During the week I share the latest marketplace lending and fintech news on Twitter as it happens. Then every Saturday I take the most interesting news items and blog posts from the past week and share them here.
Citibank CEO Warns Traditional Banks at Risk of Becoming ‘Dumb Utilities’ by The Financial Brand – There has been plenty of speculation around Citi’s new partnership with Google. Here are some comments from CEO Michael Corbat that gives at least some perspective on the partnership.
Nubank is leading the fintech gold rush in Latin America by Quartz – The most valuable digital bank on the planet (outside of China) is Nubank . Great piece in Quartz on how the Brazilian bank has become so big, so quickly.
What Fintech Bubble? How To Find The Good Fintech Investments by Forbes – As Ron Shevlin points out, there has been a lot of babble about a fintech bubble. But there are still huge opportunities for disruption if you know where to look.
BankThink Libra: The opening act of a modern regulatory drama by American Banker – Great op-ed in American Banker by Daniel Gorfine & Kabir Kumar on what Libra means, “Libra serves as a global wake-up call to market participants and policymakers alike that new technology-driven models will challenge existing regulatory frameworks”.
Figure’s Mike Cagney On How Blockchain Is Reinventing Lending by PYMNTS – As Mike Cagney points out in this PYMNTS article with the Provenance blockchain Figure’s soup to nuts securitization technology realizes 133 bps of benefit as well as being quicker and more transparent than the traditional system.
Ondot Brings Apple Card Functionality To Banks And Credit Unions By Forbes – The Apple Card experience may be coming to a bank or credit union near you. Ondot Systems is already working with credit unions to bring a cutting edge app-based user experience for credit and debit cards.
The Path to Solving the Student Debt Crisis Starts With a Small Step by Morning Consult – The CEO of SoFi, Anthony Noto, penned this op-ed in Morning Consult in support of the Employer Participation in Repayment Act, a bipartisan bill that will help deal with the student loan crisis. I agree employers need to be part of the solution here.
Upstart to help banks pay off customers’ credit card bills from American Banker – Upstart will allow debt consolidation loans funded by their bank partners to now be paid off directly to the credit card company.
FinnoSummit Miami – Fintech is Booming in Latin America by Crowdfund Insider – In Crowdfund Inside a review of the Latin American fintech market including some highlights from last week’s FINNOSUMMIT Miami by LendIt Fintech.
Fintech startup Qwil raises $24.4 million in equity and $200 million in debt by Reuters – Another promising fintech startup receives a solid round of funding. Qwil has closed a $24 million equity round and $200 million in debt capital to help it provide capital to freelancers and small businesses.
CRA cheat sheet: New regime would look very different from American Banker – Details of the new CRA proposal are out, released at the FDIC board meeting this week.
Brex, the start-up that lends to other start-ups, taps $200 million line from Credit Suisse from CNBC – One of the hottest US fintech companies is Brex and they continue to raise capital from some of the biggest traditional financial institutions.
