners for their launch and continued product development; policies are currently underwritten by Vantis Life Insurance at $6 per $100,00 of coverage. Source
The market has currently slowed gains as speculators await more details on Trump administration policies; the Justice Department has taken its stance on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's appeals court hearing in May and it seems the next big announcement from the Trump administration regarding fintech is the appointment of the next comptroller; at LendIt USA 2017 Amias Gerety gave some insight on how the Trump administration views fintech and current themes in government fintech debates. Source
Deutsche Bank's innovation lab adds to a number of recently opened innovation labs by other large banks in New York City; the Deutsche Bank innovation lab will be looking to identify new ideas, hire talent from fintech startups, and acquire or invest in fintech startup companies; the innovation lab is Deutsche Bank's fourth in the past 18 months with other labs located in Silicon Valley, London and Berlin; a main focus of the New York lab will be testing new technology for the capital markets with a focus on artificial intelligence, cloud computing and cybersecurity; new technologies implemented from the bank's other sites include enhanced credit risk analysis software, improved network risk management and new applications for retail bank clients. Source
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and Austrade have signed an agreement with the UK that will facilitate fintech innovation in both countries; the agreement will help to support introductions and the sharing of information on regional fintech business; as part of the agreement the CBA will also utilize its London Innovation Lab for UK and European networking. Source
Jilliene Helman won the LendIt Fintech Woman of the Year award at LendIt's first industry awards show and has led RealtyMogul since 2013 as the firm's founder; offering debt and equity real estate investments as well as a REIT, RealtyMogul is one of the most innovative real estate investing platforms that has evolved from the JOBS Act's new regulations for crowdfunded investments; Helman talks with Forbes about the firm's REIT investment, the experience of its management team, and how economies of scale and the firm's technology are helping the firm succeed. Source
Nested has reported an 8 million British pound ($10 million) fundraising from investors Passion Capital, GFC and Tim Bunting; the growing company is another example of proptech innovation in residential real estate; targeting the UK housing market, the company guarantees the sale of listed property within 90 days either to a new owner or by buying the property themselves. 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
Lending Times reports on the business model created by Unison to improve the affordability of home ownership in the United States; the firm has developed two main products, a HomeOwner and HomeBuyer product, that are based on an investment model rather than a lending model; as a real estate investor the firm provides capital for borrowers and shares in the gain or loss of the real estate property's value; Unison and other innovative real estate businesses participated in a panel at LendIt USA 2017 titled, "The New Era of Buying & Selling a House" sharing further insight on how fintech innovation is evolving in residential real estate. Source