The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was approved to investigate the activities of Indian tribe lenders; the online lenders under investigation will be Great Plains Lending, MobiLoans and Plain Green; the lenders are providing credit to a range of borrowers outside of their Indian tribes; they are claiming sovereign immunity because of their status as Indian tribes. Source
Chinese online consumer lender Yirendai has announced progression toward securitization of a portfolio of consumer loans; the firm has transferred an existing trust fund of RMB300 million ($43.6 million) used to fund loans on its platform to Bohai International Trust Co., Ltd., and the firm has completed the issuance of asset-backed securities in the amount of RMB300 million through private placements. Source
UK marketplace lender Landbay has lowered its borrowing rates and fees in an effort to refresh its offerings for buy-to-rent property borrowers; rates for a two-year fixed term loan will now start at 3.39% and rates on a five-year fixed term loan will start at 3.59%; arrangement fees have also been reduced to 1.5% from 1.75%; the firm has also made some changes to its approval criteria; Paul Brett, managing director of intermediaries at Landbay had the following comments: "We are constantly listening to our intermediary partners and to the requirements of the market. Our rates have been reduced across the board to ensure we remain competitive whilst our criteria enables us to serve a wide range of specialist borrowers seeking a fast decision." Source
A member of the Lend Academy forum has created a table sharing the annualized rate of return on 36 month loans based on differing charge off scenarios; the table outlines when returns will become negative at varying interest rates which can in turn be compared to interest rates on loans issued by Lending Club; the findings are valuable to investors who are interested in knowing what might happen to their portfolio if defaults were to increase. Source
Keogh founded Finova Financial to offer a more affordable alternative for borrowers seeking title loans; Finova offers car equity lines of credit with 12 months to pay versus the 30 days currently required by most title lenders; managed through a cloud-based system it offers easy payments and its payment terms also include early payment incentives and no late fees; the firm has now raised $52.5 million. Source
While P2P lending platforms have taken a significant amount of lending from banks since the financial crisis, data from the Financial Times suggests that growth could be slowing; an Ernst & Young survey shows only 7% of 1,100 people using P2P lending platforms for borrowing and a separate survey from Blumberg Capital says only 4% of 1,050 British adults have used the platforms in the past 12 months, signaling less awareness and demand; banks have also increased investment in fintech regaining some market share; overall, the Financial Times reports that the market in the UK is changing with regulations supporting P2P lenders but less demand and market risks slowing growth. Source
Orchard discusses the November 4 week's industry activities, highlighting banks' increasing interest in online lending and fintech in its weekly snapshot; the Orchard Index, which measures aggregate US P2P/MPL consumer loan performance, reported a monthly gain of 0.24%; Yirendai led gains in publicly traded companies with a monthly return of 11.29%; Ranger Direct Lending continued to lead gains in UK publicly traded funds with a monthly gain of 6.65%; the snapshot features Earnest's recently transacted securitization and reports the most recent securitization transacted by Lendmark Funding Trust. Source
Fintek News talked with Ron Suber about the marketplace lending industry and his recent presentations at LendIt, AltFi Australasia and the ACFE Fintech Fraud Summit; as an investor and one of the industry's most active speakers, his insights have helped influence all aspects of marketplace lending both globally and in the US; in his most recent presentations he has discussed current opportunities for the industry, how online lending can be compared to online trading and factors influencing fintech fraud. Source
A wide range of loan options for small business funding are available; Lend Academy provides an overview of the market's credit products for small businesses in their article; loans from the Small Business Administration and large lenders have traditionally been the main focus for many borrowers however online marketplace lenders and innovative credit products such as invoice financing have greatly evolved the options for credit funding in the market. Source
Open banking regulation is moving forward with Colombia the latest to announce a plan to develop a framework for sharing financial info.