Bank of America has optimized auto loan applications for mobile apps and is looking to expand to mortgages with a similar offering; the expansion follows a market trend toward increased demand for digital mortgage offerings; Bank of America plans to launch its mobile mortgage application in 2017 as it seeks to broaden its service availability to a full range of service channels; the mobile offering will expand on the firm's current online mortgage experience which provides for electronic applications and documentation with the benefit of automating and verifying customer information; within the industry, JPMorgan is also developing a mobile mortgage offering through its partnership with Roostify and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has set a precedent for mobile mortgage service with the launch of its Hello Home product. Source
UK crowdfunding platform Crowd2Fund has reported year-over-year transaction growth of 4,700%; in Q1 2017 it provided funding to a range of industries with the number of businesses receiving funding increasing by 3,900% in comparison to Q1 2016; growth rates are increasing by 50% per month and the firm expects to transact over GBP10 million ($12.82 million) per month; the firm's IFISA offering has been a factor supporting the firm's growth with 95% of the platform's investments made through IFISAs; the firm offers a variety of capital funding sources for businesses including loans as well as structured equity and debt based financing. Source
The new credit card features a built-in fingerprint scanner that replaces the use of a pin number; the card is currently being tested in South Africa with expansion planned to Europe and Asia and then globally by the end of the year; MasterCard has confidence in the biometric authentication and the firm's chief of security says it can offer customers additional convenience and security. Source
Ocwen Financial is currently managing enforcement orders from 22 state regulators regarding abuse of mortgage servicing; factors involved with the proceedings include illegal foreclosures, deceptive fees and mishandled customer home loan payments; shares of the publicly traded company have fallen approximately 50%; the enforcement orders prohibit the acquisition of new mortgage servicing rights and the origination of mortgage loans. Source
Billionaire investor Mike Novogratz has 10% of his money invested in bitcoin; the former hedge fund manager and Goldman Sachs partner began betting on the digital currency in 2013 and has benefited from its one year gain from $500 in 2016 to a current price of over $1,200; to manage some of the risk of bitcoin's price volatility Novogratz suggests sector diversification; he is an investor in cryptocurrency ether which has seen a price increase from $1 to over $48 and is also a proponent of blockchain. Source
MoneyLion's senior vice president of marketing and product Tim Hong talks about the firm's marketing efforts and customer focus; says the firm was founded on advancements in machine learning and artificial intelligence that help it to broaden credit access for customers; also reports that its balance sheet lending helps it to better align with customers; the firm provides a range of credit services for its customers that goes beyond loans; its offerings include credit monitoring services and programs that educate customers while also building a relationship with them that can facilitate credit issuance in the future. Source
Allianz has invested in Lemonade, an insurance startup powered by artificial intelligence and behavioral economics; Solmaz Altin, chief digital officer stated: "Allianz is committed to staying at the cutting edge of insurance. We follow the insurtech space closely and globally, and have seen nothing to match Lemonade in terms of technology, user experience and business model innovation. We're thrilled to become a stakeholder in Lemonade, and will do what we can to accelerate their rapid expansion throughout the US and beyond." Source
Chinese online consumer lender Yirendai has announced progression toward securitization of a portfolio of consumer loans; the firm has transferred an existing trust fund of RMB300 million ($43.6 million) used to fund loans on its platform to Bohai International Trust Co., Ltd., and the firm has completed the issuance of asset-backed securities in the amount of RMB300 million through private placements. Source
Boutique investment bank GP Bullhound has published a report on the fintech market identifying 39 global fintech unicorns valued at $1 billion or more and showing global venture capital investment into fintech at $13.6 billion in 2016; in its report the firm also identities a watch a list of 17 companies it expects to exceed $1 billion based on their growth, business models and market opportunity; numerous marketplace lenders are represented on the list including LendInvest, Prodigy Finance, ID Finance, Ebury and Kreditech. Source
Panel discusses how to determine the valuation of loans and in turn how to value funds which hold loans; over the last four years loan methodologies have changed from bank accounting (holding loans at par value and holding a reserve against expected losses) to using fair value; the most prevalent approach is a discounted cash flow analysis; this shift happened as more investors entered this space and funds got larger; James Wu of MonJa and John Schrader of Duff & Phelps dig into the details of fair value and how to comfort investors who are looking to invest in this space. Source