According to a new report by CB Insights global fintech funding reached $5.4bn across 323 deals in Q1 2018; deal activity was highest in the U.S. and Asia, Europe on the other hand fell to a five quarter low; early stage companies in Europe were not receiving investments, though later stage companies were still having success; regtech, wealth management and digital banking led the way, while online lenders lagged behind. 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.
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Goldman Sachs has been exploring the creation of a crypto trading desk and now has hired a former crypto trader; the bank hired Justin Schmidt as a vice president and head of digital asset markets; the move is seen as another step by the bank to eventually create a crypto trading desk as they have been rumored to be exploring this for quite some time; no major bank has started a crypto trading desk yet. Source.
Despite the rumors of a spinoff and losing Amber Baldet JPMorgan Chase is still pushing forward with their Quorum blockchain; they recently tested the issuance of a $150 million, one-year, floating-rate Yankee certificate of deposit on the blockchain, in parallel with the actual issuance of the CD according to American Banker; in regards to the spinoff the bank has yet to completely deny the rumors, though they could spinoff parts of the group and still house Quorom within the bank. Source.
The Global Findex Database and accompanying report give a clear indication of how fintech is impacting access to financial services globally. Source
Crowdfund Insider explores Sofi’s move to offer banking service without become a bank itself; the rent a bank model allows for FDIC insured accounts while Sofi gets to own the customer experience and offer these services without the regulatory burden of a bank; Sofi Money is set to roll out in 2018 and will offer 0.96% APY on accounts; there are no account fees and they will offer free ATMs internationally; many banks still have legacy systems and lack the culture of fintech companies so it will be interesting to see how they compete. Source
Acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Mick Mulvaney has testified on numerous occasions about the risk of data breaches; in December he helped put a freeze on data collection, though collection resumed a few weeks later without much talk or solutions; Mr. Mulvaney has not been clear on the types of breaches that have occurred and what has been done to plug the holes; experts believe this could be more about politics so the bureau is cast in a bad light. Source.
A recent study by Harvard Business School looked into the contribution of marketplace lending on the overall lending market; while companies like Lending Club and Prosper have improved consumer access to affordable loans the study also discussed whether these types of platforms are too transparent; this transparency according to the study gives large investors who leverage the availability of data an advantage in buying loans resulting in an uneven playing field. Source
- OnDeck Announces $100 Million Revolving Credit Facility Closing
- Growth Street Celebrates Full FCA Authorization & New GrowthLine Lending Product: Need to Borrow £2M?
- Fintech firm Digit adds credit card debt payment to savings app
- Zopa sees £100m of Innovative Finance ISA inflows
- Inside Santander’s plans to digitize money
- Draft of US faster payments governance framework unveiled
According to Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman, the company is open to becoming a cryptocurrency exchange; Friedman stated, "I believe that digital currencies will continue to persist it's just a matter of how long it will take for that space to mature. Once you look at it and say, 'do we want to provide a regulated market for this?' Certainly Nasdaq would consider it.”; Friedman was less bullish on the future of ICOs. Source
Ernst & Young announced a new suite of blockchain audit technologies; EY Blockchain Analyzer looks to assist audit teams to gather transaction data from multiple blockchain ledgers; Paul Brody, EY Global Innovation Blockchain Leader, tells Crowdfund Insider, “Understanding exchanges and cryptocurrencies is the first step in our ability to develop tools to test various blockchain-based business contracts. EY Blockchain Analyzer will be utilized by the auditor to analyze transactions on a blockchain and help provide insight to the finance function.” Source.