French based DreamQuark is looking to provide an AI solution to banks, asset management firms and insurance companies; the product, Brain, helps financial services companies to make smarter decisions in fraud detection, anti-money laundering and credit scoring; they can also help to better organize data so firms can offer customers tailored products and cut down on false positives so consumers don’t need to call for verification purposes. Source.
Nav Athwal was a founder and CEO of RealtyShares; the company has raised over $500 million for real estate deals and is one of the leaders in the real estate crowdfunding space; Crowdfund Insider spoke to Athwal who stated, “RealtyShares is in the strongest position it’s ever been in. The company is moving from the build phase to the scale phase of its lifecycle. To best position RealtyShares for the future, I made the decision to transition out of my role as CEO to a new role on the Board of Directors. I asked Ed Forst to take on the role of interim CEO, while we look for a permanent CEO who will fit the culture and profile we’re seeking. I am still very much a part of RealtyShares and will be actively involved in strategic decision-making. I am looking forward to supporting the company in this new capacity and getting back into principal real estate investing and agribusiness. As I begin to work on additional projects, I will be sure to let you know.” Source
CreditMate is a Mumbai based fintech startup; they help dealers and financiers provide vehicle loans to those with no formal credit history; Paytm plans to partner with the firm as part of the investment. Source
Credit-card debt has grown to record highs and some large banks are reporting increased delinquency rates; this trend, combined with higher interest rates could be cause for concern according to Michael Pearce, an economist at Capital Economics; article provides data from the NY Fed on delinquent loans across student, auto, mortgage and credit card debt. Source
The Chairman and CEO of ConnectOne Bank, a community bank provides his perspective on small businesses and banks embracing technology in all aspects of their business; ConnectOne is a forward thinking community bank which recently moved lending operations to the cloud; they look to meet the needs of their clients however they want to interact, even if that means coming to a bank branch. Source
After considerable outcry the Cleveland Fed has removed their study about online lending; “In light of the comments received, the authors are currently revising their paper to further clarify the data sample they used in the study,” Cleveland Fed spokesman Tim Dewald said in an email to American Banker; they plan to post a new version of the paper after completing significant revisions. Lend Academy also covered the removal of the report after posting about the release last week. Source.
PayPal is connecting with Acorns, an automated savings/investing platform; users will be able to contribute and manage their account from the PayPal app; the first users will get access today which will expand access to all US users by early 2018; PayPal previously has invested in Acorns, leading a $30 million round. Source
UK based Digital Bank Monzo is planning a crowdfunding round to give customers a greater share of ownership; the round will look to raise between $13mn and $40mn; while they will use the round for hiring it is meant to provide customers “a genuine sense of ownership”; the crowdfunding round follows the recent $94mn private equity backed fundraising. Source.
China’s central bank announced new regulations to curb risk in the asset management space; the new rules are an attempt to unify regulatory areas, prohibit asset managers from guaranteeing returns and have them set aside 10 percent for provisioning; “The central bank is trying to thread a very fine needle,” said Andrew Polk at Trivium China, a Beijing consultancy. Source.