Released at the Boao Forum for Asia this week, "The Report on Internet Finance 2017" details China's internet finance market, including its experience in mobile payments and online lending; discusses the opportunity for growth through e-commerce in Asia, specifically through the Belt and Road Initiative; highlights how mobile payments, peer-to-peer lending, online insurance and other internet finance businesses are evolving within the country's economy. Source
India's fintech market is growing with a number of socioeconomic factors driving innovation; in 2016 over $1.6 billion was invested in India's fintech industry; the CEO and founder of India's Rubique highlights three ways the Indian lending space is being disrupted, including insight on blockchain, marketplace lending and robo advisory services. Source
A recent report by Startupbootcamp and PwC points out that startup trends in 2016 moved towards artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning companies compared to blockchain; the data shows that 16% of applications to Startupbootcamp are from artificial intelligence and machine learning companies, whereas blockchain applications account for only 6%; blockchain was certainly a bigger buzzword in 2016 but one reason that AI and machine learning has more startups is because companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon have made significant investments in the technology; additionally, the report points out that as blockchain becomes more industrialized more startups will use the technology instead of being a blockchain startup. Source
Small business lender Kabbage is planning for a new equity fundraising, targeting a few hundred million dollars; sources say the lender is considering potential acquisitions including a buyout of OnDeck; Kabbage has reported a number of recent successes including a partnership with Banco Santander, expansion to Ireland and the industry's largest asset-backed securitization of small business loans. Source
The marketplace lender has extended the maturity of its credit facility with Deutsche Bank to March 2019; the revised terms also add an additional $52 million to the credit facility; in comments regarding the revised terms, Howard Katzenberg, chief financial officer of OnDeck said, "The closing of this transaction reflects a continued ability to execute our financing strategy for 2017, which includes extending debt maturities and creating additional funding capacity for future loan growth." Source
Business Insider provides data on the number of challenger banks by country; this week Carrefour Banque, a subsidiary of Carrefour, that also operates a multinational retailer, shared that they were launching a new current account under the name C-Zam; the retailer operates in 30 countries and has over 1,000 stores in France which puts them in a unique position to acquire customers; other players prevalent in the French market include BNP Paribas which launched Hello Bank in 2013 and ING Direct which launched in 2010; startups Qonto and N26 also operate in Europe. Source
Humaniq is a blockchain startup focused on financial inclusion; the company released an alpha version of their app; initial features include remittance payments and P2P lending as well as support for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ether; Humaniq also has their own tokens called HMQ; app includes biometric ID verification for unlocking and verifying transactions; user profiles are based on facial and voice recognition algorithms; according to CEO Alex Fork: "Our initial target audience is people in emerging economies, and many of them don't have email. By using biometric ID we make the signup process more inclusive for people with low literacy while also lowering opportunities for fraud. Each real person will only ever be able to create one account, and no one will ever be able to steal their account. For businesses, a network full of real people is a dream come true, for reasons that are self-evident." Source
Blockchain technology is being applied across a range of industries and the utilities sector is testing its use in a number of different ways; in utilities the use of a centralized ledger has many possibilities; industry professionals are testing the tracking of energy distribution and researching new ways of tracking solar and renewable energy; peer-to-peer energy tracking is also a new concept being tested with blockchain; trading flexibility is another area of research that could help improve industry efficiency; as these solutions evolve, industry standards are being developed to ensure consistent use and compliance and it seems that the large incumbent providers have the greatest advantage in developing new technology solutions. Source
According to a study done by the FDIC in 2015, about 25% of US households are underbanked, with about 8% being completely unbanked; according to the World Bank almost two billion people worldwide are still underbanked and access to the traditional banking system is minimal at best; the number is trending down as more fintech companies have arrived on the scene to offer financial products to these segments; these statistics have led a lot of companies to the conclusion that if you offer financial products via mobile devices these numbers will continue to trend downward. Source
In November 2016 the New York Fed reported on an increase in subprime auto loan delinquencies putting the sector on watch; a report from Fitch Ratings is now showing continued deterioration in the sector during the second half of 2016 and Mizuho is reporting subprime auto loan loss rates increased to 9.1% in January 2017 from 7.9% in January 2016; Fitch reports that 60+ day subprime auto delinquencies increased to nearly 6% in the fourth quarter of 2016. Source