Forbes reports on new technology in the automotive sector; says internet of things connectivity will allow users to connect their bank accounts with their vehicles; Forbes talks with industry experts about the market's evolution. Source
News Roundup
This page contains an archive of the Global Newsletter summaries and the weekly fintech news roundups.
Every day the Fintech Nexus news team scours the globe for the most important stories of the day to include in our daily newsletter.
Then every Saturday we bring you our weekly news roundup of the top 10 fintech stories of the week with commentary from Peter Renton.
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Loyal3 recently announced the service would be shutting down effective May 22, 2017; the company provided commission free investments with a minimum investment of just $10; also offered investors a chance to access some IPOs; Loyal3 is offering several options to investors including moving securities to FolioFirst, transferring shares to another brokerage or selling shares; many people speculate that the shutdown will be a boon to Robinhood's business which offers similar services. Source
BondMason has increased its minimum investment for new investors from GBP1,000 ($1,278) to GBP5,000 ($6,392) and will institute the change for existing clients beginning on July 31; a new tiered fee structure will also be introduced beginning on May 31 for all investors; according to BondMason's CEO Stephen Findlay, "This structure puts us in line with other investment services and is to reflect our commitment to client services, which was sadly proving uneconomic for clients with smaller balances."; BondMason's service allows UK investors to invest in multiple marketplace loans through a single account. Source
Synthetic fraud is when fraudsters use a collection of information to create a fake identity for fraudulent loan applications; data verification regulations are also making synthetic fraud more challenging to detect; Auriemma Consulting Group provides three strategic suggestions for online lenders: 1) strengthen front end detection and prevention 2) use data analytics to learn from synthetic accounts and 3) enrich reporting and information sharing. Source
Investors are continuously looking for new asset classes, equipment finance is one of the stronger performing areas and the presentation by Patricia Voorhees of The Alta Group at LendIt USA 2017 explains why this segment is ripe for capital; the total market is $1.7 trillion and currently only about $300 million is financed through term leases or loans; most equipment is put on some other form of credit like a credit card; the more technology that is enabled and the more chances to make a loan at the point of sale will allow for the market share to grow; Patricia also pointed out that ABS deals in the equipment space outperformed all other categories because the nature of the equipment is essential use and the integration of the finance providers in the transactions; equipment finance could be the next big opportunity, we will have to wait and see how it shakes out in the next couple of years. Source
Renaud Laplanche launched his new online lending firm at the beginning of April; Upgrade raised $60 million for its launch and is reportedly valued at $168 million; the company will compete directly with many unsecured consumer lenders offering loans from $2,000 to $50,000; a key part of the offering will be a mobile app to help borrowers manage their finances which has yet to be released. Source
Emmanuel Marot writes about the hybrid robo advice model in a blog post for Lend Academy; says he is not in favor of the hybrid model since machine learning can take care of the needs of investors noting that complexity nor human whims have proven to bring any value. Source
Consumer lender Avant filed documents with the SEC for a new unsecured consumer loan portfolio, Avant Loans Funding Trust 2017-A; the ABS deal looks to consist of 41,250 unsecured consumer loans, though the total portfolio pricing has yet to be released; the deal was audited by Deloitte; banks involved in the transaction include J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Credit Suisse Securities LLC and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. Source
The FCA regulates approximately 56,000 firms in the UK; its 2017/2018 business plan outlines three main objectives: 1) protect consumers 2) enhance integrity and 3) promote competition; the annual business plans shows the FCA's commitment to foster fintech innovation but notes that the sector presents some of the broadest risks; its business plan states it will continue to focus on fintech initiatives such as Project Innovate and sandbox development; the FCA also plans to actively engage with international regulators for growth of the sector as well; the entire business plan can be found here. Source

BlackRock's investment in the Funding Circle SME Income Fund has increased to 15%; meanwhile Aberdeen's ownership has also increased to a substantial share; investments from the institutional managers show the success of the Fund and the confidence in its management; Sachin Patel is the Fund's lead portfolio manager and the Funding Circle SME Income Fund has grown to assets under management of approximately GBP300 million ($383.5 million) following a recent C-Share issuance. Source

