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.
The Slow Death Of Checking Accounts by Forbes – Interesting perspective from Ron Shevlin in his Forbes column about checking accounts. He says that the checking account as we know it is dead and will be replaced by something far more powerful within a decade.
More Companies Help Employees With ‘Financial Wellness’ Plans by The Wall Street Journal – Corporate America is beginning to realize the responsibility they have for the financial wellness of their employees. This will be a growing trend this decade as this responsibility deepens. Here is the current state of play in the WSJ.
Starling raises £60m to fund business service and overseas push by Financial Times – I expect this will be the first of many big funding rounds we will see this year from the leading European digital banks. Starling Bank raises £60m for expansion to Europe.
The Forbes Fintech 50: The Most Innovative Fintech Companies In 2020 by Forbes – The Forbes Fintech 50 list of the most innovative fintech companies is out and there are some great names on it. Congrats to everyone who made the list.
A new kind of British invasion: Regtech hackathons by American Banker – I love the work that Jo Ann Barefoot and her Alliance for Innovative Regulation team are doing. We need to rethink how regulators operate and these “tech sprints” (not hackathons) are a great start.
Lending Startup Ads Feature Blockchain Character To Highlight Business by PYMNTS – There is a creative new ad out from Figure explaining blockchain technology in simple terms and how it powers their loans.
How far can venture capital take European challenger banks? by Fintech Futures – The rise of the European challenger banks has been made possible though vast amounts of venture capital. But valuations are skyrocketing so it is unclear where they go from here.
Senators alarmed by study linking loan rates to college choice by American Banker – I am a fan of the work that Upstart is doing and I know they have already penned a response to this study but Senators are taking notice.
Patents reveal extent of China’s digital currency plans by The Financial Times – China has been working on a digital currency since 2014 and have filed more than 80 patents on this project.
$1 billion in $28 increments: Stash reaches major milestone by Tearsheet – Stash is an innovative fintech that is helping to fuel growth in savings and investment from middle class Americans.
