Gregory Keough has been instrumental in providing an industry solution for emergency financing relief through his platform Finova Financial; the firm was founded to provide a consumer friendly emergency consumer loan product with the goal of being a gamechanger for the high risk payday lending industry; in addition to the recognition of the firm's CEO, Finova has also recently received several other industry accolades including: the US Firm of the Year award for Lending Innovation by the 2017 Fintech Awards, nomination to the Fintech 100 list of the world's leading financial technology innovators and the Consumer Affairs partner accreditation. Source
Ernst & Young has written a white paper on alternative lending and its emergence in the financial services industry; provides details on the alternative lending industry's ecosystem, operating models, challenges, integration opportunities and future outlook; also provides insight on investor considerations for the emerging investment category. Source
SoFi has developed a new marketplace lending fund primarily targeting family offices; a regulatory filing shows the fund as SoFi Prime Income Fund with 33 investors each investing a minimum of $500,000; total fund investment is $105 million; the Fund will focus on investing in SoFi's unsecured student and personal loans. Source
Yirendai is an online lending business unit of CreditEase with stock traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: YRD); the firm is one of the most successful online lenders in China's online lending market; Lend Academy talks with the firm's CEO Yihan Fang in their podcast; Yihan Fang provides details on Yirendai's platform and gives her insight on China's online lending market. Source
P2P-Banking has released its monthly report on loan originations; Funding Circle led originations for the month at 106.1 million euros, also reporting a new monthly high; Zopa and Ratesetter also topped the list; Zopa reported monthly loan originations of 85.3 million euros and Ratesetter had loan originations of 63.9 million euros. Source
Canadian online lender LendingArch is building out its financing capabilities with the launch of a new solution for medical expenses; the company seeks to provide financing solutions for debt consolidation, home improvement and other areas of personal growth; the medical expenses product will broaden the firm's scope and help support consumers in managing out of pocket medical expenses; customers can access the loan solution individually or at a clinic location; the platform's loans allow for immediate payment to clinics and offer financing terms ranging from 12 months to three years. Source
AltFi Data has raised new capital and formed an advisory board; the new initiatives will help AltFi Data launch new products, increasing analytical tools and market transparency; the board’s advisors bring experience in market data and investing. Source
In May 2015 SoFi's CEO, Mike Cagney, said the company planned to go public within the next 12 months; current plans have changed and the CEO now says it has no plans for an IPO anytime soon; the market for online lending IPOs has been volatile in recent months; SoFi has also been significantly focused on expanding its products beyond just student loans to meet broader needs for its customers; the CEO says its business and expanding business lines subject it to quarterly fluctuations in reporting metrics which could be detrimental under public investor scrutiny; given the firm's positioning it could be one of the industry's leading beneficiaries of the OCC's new fintech charter which will allow for national standards; as of last year SoFi had a valuation of approximately $4 billion and currently it's involved in a $500 million funding round to increase loan purchases and potentially equity. Source
President Donald Trump has issued an executive order requiring the Treasury secretary and regulators to come up with a plan to overhaul Dodd-Frank and its over 400 regulations; the banking industry's tighter regulations have been a factor helping the success of marketplace lenders since the financial crisis and deregulation in the sector could create new challenges and increased competition for marketplace lenders; as the government begins to take deregulatory actions for traditional banks it also seems that marketplace lending has reached a phase likely to see increased regulations and involvement from regulators; these two forces along with other market factors could change the competitive landscape for the marketplace lending industry. 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