Gabriella Kinder, head of alternative credit at NN Investment Partners, writes a piece in AltFi focusing on where the lending gap is since the end of the financial crisis; she explains that the lending gap has been reduced and alternative lending has opened up opportunities; while banks are in better shape they still face challenges on the digital front and credit has been increasing since the start of 2015; overall the gap has reduced and new opportunities have opened up as finance has become more diversified and digital in recent years. Source.
Banks speaking at the BankAI conference this week talked at length about what artificial intelligence means in consumer banking; “We have to keep up and we have to stay ahead,” said Diane Morais, president of consumer and commercial banking products at Ally Bank according to American Banker; the banks also talked through current use cases for AI and what the future might look like for banking. Source.
PayPal has helped to secure the ability for Venmo payments to be accepted at over 2 million retailers; users will be able to make purchases in store and online using the Venmo app; the move will help PayPal to get merchants interested in other products and allows them to begin monetizing Venmo; the strategy is another piece of good news for PayPal as just this week they surpasses Amex in market cap. Source.
The partnership is with Bud through first direct and will offer an integrated offering of financial services products and tools across the market; Raman Bhatia stated, “At HSBC we recognise that the sector needs to innovate to meet changing customer needs and we’re investing significantly in digital innovation, including working in partnership with fintechs such as Bud” Source
- Climb Credit Enters Into $130 Million Loan Purchase Agreements
- Blockchain KYC Startup Raises $1.6 Million in Seed Funding
- Amid Brazil’s persistent economic crisis, fintech startup GuiaBolso raises $39 million
- Florida Fintech Finova Financial Secures $102.5 Million In Equity & Credit Facility Funding
- Fundrise Growth eREIT Files to Raise $45.7 Million
- Roostify Unveils New Decision Builder to Improve Pre-Application Consumer Experience and Drive Leads
- Enterprise Ethereum Alliance Adds 48 New Members
- Othera, ?blockchain ?fintech, ?announces ?new ?contract ?with ?U.K.’s ?Lendhaus, ?to ?digitise ?syndicated lending ?of ?commercial ?real ?estate ?on ?their ?blockchain ?platform
- AlphaPoint and Intel Announce TrustedVM Product for Confidential Smart Contracts
- Harvard Partners LLC Announces Investment Interests in Commercial Finance
JP Morgan Chase made their first fintech acquisition with the purchase of payments company WePay; financial terms were not disclosed but the WSJ reports the price was above their 2015 valuation of $220mn; this deal points to a larger trend in the payments space with 2017 seeing deals for 166 companies worth $29.3mn. Source.
The shared platform uses distributed ledger technology and focuses on domestic and cross-border commerce; the consortium of banks includes Deutsche Bank, HSBC, KBC, Natixis, Rabobank, Societe Generale, UniCredit Banco Santander; you can use the platform from any connected device for managing, tracking and securing trade transactions. Source.
As part of his new book to be released next year, Chris Skinner (thefinanser.com) visited Hangzhou, China to meet with executives from Ant Financial; he discusses just how far ahead China is compared to the US and Europe, especially when it comes to payments; shares what he learned about the mission of Ant Financial, including their products Alipay, Taobao (their online marketplace) and Yu’e Bao (the largest money market fund in the world). Source
P2PGI aims to raise £209 million through the deal and is working with Deutsche Bank to facilitate the Zopa loan book securitization; the portfolio will contain 31,153 loans with an average weighted interest rate of 7.2%; according to AltFi, P2PGI will hold a material net economic interest for the duration of the transaction and will also purchase at least 5% of each class of notes. Source.
Blockchain capital is a venture firm focused on bitcoin, blockchain and other crypto projects; according to SEC filings they are raising $150 million between their two funds Blockchain Capital IV and Blockchain Capital Parallel Fund IV; the funds have raised $60 million and $25 million respectively to date; the funds are similar when it comes to deploying capital, but in the parallel fund investors will contribute cryptocurrencies to invest. Source