Lending Club files an 8K for a $200mn warehouse funding agreement; JPMorgan Chase was the administrative agent and Wilmington Trust was the collateral trustee; the revolving credit facility will be with certain lenders not yet announced; the move is another step in the funding sources diversification direction the company discussed late last year. Source.
JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo announced their earnings late last week and digital channels continue to be a growing force at the banks; JPMorgan Chase saw a 13 percent jump in active mobile customers to over 30 million; Wells Fargo’s growth was not as pronounced at 3 percent to over 21 million active mobile customers; this points to a broader industry trend where according to Business Insider’s Mobile Banking Competitive Edge study 83 percent of respondents use mobile banking; some recent trends the study has also seen include more attention to security, mobile transfers and users asking for more advanced features. Source.
Roostify CEO Rajesh Bhat sat down with TearSheet to discuss the online mortgage market and stated we are still in the first quarter of the game; Roostify is an enterprise mortgage origination platform and has secured deals with JPMorgan Chase and Guild Mortgage; topics discussed include why mortgages are so hard to digitize, how banks have addressed the move to digital mortgages and how did Roostify come to be. Source.
JPMorgan Chase and Barclays have joined IBM’s quantum computing network as they look to use the technology to assess risk and stay secure; Barclays is beginning to test potential uses and JPMorgan Chase is looking to leverage quantum computing for trading, portfolio optimization and risk analysis; there is a lot happening in quantum computing these days as big tech firms look to master the technology seen as potentially 100,000 times faster than classic computers; while there are clear benefits to quantum computing banks are also looking at protecting themselves from the cyber threat that hackers could exploit using the same technology. Source.
A consortium of banks that include JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse and Citi trialed a distributed ledger platform that proceeded equity swaps from beginning to end; the AxCore platform by Axoni would allow for payments to process instantly and reduce potential disputes; Greg Schvey, CEO of Axoni, said in a statement reported by CoinDesk, “Equity swap data is infamously complex and difficult to manage, making it a terrific fit for distributed ledger technology.” Source.
As banks keep closing or reorganizing their branch experience JPMorgan Chase just made a big bet on branches and staff; the bank announced a 5 year $20bn investment plan that includes 400 new branches and 4,000 new jobs; the plans included expansion into 15 to 20 new markets for the branches, where most of the staff hires will occur; they also said lending will increase by 25 percent over the next 5 years. Source.
The new express branches are meant to help customers with routine transactions like withdrawals and deposits; customers looking for further advice or a loan would be able to connect via videoconference or go to a typical branch; they are looking to serve millennials in a more efficient way and allow them to access bankers and wealth managers through a digital experience using iPads; removing some of the human intensive areas of the bank and making it more self serve will cut down on costs and help to serve the younger, digital customers. Source.
Codispoti originally joined JP Morgan Chase to create a credit card that would appeal to millennials; this led to the launch of the Sapphire Reserve; now Codispoti is focused on overseeing JPMorgan’s branches and how they can better serve millennials, which make up 61% of their new customers; the current vision includes advice centers similar to Apple’s Genius Bar. Source
JPMorgan Chase, American Express and HSBC said they are leading a $40mn round into Menlo Security; banks are usually a lot more secretive about security investments but they see a wider industry potential in using isolation technology; the technology can better defend against phishing attacks which account for most breaches as employees click on a fake link that then causes malware to infect the computer; when a user clicks on a link they open a browser that really is a one time instance in the cloud and prevents malware from downloading onto a computer; while some big banks have started using the technology more there has not been a significant rush yet. Source.
Big banks like J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo have developed new mobile only banking apps in an effort to attract younger customers; “It’s about helping people start in banking and doing it in the way that fits their lifestyle,” said Steve Ellis, executive vice president and head of the Wells Fargo Innovation Group, to Business Insider; the banks are looking to get users at a younger age then keep them over the lifetime with additional product offerings; focusing on the consumer experience and new technology will help the banks to claw back some of the market that fintech companies have taken. Source.