Peer-to-peer loan investing is growing as an investment category and capturing a greater share of the loan market from banks; as interest rates remain low across the globe and in the US, it continues to be a viable alternative to fixed income investing; Simon Moore discusses some of the current considerations for investing in P2P loans including availability, default risks, lending standards, interest rates, liquidity and tax efficiency. Source
Banks have previously been known for their slow service in providing small business loans however the success of small business online lenders is helping to increase their interest and banking models; with banks expected to begin broadening personal and business lending in the current environment, small businesses appear to provide the best market opportunity; American Banker details some specific areas where banks can upgrade their technology for better competitive positioning in the small business lending market including: online applications, electronic documentation, increased online disclosure and optimized lending processes based on targeted borrowers. Source
Bloomberg provides insight on factors involved in a potential takeover of OnDeck Capital after rumors on Thursday that Kabbage was considering an offer to acquire the firm; it seems OnDeck's shareholders would likely veto a takeover with 45% of the company still owned by its original investors; as a private company, the structuring of the deal terms for Kabbage would also be difficult and to gain any interest from OnDeck's shareholders they would have to offer a considerable premium. Source
Several startups are approaching the auto purchase and loan process by integrating with the existing system instead of attempting to upend the current model; Kevin Singerman, founder of AutoFi, who recently inked a deal with Ford stated: "The market is so big that there's nothing preventing someone from creating a new dealership model, but I want to go after the biggest part of the pie, which is how consumers buy cars today. That's a much more attractive opportunity."; startup AutoGravity who is backed by German carmaker Daimler has a similar approach, providing a white label service to dealers; Bloomberg provides details of the current state of the auto market and other industry participants. Source
Lufax is one of China's leading P2P lenders with support from Ping An Insurance; it is currently planning to launch a global asset allocation platform to facilitate investment for middle income earners across Asia in 2017; the platform will build on the company's offerings in P2P lending and wealth management; Lufax is also working with four investment banks on an initial public offering in Hong Kong. Source
The Royal Bank of Scotland is closing 158 branches in the UK in an effort to reduce costs; it has continued to struggle since the financial crisis reporting nine consecutive years of losses; the firm has been increasingly integrating automation to cut costs and says it will make a decision on its robo advisory service for mortgage lending by the third quarter; the robo advisory service offers customers advice and insight that helps them decide on a mortgage loan product, also giving them an option to connect with a human advisor at any time during the process. Source
MoneyThing has announced its authorization from the UK Financial Conduct Authority; says it will no longer be pre-funding loans and revising its terms for new lenders; plans to seek HMRC approval for innovative finance individual savings accounts. Source
Promise Financial was previously a marketplace lender focused on providing wedding loans; it issued loans of approximately $10,000 with interest rates up to 30%; in January the firm announced a change to its name and business model citing competitive pressures as the main reason for the shift in focus; it will now sell its technology as a service to banks and is in the process of changing its name to DigiFi. Source
CommonBond has created a March Debtness bracket to look at the payoff rates of this year's March Madness basketball teams; the bracket identifies the time it takes for students to pay off their student loans; UCLA is CommonBond's current March Madness winner with the fastest payoff rate at 4.42 years. Source
Marketplace crowdfunding platform Lenderwize is reporting success as the first online lending and project financing platform for telecommunications businesses; the firm offers invoice financing, project financing and equity financing with rates of return averaging 6% to 14% annually; they recently surveyed telcos in the industry finding among other statistics a cash flow market opportunity of $22 billion; the platform now has $7.3 million in borrower requests and $10 million committed from institutional investors and six equity investors; it is also expecting new capital from business development presentations at TechFluence's Fintech Meets Telecom in Frankfurt and the Fintech Circle and AngelDen's Pitch in London. Source