RateSetter has added additional detail to its annual performance statistics to provide greater transparency; the additional details provide data on loan originations by lending type with a breakdown of consumer and commercial loans; for commercial lending the firm will now also disclose loans to property developers, small and medium size enterprises, and wholesale lenders; the changes were prompted by a request from the Financial Conduct Authority for greater disclosure on wholesale lending across the industry; the update from RateSetter also included a report on a defaulted loan that RateSetter has taken onto its balance sheet to protect investors. Source
After receiving FCA authorization earlier this month, ThinCats provides some insight on plans for its IFISA; Stewart Cazier, head of retail for ThinCats, says the company is planning for a 2017 release of its IFISA; Cazier also says the firm is planning a staggered rollout with registered investors receiving first priority. Source
UK online marketplace lender ThinCats is the latest P2P platform to receive full authorization from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA); the firm is a secured business lender and says it has a number of developments in progress including the launch of an IFISA; in comments regarding the authorization, John Mould, CEO of ThinCats, said: "We are delighted to have been granted FCA authorization, proving the dedication of our team and processes. We are very happy that more and more alternative finance providers are now being authorized, as it ultimately proves that the industry deserves the trust and confidence of investors, advisors and SME borrowers alike." Source
A partnership with DomaCom has helped ThinCats Australia offer its first mortgage loan on residential property; the funder of the firm's first mortgage-backed loan requested a loan-to-value ratio of 36% resulting in a A$212,000 interest-only loan with a term of 24 months and interest rate of 6.5%; prior to the residential property lending expansion, ThinCats has primarily been focused on small business loans. Source
ThinCats has received endorsements from the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB) and Defaqto for its business operations in the P2P lending industry in the UK; the NACFB has recognized ThinCats for its best practices within commercial finance brokerage activities and ThinCats has joined the NACFB as a patron; ThinCats has also been recognized by Defaqto with a 5-star rating for product quality and comprehensiveness. 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
Rohit Arora of Biz2Credit outlines three fintech trends affecting small business lending; highlights artificial intelligence, convergence in marketplace lending and bank partnerships and financial inclusion initiatives for underserved banking consumers; Arora also says market conditions are positive for small business lenders with new job creation measures and technological advances broadly across the financial industry. Source
As Lend Academy discussed in their November 14 blog post, banks are eager to partner with fintech companies; banking partnerships have taken three forms including: bank-fintech-bank (BFB), fintech-fintech-bank (FFB) and bank-fintech-fintech (BFF); choosing to co-brand or white label is also a significant factor to consider in banking partnership deals with white label services helping banks to cross sell their products; two major banks, Goldman Sachs and PingAn, have created their own online lending platforms; SunTrust has also been an industry leader with its acquisition of online lender LightStream in 2012. Source
Deloitte has released its second marketplace lending report; discusses the convergence of digitization across all types of banking services; covers all aspects of lending including varying loan funding sources, securitization and regulations; also reports on credit markets and how different lending categories will scale at varying rates. Source