IOTA has increased in value to $10 billion, up from $4 billion in about two weeks; the cryptocurrency though is different than most in that it is not based on blockchain; the article outlines how IOTA tokens work, which use a “tangle” to address the high cost of blockchain transactions. Source
Go-Jek is an Uber competitor and is now looking to lead in the payments sector in Indonesia; the company purchased offline payments service Kartuku, payment gateway Midtrans and a saving and lending firm called Mapan. Source
- Lendio Announces New Franchise in Detroit
- Goodbye Ethereum: Kik Plans to Move Its ICO Tokens to Stellar
- SBDA Group Closes Series A Investment Round
- Yirendai Makes $50 Million Strategic Investment in Finance Services Platform Lion Rock
- Financeit Recapitalizaton Gives Goldman Sachs Majority Stake
- Ablrate Launches Portfolio Loans Product After Topping £30 Million in Total Funding & Securing £3 Million in IFISA Funds
- Coinbase is now the No. 1 iPhone app in the U.S.
Walmart partnered with Even and PayActiv to provide a set of products for their more than 1.4 million employees; employees will be able to access earned weaves ahead of schedule using an Instapay feature; “We’re investing to give our people financial tools that help provide more stability in their lives, which we believe will empower them to be all they can be when they are at work serving our customers,” explained Jacqui Canney, Walmart’s Chief People Officer; Walmart is covering the cost of Even’s tool and it will allow for employees to access Instapay eight times a year for free. Source.
The Financial Times reviews company and loan performance at various online lenders; shares that Shanda Group bought more shares of LendingClub after forecasts were adjusted last week; LendingClub also recently stopped making F & G grade loans available to investors; broadly, delinquency rates have increased across online lenders; valuations of other companies such as Earnest and Prosper have also been affected. Source
About 4.6 million people are currently in default on student loans which is more than double the number from 4 years ago; the number grew by almost 275,000 borrowers in the third quarter alone; even as the economy grows and there is a multitude of options available to borrowers more people fall behind. Source.
The round was led by Grupo Coppel with participation from FirstMark Capital, Revolution Ventures and Colchis Capital; INSIKT has facilitated 125,000 loans over the course of three years; their white-label product provides an alternative to payday loans and is currently used by 600 banks and credit unions; funds will be used to expand to new states and internationally. Source
With regulatory changes in China the online lender LexinFintech scaled back their IPO target from $500mn to $120mn; the company is looking to IPO next week and is offering 12 million shares at a price range of $9 to $11; recent IPOs by Chinese fintechs like Qudian have seen a significant drop in value after the regulatory push in China. Source.
Two years ago John Hancock acquired AI startup Guide Financial that helped to set the stage for their newly released robo-advisor Twine; “We weren’t going to be a Vanguard, and on the other hand, there are actors like Robinhood — we landed somewhere in the middle,” said Barbara Goose, John Hancock’s chief marketing officer as reported by Tearsheet; the company is completely separate from John Hancock, in technology stack and management, though they do coordinate with the firm through their innovation officer; allowing Twine to be separate but still connected to the main firm gives them flexibility and allow them to target their millennial customer. Source.
Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne is exploring options to sell the retailer and use the proceeds to start a digital global property registry; Mr. Byrne would be teaming up with Hernando de Soto who says that formalizing land rights can help to stop poverty; they are looking to use the blockchain to list ownership records, this would make it easier to trace them back to the right owner and account for less forgeries; the new company, De Soto, would start in early 2018 and use more than 10 Overstock employees. Source.