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
The Coalition for Responsible Business Finance (CRBF) has announced it will join the Innovative Lending Platform Association (ILPA) in efforts to more broadly support lending for small businesses; the ILPA's network is primarily led by existing members, OnDeck, Kabbage and CAN Capital; with the merger of the two organizations, the ILPA will gain representation from the National Federation of Independent Business, the National Small Business Association, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, the US Chamber of Commerce and the Association for Enterprise Opportunity; the expanded ILPA will provide even greater resources for advancing online small business lending education, advocacy and best practices; the ILPA is most well known for its work on introducing the SMART Box™ comparison tool for small business lenders; with the merger of the two organizations, the ILPA has also developed an updated industry code of ethics, leveraging the work previously done by the CRBF. Source
Data from the New York Federal Reserve shows delinquent auto loans of approximately $23.27 billion as of December 31; auto loan delinquencies are now the highest they have been since the third quarter of 2008; the increase in auto loan delinquencies appears to be the result of expanded credit from auto financing companies to subprime borrowers; subprime borrowers accounted for approximately $280 billion in fourth quarter auto loans of which 75% were originated from auto finance companies. Source
MarketInvoice has launched a new product for invoice discounting; MarketInvoice Pro provides an open funding line through new technology that will make invoice financing easier and faster for businesses with an ongoing need for funding; to support the new product growth, MarketInvoice recently received a 7.2 million British pound ($9.04 million) investment from MCI Capital and Northzone Partners; with the launch of MarketInvoice Pro the firm plans to double its lending for 2017 with targeted loan originations of 2 billion British pounds ($2.51 billion). Source
Elevate's Center for the New Middle Class has released a study showing subprime consumers are limited in their ability to utilize credit balances or borrow from their social networks; the Center's study reports 70% of nonprime Americans couldn't cover an urgent expense of $500 or more with their savings and 64% wouldn't be able to borrow from friends and family; the Center's study amplifies the need for solutions targeting nonprime borrowers; Elevate's Center for the New Middle Class is currently undergoing research efforts to support nonprime credit access and personal financial management efficiencies. Source
LendIt News has launched as a new media brand for LendIt; serving as a unique industry resource, it will provide up to date content and analysis on fintech industry news, giving LendIt followers daily insight on the industry's most important topics and trends; subscribers receive daily industry news emails and insight on global activity. Source
Diwakar Choubey of MoneyLion speaks with Lend Academy in their last podcast of 2016; MoneyLion is an online lender also offering a financial wellness app; firm has received significant funding in 2016; MoneyLion launched in 2014 with an initial focus on a data decision services platform which later evolved into a full service lending platform; firm currently functions as a balance sheet lender but plans to expand to a hybrid approach in 2017. Source
Understanding the products that work for you as a consumer is a key question all borrowers ask themselves; at LendIt USA 2017 the panel entitled Consumer Lending Leaders of Tomorrow discussed some of the up and coming platforms in the market today; LendingUSA focuses on point of sale financing to offer installment loans for expenses like a medical procedure, Uplift Financial uses 600 million pieces of data to tailor the best loan product to you from their network, MoneyLion provides financial wellness advice to help the consumer better understand the loan that fits their situation and BorrowersFirst uses their technology to offer a low cost product to their borrowers; these lenders have taken the time to understand consumers so they can provide the type of variety people are looking for in a market that continues to evolve. Source
Alternative credit bureau, FactorTrust has partnered with Armada in an effort to provide lenders and borrowers with more comprehensive credit underwriting; Armada develops customized software solutions for loan origination and loan management systems; its lending technology solutions will utilize alternative credit data provided by FactorTrust; according to Armada Labs Chairman and Managing Partner Ralph Ayala, "The integration of the two business systems means minimal to no lead time for clients wanting to use alternative credit data in their loan systems, and eliminates any development work on the customer's end, getting them online more quickly." Source
According to a report from GlobalCapital, Jefferies and Lending Club are partnering on a new securitization for Arcadia Funds; the portfolio is expected to include approximately $300 million of prime consumer loans from Lending Club. Source