LendIt provides details on LendIt USA 2017 training sessions in their blog post; the training sessions will be focused on sales and marketing, and technology and operations; the two sessions will be held on March 6 and will include interactive discussion; the sales and marketing training session will be in the morning and will include discussion on digital marketing channels, and lead generation, retention and engagement; the technology and operations session will be in the afternoon and will include discussion on artificial intelligence and the importance of mobile. Source
According to data from AltFi, the UK has reported a new record high for alternative loan origination volume; loan origination volume in the UK surpassed 100 million British pounds ($123.53 million) in November; previous high was in November 2015; numerous UK marketplace lending platforms have reported record high origination volume in November including Assetz Capital and Funding Circle. Source
Chicago-based Westbon has launched an auto and consumer loan platform for international students in the US with limited or no credit history; Hao Liu, co-founder of the company, says, "Our mission is not only to provide them with convenient financing options at affordable rate, but also to help them build credit history at an early stage."; the company says it looks beyond a traditional credit score, they look at the borrower's financial and academic status as well; the auto product will be available in 23 states and the consumer products in eight states. Source
The Peer-to-Peer Finance Association (P2PFA) is a trade body representing three quarters of the P2P lending market in the UK; RateSetter has breached rules set by the P2PFA; according to RateSetter, "No customer has experienced any loss from our actions but we recognize that our actions breached the principles of the Association."; recently the company has been in the news with regards to their wholesale lending business that it has been winding down. Source
MoneyLion talks about the evolution of the fintech industry and the rebundling of financial services in their featured blog post; the first wave of fintech was known for its unbundling of traditional financial services by fintech companies; as these companies have achieved success from focused product development, they are now looking to expand services for new verticals and cohesive cross selling; banks are also more broadly diversifying to meet customer needs; MoneyLion also notes API development as a key factor supporting the rebundling of services; the firm has brought together a range of online services that help customers improve their financial health and it sees rebundling as an important trend that will help to support more comprehensive fintech services for clients. Sponsored Blog Post
Marlette Funding has filed for a new securitization portfolio, Marlette Funding Trust 2017-1; the portfolio details were filed by Marlette Funding Depositor Trust; associated parties include Deutsche Bank Securities, Citigroup Global Markets and Goldman Sachs; the portfolio will contain unsecured consumer loans originated by Marlette. Source
The UK's MarketInvoice has reported record originations of 130 million British pounds ($161 million) for the first quarter of 2017; originations increased by 160% from the comparable quarter giving the firm cumulative originations of 1.2 billion British pounds ($1.5 billion); origination growth for the firm has been helped by a new product called MarketInvoice Pro which provides businesses an open funding line for their invoice borrowing. Source
Nucleus Commercial Finance has lent over 500 million British pounds ($624 million) to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and is planning to ramp up lending in 2017; firm's lending products include asset finance, construction finance, invoice finance and cash flow finance and they are planning to add new products as well as hire three new people for its asset-based lending team; the platform's lending has increased 100% since April 2016 and it is targeting 1 billion British pounds ($1.25 billion) in loans to SMEs in the next 12 months. Source
Bitbond has raised $1.2 million in new equity capital to grow its user base and further its product development; the firm offers loans globally to small and medium-sized enterprises and uses the bitcoin blockchain for global cross-border lending; since its launch the platform has originated over 1,600 loans worth approximately $1.2 million; it currently has 76,000 registered users in 120 countries. Source
Global Debt Registry (GDR) will partner with TransUnion for data to enhance GDR's eValidation services; the data partnership will help to improve eValidation's verification for investors and issuing creditors also providing more in-depth analytics on borrowers; GDR President Charlie Moore says, "Their data allows our investors to gain more confidence in the underlying assets through verification, validation and enhanced credit risk tools." Source