Electronic document management is a key aspect of marketplace lending and eOriginal is one of the ecosystem's document management providers; Lend Academy interviews Steve Bisbee of eOriginal in their podcast; eOriginal has been in business since 1996, first focusing on original electronic documents for mortgages, then working with auto financing and expanding into many other areas of lending; in 2012 the company began exploring marketplace lending involvement after the suggestion from an investment bank; eOriginal's first marketplace lending customer was SoFi in 2013 and they have added many more since then; as a well established business, eOriginal also has a good perspective on the regulatory requirements involving data integrity which is also helping industry progression. Source
Wealthsimple is a Canadian firm backed by Montreal-based Power Financial and they are looking to launch their robo advisory solution to US clients soon; in accordance with US securities law, Wealthsimple received approval to operate as an investment advisor by the SEC in October 2016; there is no account minimums for their product and the first $10,000 invested will be fee free, anything above $10,000 will be subject to a management fee of 0.5%. Source
A husband and wife from Sri Lanka were arrested in Canada for fraud and money laundering; the couple reportedly used fraudulent checks and synthetic identities for fraudulent charges and purchases; both are charged with fraud of CAD5,000 ($3,729) and possession of proceeds obtained of over CAD5,000 ($3,729); the fraudulent charges are an example of the emergence of sophisticated synthetic identities that are more difficult to be detected by fraud prevention systems. Source
U.S. Bank and Bank of Montreal are investing in digital technology to overhaul their websites, mobile apps, call centers and ATMs; the two companies shared their plans with American Banker; common themes from both companies include: 1) invest in what customers are dissatisfied with 2) make incremental enhancements 3) create a unified customer experience 4) establish an innovation team and 5) test emerging technologies. Source
The marketplace lending platform has facilitated over $7 million dollars in financing to small businesses in Canada; it currently has over 9,500 investors; Auto-Lend will allow investors to automate investing on the platform through pre-set or customized strategies. Source
The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA) has published a report providing insight on the country's crowdfunding market; identifies a need for regulation that will help support the industry's growth while also setting standards for the market overall; predicts transaction value of $190 million for 2016; says the industry has grown 48% from 2013 to 2015. Source
Canada reported significant growth in online and marketplace lending in 2016; fintech growth in the country was also substantial with Canada reporting a 74% increase in fintech investment; a blog post from Aspire gives a roundup of online and marketplace lending activity in 2016 which included many partnerships and equity rounds; also provides predictions for the market in 2017; among its seven predictions are more bank partnerships and increased institutional investment. Source