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
CloudMyBiz has announced a one platform solution for alternative lending which includes services for origination, underwriting, servicing and client relationship management; the platform is built on Salesforce.com; CloudMyBiz is active in providing cloud solutions for alternative lending; it specializes in Salesforce implementation, migration, integration, development, third party applications and custom app development, helping clients to streamline processes for increased business efficiency. Source
Alternative credit data company VerumView has developed a product primarily focused on capturing data surrounding an end-user's email; it's built on an API-based know your customer service (KYC) and helps to provide credit decisions on thin file borrowers; the system can service the following: identity verification, fraud detection, KYC, anti-money laundering, TF prevention, loan and insurance underwriting, credit and affordability scoring, competitive analysis and targeted marketing. Source
Online real estate lender and crowdfunding platform Patch of Land has hired Matthew Zall to serve as its new chief investment product officer; the new hire occurs as Patch of Land plans to expand into the single-family rental market, identifying an opportunity to capitalize on the 24 million US single-family units valued at over $6 trillion; Zall's experience includes single-family loan structuring at Blackstone Group subsidiary B2R Finance; he has also worked as a commercial real estate trader at J.P. Morgan and Bear Stearns; in comments regarding the new hire, Paul Deitch, Patch of Land's chief executive officer said, "The addition of Matt enables us to continue the expansion of our marketplace to fully serve the lending needs of more than 10 million Americans who directly invest in single-family residential properties and need consistent, reliable access to capital to fuel their businesses." Source
The CredAgility platform is relied on by lenders globally for customer management solutions; enhancements to the newly released version 7.3 include expanded customer level views for client service representatives, improvements for compliance management, added self-service options and improved functionality for email and customer outreach. Source
Partnership will add 700,000 small businesses from the Vendasta network to the LoyaltyCapital® Network; the Vendasta network includes representation from 1800 media properties and 8000 sales professionals; Vendasta businesses will now have the opportunity to obtain better access to credit financing through the LoyaltyCapital customized multi-lender platform focused on providing credit for businesses with high customer loyalty in their communities. Source
Upstart's Dave Girourad talks with TechCrunch about the company's new fundraising round which is adding new capital of $32.5 million; the new capital brings total funding to $85 million and this round's investors included Rakuten, Third Point Ventures, Khosla Ventures and First Round Capital; the fundraising will help the firm launch a new software as a service product called Powered by Upstart, an extension of its proprietary credit underwriting platform which utilizes machine learning and modern data science; Upstart will be releasing the new product at LendIt USA 2017. Source
Lend Academy summarizes the activity of past LendIt PitchIt finalists in their article; a LendIt competition for startup businesses, PitchIt provides finalists the opportunity to present their business in front of a panel of judges and an audience of investors with the goal of receiving new venture capital funding for business growth; since 2015, PitchIt has helped support the success of the many finalists detailed in the Lend Academy article. Source
Jim Cramer of Mad Money talks with Mike Cagney of SoFi to discuss the unique business model of the privately managed business which has originated over $16 billion in loans and recently closed a $500 million fundraising round; Cagney provides details on the student loan refinancing business and the company's unique focus on supporting customers in many different aspects of their personal and financial lives; notes SoFi's return on equity advantages over banks and the market opportunity it is targeting as it builds out its business. Source
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has opened a comment period for information on alternative credit data. The CFPB issued the request for information (RFI) on February 16 and the comment period is open until May 19. Responses to the RFI can be found here.
The CFPB, established by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act and led by Director Richard Cordray, is interested in obtaining information on the currently available sources of alternative credit data in the market and alternative credit data underwriting models being used by fintech innovators.
The CFPB's RFI follows an increasingly emerging financial inclusion trend in fintech. The market has seen a number of new companies seeking to make credit more accessible for thin file borrowers. Meanwhile, innovation around alternative credit data is also surfacing. The CFPB seems to be taking an active role in this emerging trend and will likely publish a comprehensive report on its findings and perspective following the comment period. Source