Barclays has launched a new fintech focused unit to help develop new business lines for the bank; Barclays UK Ventures will work with fintech firms through partnerships or by taking equity stakes, helping the bank make further inroads into fintech. Source.
Coinbase has acquired Earn, a startup that allows for sending and receiving or digital currency for microtasks; Finovate reports the deal to be worth $100mn and Earn CEO Balaji Srinivasan will now serve as Coinbase’s first CTO. Source.
New Resource Bank has been offering asset based loans through a partnership with P2Bi and the agreement could help to establish a template for smaller banks working with fintechs; the partnership is a win-win for P2Bi with more leads and the bank as they get to more efficiently work through customer relationships that might normally take more time and energy than it would be worth. Source.
With bank earnings season upon us we have seen a continued growth among mobile users at some of the biggest banks; JPMorgan Chase saw active mobile customers jump 13 percent and Wells Fargo saw total active digital users jump 3 percent; mobile banking has become a priority for all banks as the focus has shifted from just offering mobile to increasing engagement on mobile. Source.
China’s regulators have imposed extra cost and forced some emerging p2p lenders out of business as they look to eliminate problematic and fraudulent companies; Sara Hsu of Forbes sat down with Yihan Fang of Yirendai, and with Johnson Zhang of Hexindai at LendIt Fintech USA 2018 to discuss the current states of p2p lending in China. Source.
clients about starting a crypto trading desk; no plans are set yet but the bank is talking to clients, including institutional clients, about opening the desk as more banks explore the emerging market. Source.
China has been looking to create a credit scoring system seen in many developed economies like the U.S. and the U.K.; initially asking 8 top companies to be involved, though they found it hard to form as companies were unwilling to share proprietary data with competitors; the PBoC is now tasked with having a industry wide system that does not favor giants like Alibaba and Tencent. Source.
Marcus by Goldman Sachs announced it had bought PFM app Clarity Money, their 16th fintech acquisition in the past three years; the company is looking to create a digital storefront for the Marcus brand; Marcus believes the acquisition will help it to give them a competitive advantage and build revenue. Source.
The company plans to shut down all operations in Japan by end of June 2018; overseas Japanese investors who use domestic banks will still have access to trading activities in the local market; cost and resources were the main drivers behind the decision. Source.