LendIt USA 2017 featured keynote speakers discussing all aspects of the online lending industry and new developments in fintech overall; videos on the keynote presentations from the event are now available; a list of the event’s keynote speakers can also be found here. 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.
To join our newsletter community please subscribe here.
AlphaFlow has announced the launch of AlphaFlow Managed Portfolios; created by Ray Sturm, co-founder of RealtyShares, AlphaFlow has been managing real estate investments that allow investors to invest in loans across multiple real estate crowdfunding platforms since its launch in 2015; the introduction of the AlphaFlow Managed Portfolios is an effort to better meet the needs and demands of the firm’s investors; the new platform will provide investors with a real estate portfolio of 75 to 100 real estate loans; the portfolio will be driven by AlphaFlow Advanced Analytics and targets returns of 8% to 10% with a 1% fee on assets under management. Source
Loan stacking has reportedly been influencing an increase in default rates for marketplace lenders; TransUnion has reported data on delinquency rates and online fraud; firm announced an expansion of its Fraud Prevention Exchange at LendIt USA to help mitigate online lending fraud and specifically loan stacking. Source
StackSource has launched an online lending platform for commercial real estate; the company provides a marketplace for connecting owners and developers with banks and non-bank lenders for credit financing; the multi-lending platform connects borrowers with lenders through the StackSource proprietary lender database; StackSource was developed from the TechStar accelerator program and was founded by Tim Milazzo. Source
StreetShares provides loans for veteran-owned small businesses; following the California bizWin™ and VetBizWin™ initiatives, StreetShares has partnered with the Northern California Financial Development Corporation (Nor-Cal FDC) which will expand its business lending solutions with contract financing; Nor-Cal FDC is a licensed Financial Development Corporation and supports small business capital solutions for more than 3.6 million small businesses throughout California including a focus on companies in the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley. Source
Through Autonomous NEXT the research firm will provide a suite of products and services with in-depth analysis of banking innovation and fintech; Autonomous Deputy CEO Erick Davis says, "We discovered untapped demand for insight on financial technology and innovation, and are excited to bring this to market."; focus areas will include robo advisors, blockchain, neobanks, insurtech, chatbots and artificial intelligence; in its first available report the firm provides metrics on fintech growth by financial services category. Source
Motif provides an investment trading platform with themed investment portfolios for retail investors; the company has now introduced Motif Impact Portfolios for socially responsible investing; the Motif Impact Portfolios will feature companies focused on one of three social values: sustainable planet, fair labor or good corporate behavior; the portfolios were developed through a partnership with MSCI ESG Research; in comments regarding the announcement, Hardeep Walia, founder and CEO of Motif, noted that the introduction of the Motif Impact Portfolios will extend the company's commitment to innovative, accessible and fully-transparent financial products. Source
Thomas Curry spoke on the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's fintech charter at LendIt USA; Curry primarily refuted arguments against the OCC's authority for establishing a fintech charter; Curry sited the National Bank Act stating, "To be clear, the National Bank Act does give the OCC the legal authority to grant national bank charters to companies engaged in the business of banking."; the banking charter would encompass all fintech companies engaging in banking activities regardless of whether or not they take banking deposits; the OCC is still evaluating the provisions of the fintech charter following its December 2016 white paper and comment period which ended in January 2017. Source
Scott Sanborn discussed the current market environment for online lending in his speech at LendIt USA comparing the industry to the growth of online retail and using Amazon as an example for how businesses can dramatically change and adapt to provide the best services for market needs; online lenders will have to be strategic in identifying market opportunities, building on their proprietary systems and partnering with other companies; Ash Gupta from American Express also noted at the conference the challenges and opportunities presented to online lending through the use of big data; the growing amount of data sourced by the industry has the potential to improve credit models and fraud prevention while also providing broader capabilities through machine learning technology. Source
loanDepot has been steadily becoming one of the US's top mortgage lenders, rivaling both online businesses and traditional institutions; Anthony Hsieh talked with Forbes at LendIt USA about the growth of the business; the company has funded over $100 billion in mortgage loans and is building out a fintech ecosystem that will empower future market growth and product expansion; loanDepot is the third online mortgage company founded by Anthony Hsieh and the company is in its eighth year of operations; Hsieh says the firm is potentially considering an IPO. Source