Chris Skinner explores quantum computing in a recent blog post; recently scientists found a quantum computer to be 100 million times faster than conventional computers; quantum internet will also have a big impact as it uses quantum signals instead of radiowaves to transmit information; Skinner writes that, “This is important in banking because it could displace blockchain, ledger and digital identity developments within a decade. This is because the quantum internet would excel at sending information securely through what is known as quantum encryption.” Source
News Roundup
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According to Bloomberg, Google is working on its own blockchain technology in their cloud business; the distributed ledger would allow third parties to post and verify transactions and will also offer a white-label product for companies; Google has also been active in acquiring and investing in startups according to the source. Source
Many consumers love the convenience of digital communication but still seek live human interaction. Source
- 2017 Digital Lending Fraud Report
- LendingTree Launches Free Credit Monitoring Service
- Roostify Adds Mark McLaughlin as Vice President of Business Development
- Royal Bank of Canada Launches API Developer Portal
- eToro raises $100m Series E to fund blockchain effort
- Tide gets FCA-authorised, launches new card and integrations
- Digital payments player paytm wants slice of P2P lending
- Shares Rise as PPDai Reports Revenue Growth, Stock Buyback
- NYDFS sends survey request to online lenders
- Here's why fintech companies remain interested in the UK despite Brexit
- Prosper Announces Pricing Changes
The round was led by Fifth Third Capital Holdings LLC with First Republic Bank and Columbia Seligman Investments also participating; existing and individual investors Vikram Pandit and Tom Glocer also participated; total funding for the company is over $130 million; the company posted 250% revenue growth year over year in 2017 and has had only two defaults. Source
Ping An Insurance has seen their market value double in the past year due to new business and their growing affiliate brands; online lender Lufax is valued at more than $18.5bn and Ping An Good Doctor is valued at more that $5.4bn; their growing portfolio is getting investors to ask if they are really an insurer or are they a technology company. Source.
Digital only banks have certainly attracted the attention of incumbents as they look to keep up with customer experience innovation; in the past year banks like Chase, RBS and others have started creating their own digital only brands; the digital only banks have been able to more easily create online marketplaces for products, better options for traveling and mobile workers and they have made the customers a part building the experience; this more nimble, quicker way of building has put pressure on big banks to keep up as many sizable banks have many layers of compliance and process to build. Source.
Mike Cagney was previously a co-founder of SoFi; after resigning last year he began work on a new startup which involves home improvement financing and HELOCs; the company is called Figure and is live at www.figure.com; according to the website, “Figure is a financial technology company with the mission of leveraging blockchain, AI and advanced analytics to unlock new access points for consumer credit products that can transform the financial lives of our customers. We provide home equity release solutions, including home equity lines of credit, home improvement loans and home buy-lease back offerings for retirement.” Source
HSBC is looking to leverage AI to predict how customers might redeem rewards points; the bank is looking to market specific offerings to the person so they get a tailored experience; the bank has partner with Maritz Motivation Solutions who uses technology to suggest categories to cardholders based on their likeliness to redeem the rewards; with so much competition in the market the bank knows they need to better tailor their experience to the different types of customers they have. Source.
Many predict that Amazon will introduce a payments system for Alexa; American Banker looks at whether Amazon is really ready for to make this a reality; one of the biggest problems relates to the ability to authenticate transactions; Alexa isn’t able to distinguish whether a person is who they claim to be; article also shares the banks that are currently leveraging voice technology with some of the early adopters being US Bank, USAA, Ally, Capital One and TD Bank. Source