AutoGravity has added First Investors Financial Services to its car loan financing network; AutoGravity has developed an app that allows car buyers to choose a car online and receive four financing offers; the addition of First Investors Financial Services will broaden the available financing options for users. Source
Fintech is improving the financial services industry and providing new borrowing opportunities across the country; the current framework makes innovation challenging with differing requirements for online lenders in each of the 50 states; Nat Hoopes, the Marketplace Lending Association's director, writes in favor of the OCC fintech charter and the benefits it would provide for online lending, fintech and the industry overall. Source
A new association has been formed in the marketplace lending industry with a focus on fraud prevention; the Online Lending Network was launched this week at Money 20/20 and will work with ID Analytics on loan tracking and fraud risk solutions; Lend Academy provides more details in their article; focus is on technology from ID Analytics that helps to prevent loan stacking and predict a borrower's intentions. Source
Upstart Co-Founder Dave Girouard talks with Forbes about alternative credit data modeling and his firm Upstart; Girouard's inspiration for Upstart came from his experience at Google where he was involved in developing algorithmic models for evaluating candidates and their potential success as Google employees; a third of Upstart's management team comes from Google and the firm is now building advanced credit models that utilize machine learning and modern technology to make credit more accessible for borrowers; the firm is targeting loan originations of $1 billion in 2017; Upstart will be at LendIt USA 2017 and is announcing a new white label software as a service product called Powered by Upstart. Source
Tala CEO Shivani Siroya not only points to the idea of building trust to grow a customer base but also belief in her instincts.
Diwakar Choubey of MoneyLion speaks with Lend Academy in their last podcast of 2016; MoneyLion is an online lender also offering a financial wellness app; firm has received significant funding in 2016; MoneyLion launched in 2014 with an initial focus on a data decision services platform which later evolved into a full service lending platform; firm currently functions as a balance sheet lender but plans to expand to a hybrid approach in 2017. Source
CommonBond has created a March Debtness bracket to look at the payoff rates of this year's March Madness basketball teams; the bracket identifies the time it takes for students to pay off their student loans; UCLA is CommonBond's current March Madness winner with the fastest payoff rate at 4.42 years. Source
LendingRobot is planning to offer its clients a new marketplace lending credit fund with blockchain automated fund reporting; algorithms will automate investors' fund preferences into one of four options based on risk tolerance and investment horizons; the fund offering will add to the company's current business which allows customers to invest in multiple loan platforms from a single account. Source
The Royal Bank of Scotland's NatWest Brand has announced the launch of direct lending platform Esme; the platform will offer loans up to £150,000 ($187,257) for small and medium-sized businesses with approvals in one hour; NatWest developed the Esme platform internally through an innovation lab; the platform was developed to provide a more competitive loan offering and will also support initiatives for cost reduction. Source
In collaboration with Energy 4 Impact, UKAid and the CME Group Foundation, the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance has released a study on crowdfunding and P2P lending in Africa and the Middle East; Lend Academy provides details of the report in their article; covers 46 countries in Africa and 12 countries in the Middle East, featuring data on 70 alternative platforms. Source