In looking for a new CFO the company posted an ad stating that the new officer would help to lead the company through an IPO in 3 to 4 years; Monzo has recently raised capital and talked about global expansion into Asia and the US; the UK based digital bank has also stated they are launching new products in 2018. 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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A recent report by the Cleveland Fed on online lending has caused quite the controversy over its content; the Marketplace Lending Association said the Fed should retract the report; even TransUnion, whose data the report relied upon, took issue with how they presented the material; “We have no understanding of how the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland could have used our data to reach the conclusions they did,” Ezra Becker, SVP at TransUnion, said to American Banker; the Fed stated the terminology used in the report has caused confusion but have yet to retract the report. Source.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has shifted back to a softer stance since the Trump administration took office; according to the New York Times the agency is using directives from the interim head to ease back regulations enacted during the Obama administration; the move is part of a wider push to set back financial regulations that some say have hurt banks in recent years. Source.
The first head of the CFPB has decided to step down at the end of the month without giving a formal reason; the bureau was established in the wake of the financial crisis in 2011; Mr. Cordray sent an email to all CFPB staff saying he thought the agency made a lasting difference to improve people’s lives and that new leadership will preserve what they have done; he is rumored to be interested in running for Governor of Ohio in 2018. Source.
Kabbage now has debt funding capacity of $750 million; the additional facility will allow the company to offer higher lines of credit with longer terms; Deepesh Jain stated, “The new, DBRS-rated facility, provided by Credit Suisse, speaks to Kabbage’s maturity in the financial markets and gives us diverse funding options to serve our small business customers. To earn an investment-grade rating requires a rigorous evaluation of not only our lending models, automated risk analysis, and successful history of reducing bad debt to an industry-low, but also our operational processes – from exceptional customer service to unmatched technology development.” Source
Lend Academy looks at the shift of returns and interest rates at LendingClub; the company recently brought F & G loans in house and there is a noticeable shift in loan grades offered by the platform. Source
Spanish banks have been focusing on going digital to help keep ahead of competition; banks like Santander and BBVA have improved their mobile app access and started innovation teams to invest or partner with fintech companies; they have also changed their culture to better resemble a startup and have started talent competitions; while the banks have had their share of issues the digital focus can help to drive down costs and keep the banks ahead of the curve. Source.
Coinbase built the platform, Coinbase Custody, to serve investors like hedge funds and family offices; "We are designing Coinbase Custody to meet the needs of institutional clients," Armstrong said in a Medium post as reported by Business Insider; the features include account representatives and support, multi-user accounts and insurance in some cases. Source.
Innovate Finance published their annual list of women in fintech and while progress has been made, more work is needed; Innovate Finance CEO Charlotte Crosswell said "We’ve still got work to be done. When you look at statistics of women in fintech — it’s not there yet.”; other leaders like Anne Boden of Starling Bank said we all need to try harder; studies also show that the more diverse a team the better they perform. Source.