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.
Zopa reveals stock market ambitions as it aims to take on big banks from Independent.ie – The CEO of Zopa says that his company will become a major force in UK finance, “I’d be very disappointed if we’re not a top 10 player in the next three to four years”.
The top stories of 2018 from American Banker – The top stories of 2018 from American Banker.
CMU: Common Securitization Rules Kick in on January 1st in the European Union from Crowdfund Insider – New securitization rules for the European Union went into effect this week.
U.S. Economy Fuels Boom in Consumer Debt from The Wall Street Journal – Total consumer debt (credit cards, auto, student and personal loans) is set to top $4 trillion in 2019 but Americans still seem to be in better financial health.
Can AI’s ‘black box’ problem be solved? from American Banker – The key to success implementation of AI in underwriting is to make it explainable. Good roundup of where we are today by Penny Crosman in American Banker. I think this is going to be a significant trend in 2019.
China’s Online Lending Crackdown May See 70% of Businesses Close from Bloomberg – The Chinese online lending sector continues to struggle and this year we could see a reduction of 70% in the number of platforms, leaving just 300 remaining.
What We Learned About RapidAdvance From RapidAdvance’s Planned Securitization from deBanked – In the small business lending space there is a new player entering the securitization market for the first time. deBanked has some of the details of the RapidAdvance securitization.
Banks need to think outside the app from American Banker – There are interesting new ways that large banks are engaging with customers outside of finance channels. Great examples from China and Belgium.
Lenders Are Thriving on Bitcoin’s Bust by Aiding Both Fanatics and Shorts from Bloomberg – Despite the crypto bust of 2018 some areas are actually thriving, one of them being lending backed by digital assets.
Once big banks crack the code of how to win millennials, star fintech unicorns may be crushed from Business Insider – In a new report from Autonomous Next they say that when banks crack the code of how to market to and serve millennials it will spell doom for fintech. I don’t really buy the argument but it is an interesting read nonetheless.
Can T-Mobile connect customers with mobile money accounts? from American Banker – Mobile money accounts have done well overseas but will they take off in this country? The T-Mobile checking account offered through BankMobile is one of the more interesting fintech partnerships today.
AI Helps Auto-Loan Company Handle Industry’s Trickiest Turn from The Wall Street Journal – More traditional lenders are jumping on the AI bandwagon, partnering with ZestFinance, to help expand their credit box.
Challenger bank Monzo has quietly begun working on a U.S. launch from TechCrunch – The British are coming! Monzo becomes the latest UK digital bank looking to expand across the pond to the US market.
Building a safety net for when the consumer debt balloon pops from American Banker – I have been following the steady progress of fintech startup LendStreet since they began in 2013. Congrats to Jerry and the team on a great piece in American Banker.
From the Lend Academy Forum
The Lend Academy forum is where investors go to discuss p2p lending. Below are some topics that were being discussed this week.
loan/note availability, calculating return, newbie questions – A new investor looks for clarification on a few topics.
Is LC no longer interested in retail investors? – A LendingClub investor shares their conversation with LendingClub about focusing on retail investors and loan inventory.
1.9% –> 4% – Some investors are reporting a small increase in returns.
LC Stock Closes at $2.55, an All Time Low – LendingClub’s stock price recently reached an all time low.
