A record number of Americans experienced identity fraud in 2017, that represents an 8 percent increase from 2016; according to a study by Javelin 16.7 million people were hit by identity fraud; the rate of increase for identity fraud has slowed from 2016 but Americans that were notified about a breach also went up 30 percent; fraud prevention has become one of the main topics in fintech and banking as companies look to leverage new technologies like AI and blockchain for solutions. Source.
News Roundup
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According to a 2018 identity fraud study, victims increased 8% to 16.7 million US consumers in 2017; this is a record since Javelin Strategy & Research began tracking data in 2003; as chips in cards have become more prevalent, fraud has continued to move online; the research highlighted the increase in intermediary accounts being created by fraudsters which could include PayPal and Amazon accounts; article shares further data on trends in identity fraud. Source
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UK crowdfunding platform Crowd2Fund has reported year-over-year transaction growth of 4,700%; in Q1 2017 it provided funding to a range of industries with the number of businesses receiving funding increasing by 3,900% in comparison to Q1 2016; growth rates are increasing by 50% per month and the firm expects to transact over GBP10 million ($12.82 million) per month; the firm's IFISA offering has been a factor supporting the firm's growth with 95% of the platform's investments made through IFISAs; the firm offers a variety of capital funding sources for businesses including loans as well as structured equity and debt based financing. Source
ISA statistics were released on Thursday by HMRC; last year two thousand Innovative Finance ISA accounts were subscribed with retail investors collectively investing GBP17 million (USD $22 million); this compares to GBP22.325 billion ($28.94 billion) into stocks and shares and GBP39.191 billion ($50.81 billion) into cash ISAs; about one third of money invested into IFISAs on P2P platforms last year was from transfers; while the accounts opened and amount invested were low it still shows appetite for such products. Source
Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, told CNBC that the price of bitcoin was too high but that virtual currencies should be taken seriously; “Not so long ago, some experts argued that personal computers would never be adopted, and that tablets would only be used as expensive coffee trays," she said. "So I think it may not be wise to dismiss virtual currencies.”; the interview also touches on the recent regulatory trend to crackdown on the new currencies. Source.
A recent review done by the International Monetary Fund found Chinese Banks face capital shortfalls, in particular medium and small banks; the IMF stated that China should consider boosting risk-weighted assets by 0.5 to 1 percent in the next 12 months; Jin Zhongxia, China’s representative on the IMF’s executive board said the assessment was for the most part correct but that they have already begun implementing remedies; the IMF said the problem is manageable but laid out a set of potential reforms to improve the shortfalls going forward. Source
WorldRemit recently entered the U.S. market and already expects it to be their biggest market by year end; remittances sent from the U.S. back to home countries have risen to $66bn from $50bn in the last 5 years; immigrants are becoming more tech savvy and companies like WorldRemit see big potential as apps like WhatsApp have helped move people to use their phones more and more; WorldRemit has been driven in large part by relying on a number of different partners to help set up their expanding network; tax issues are still a big concern and recently receiving the NY approval, a 2 year effort, sets the company up to focus on scale. Source.