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
Groundfloor has partnered with IRA Services to offer clients investment through tax-deferred retirement accounts; Groundfloor is the US market's first and only real estate platform with all of its investments open to non-accredited investors; through IRA Services, which provides a unique platform for facilitating investment in alternative finance, investors can now invest in Groundfloor's range of real estate offerings, achieving returns of 5% to over 20% in tax deferred retirement accounts; Groundfloor's P2P real estate lending platform has been growing substantially with $16.5 million in loans originated in 2016, an increase of 621% from 2015. Source
UK-based Growth Capital Ventures (GCV) has received a 1.1 million British pound ($1.37 million) investment from Maven Capital Partners; GCV will use the funds to develop a new P2P lending platform and for expansion of its current crowdfunding solutions; the firm focuses on crowdfunded investments in real estate, clean energy and technology. Source
Aaron Hughes, Managing Director of Equiniti Riskfactor, provides insight on the growth of the UK receivables market; the market now has 40,000 to 45,000 clients; with a growing number of clients the industry is focusing on new technologies for greater efficiency and processing; Aaron Hughes says Equiniti Riskfactor is also testing a blockchain prototype for receivables finance that can even further advance platform efficiency. Source
New regulations slowed the growth of P2P lending in China in 2016; data from P2P001 reports that transaction volume in P2P lending increased by 138% in 2016 to over 2.8 trillion yuan ($403 billion) however that was only half of the transaction volume growth reported in 2014 and 2015; on August 24, 2016 the government issued new requirements for the industry, one of which requires that lenders partner with banks for custodian services; this adds additional costs for lenders and as of the end of 2016 only 7.98% had partnered with a custodian bank. Source
P2P lending platform, Growth Street, has received registration as an appointed representative by the Financial Conduct Authority and will partner with Resolution Compliance; the new registration and partnership allow it to expand its product offerings to individual investors; the expansion of investors helps the company to offer loans to even more small and medium enterprises; the company primarily lends to businesses through its GrowthLine business overdraft product. Source
Marketplace lender Growth Street has hired two new executives to support its expansion plans; April Nardulli will join the firm as general counsel bringing experience from RateSetter; Chris Weller will be joining as commercial director to support commercial loan business development; launched in November 2016 the firm has originated over GBP54 million ($67.44 million) from business borrowers; the new appointments follow the recent hiring of James Sherwin-Smith as the firm's new chief executive officer. Source
Growth Street has originated over $67.44 million since its launch in November 2016 with a new CEO and two new executive hires; the firm has now reported 600 new investors on the platform in the five months since its launch; Growth Street provides financing for UK SMEs; the short term financing options appear to be a factor attracting investors; the platform matches borrowers and lenders for 30 days and also allows investors to withdraw funds with notice of 30 days. Source
New Zealand-based marketplace lender Harmoney has announced the launch of its services in Australia; the firm has opened an office in Brisbane and plans to begin with $200 million in capital to lend; the firm has also signed agreements for institutional funding for the next three years; rates will start at 8.99% and the firm will offer loans from $5,000 (USD$3,829) to $35,000 (USD$26,801). Source
A new study has been released by two researchers at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government; it reports on the evolution of online lending and outlines factors for sustainability; suggestions include harmonizing state lending laws and increasing state usury caps; the entire report can be downloaded from this link. Source