In an opinion piece on American Banker, General Counsel of US Century Bank argues that community banks could gain a lot from using blockchain technology; unlike big banks they don't have resources to test ideas and spend millions of dollars; pooling their resources or joining a consortium would be the best way forward to begin to test usages of the technology; engaging with the big four bank vendors is another idea; FIS, Fiserv, Jack Henry and D+H provide the core banking software at most banks and ensuring a dialogue with them is crucial; increased efficiency can help community banks stay competitive in an environment that is becoming more crowded by the day. Source
News Roundup
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The Volcker Rule was enacted in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis to prohibit banks from some of their riskiest activities; the rule is having a damaging effect when it comes to smaller banks who wish to work with fintech companies; according to the rule, banks cannot engage in proprietary trading and it limits banks from making investments in hedge and equity funds; smaller banks like community banks and credit unions don't have the resources of big banks to build out new technology so they look to partner with fintech firms; the limitations force these banks to invest in individual companies rather than funds who could potentially invest in a portfolio of companies; policy makers are looking toward Volcker Rule adjustments and the OCC recently signaled changes could be coming soon; while regulation has helped to curb abusive practices in financial services it would help to tailor legislation in a more specific fashion. Source
Most significant banks have a mobile app with features that allow individuals to conduct close to their entire banking life on their phones; keeping up with the operating systems from Apple and Google is a challenge for the banks; banks are not as nimble as fintech startups and so there is a lot more detailed of a process to go through when making technology updates; banks have learned that 80% of users update operating systems within the first month of a new release, which puts pressure on the banks to act quickly; talking to American Banker about staying current, Alice Milligan, the chief customer and digital experience officer of Citi's global cards business, said, "This requires us to stay at the cutting edge of device and operating system developments in the industry."; prioritizing what features are most important is key, not everything can get done quickly and this forces banks to make difficult choices; as more people use technology in their financial lives, banks and fintech companies will need to make sure they try to stay ahead of the curve. Source
Prosper's originations were $775 million in the second quarter of 2017, up from $586 million in the first quarter; adjusted EBITDA was $6.7 million in the second quarter and the company was cash flow positive; Prosper had their first profitable quarter in Q3 of 2014 before growing significantly and subsequently falling back into the red; whole loan sales represented 94% of total volume in Q2; Prosper has originated a total of $9.7 billion in loans; Prosper also announced closing a $500 million securitization; PMIT 2017-2 was rated by Kroll Bond Rating Agency, Inc. and Fitch Ratings with the Class A pool receiving an A rating. Source
RealtyMogul offers accredited and non-accredited investors debt and equity real estate investments through its crowdfunding platform; the firm has now raised over $290 million online from over 135,000 investors; Crowdfund Insider talks with Co-Founder Jilliene Helman who recently won LendIt's Fintech Woman of the Year award. Source
Science Blockchain is the first incubator ICO to go to market; Argon Group will be advising the ICO; Science Blockchain began in 2011 and they have co-founded and invested in over 70 companies; they aim to take their expertise to help select blockchain entrepreneurs; token holders will get access to new tokens from incubated portfolio companies; investors will also benefit in any upside from owning Science Tokens. Source
Regulation in the US is far different than in China; CredEx is a Chinese company that shares the state of regulation there; Jo Ann Barefoot shares her perspective on regulation in the US, having spent most of her career working in consumer protection and financial inclusion; she believes that we have produced a regulatory system that has high cost and low value which has left consumers confused by products; while not discounting the importance of regulation, Barefoot shares that fintechs can do more to further goals around financial inclusion than regulation can; one area where the US is lagging behind much of the world, specifically China is in mobile adoption and regulators in the US are struggling to keep up as technology quickly changes. Source
Multi-lending platform Alternative Business Funding (ABF) will become the fourth alternative finance business to be involved in the UK's bank referral scheme; the bank referral scheme began in November 2016 and has been reporting success with over 8,000 SMEs being referred to alternative funding sources; the other three businesses in the referral scheme network include Funding Options, Funding Xchange and Bizfitech. Source
Zopa has made updates to its loan pricing valuations after recently reporting technical issues; affected investors will be receiving refunds based on the updated calculations; the firm says that it has resolved any issues and is reporting monthly loan volumes of GBP80 million ($104 million). Source
UK fintech app Tail has been built on the promise of open banking; it has built relationships with retailers that allow it to offer users cashback promotions which are linked to a bank account; its first partnership is with Starling Bank and it also expects to be integrated with Monzo. Source