Money360 has reported another milestone in the nascent online lending commercial real estate market; the firm has originated $100 million in new commercial real estate loans in the past six months, doubling its total from August 2016; four recent loan closings for a total of $38 million helped the company reach its $200 million milestone; Money360 says it expects to exceed $500 million in loan transactions by the end of 2017. Source
The European Investment Fund (EIF) has pumped over $2 billion into venture capital funds and startups in the last four years; with the vote to leave the European Union, venture capitalists in the UK now fear that this important source of funding will disappear as the government looks to officially complete Brexit; the UK is not as fortunate as the US when it comes to endowments that allocate capital to funds, therefore the EIF has filled a much needed role; there currently is no plan to replace the EIF when the UK officially leaves, though lawmakers and lobbyists are looking to see if they can strike a deal to keep the flow of capital coming. Source
UK digital bank Starling Bank is now available to a broader set of users; still in a beta testing phase, the firm is now adding additional clients beyond just friends, family and product testers; as enhancements to the platform it recently announced its public API, which will allow for a product marketplace, and it has also partnered with TransferWise; Starling Bank will be offering its users full current account functionality with a contactless MasterCard debit card also including international payment services. Source
Creditas, a provider of online secured loans in Brazil, has raised $16 million from the asset-backed securitization market and will use the proceeds to fund auto loan refinancings; the firm partnered with Empirica Investimentos Gestao de Recursos Ltda to launch the securitized investment portfolio, FIDC Empirica Creditas Auto; Creditas seeks to capitalize on an auto loan refinancing market opportunity that has seen increased risk from higher defaults with decreased lending from traditional banks; Brazil reports secured personal credit accounts for 1% of the country's outstanding loans; Creditas plans to offer auto refinancing at monthly rates of 1.99% to 3.65% for an annual rate of approximately 37% which compares to bank rates annually of 120%. Source
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has published details on its fintech charter in a 16-page supplement to its existing OCC licensing manual; the fintech charter supplement addresses capital requirements, liquidity, financial inclusion plans, consumer protection and the application process; Lend Academy provides an analysis in their article; the release of the fintech charter will now be followed by an open comment period which ends on April 14; also noteworthy is that Thomas Curry's term as comptroller ends on April 9 however he can serve until a replacement is confirmed. Source
Yirendai released its Q4 2016 earnings after the closing bell on March 15; the Chinese online lender issued a US initial public offering of its stock in December 2015; Lend Academy provides an analysis of the company's Q4 2016 results in their article; the firm has been growing online loan originations by over 100% per year since 2013; mobile has been a significant factor for the company with 98.8% of online volume generated through Yirendai's mobile application and 85% of investors using the mobile application for investment; as a well-established firm, Yirendai is also benefiting from China's P2P regulatory focus and a higher quality portfolio of borrowers and lenders; the firm is expanding its product lines and also offering a new platform as a service product, the Yirendai Enabling Platform; it expects a similar pace of growth in 2017 with minimum projected loan originations of RMB 33 billion ($4.753 billion) compared to RMB 20.28 billion ($2.9 billion) in 2016 and minimum revenue of RMB 4.4 billion ($634 million) compared to RMB 3.2 billion ($466.4 million) in 2016. Source
Firm is currently launching a new C share to broaden its investment offering and increase assets under management which are currently at approximately 167 million British pounds ($206.25 million); this is one of the market's most recently launched closed end funds with a diversified portfolio of P2P business loans; in its initial launch it raised 150 million British pounds ($185.25 million); the fund has no management or performance fees and targets an annual total return of 8% to 9%. Source
Vista Equity Partners has announced the intended acquisition of DH Corporation which it will subsequently merge with Misys to create one of the world's largest global fintech leaders. Under terms of the proposed acquisition, Vista will acquire all of the firm's outstanding debt and the equity shares of DH Corporation which trade on the Toronto stock exchange. Vista will pay C$25.50 (USD$19.15) per share for a total value of approximately C$4.8 billion (USD$3.6 billion).
The influence of DH Corporation and Misys is likely to be substantial. This week DH Corporation launched Total Lending™ Small Business a digital solution for financial institutions that is intended to improve the online bank lending process and customer experience for small businesses. In January Misys also announced a crowdlending technology solution that provides financial institutions with a platform for offering P2P lending.
These developments combined with a greater interest in fintech partnerships by banks overall and the potential regulatory implications for increased US bank lending in general are likely to influence the market landscape. This week Marlette Funding announced a workforce reduction and OnDeck has also significantly reduced its workforce following its recent earnings announcement. While exponential growth opportunities still exist for fintech companies, cost efficiencies continue to remain a central driver of demand. As broader solutions develop across the industry, it's likely that cost structures and a focus on tighter profitability forecasts will become increasingly important in order to navigate the changes ahead. Source
Credy was founded in 2016 and has been gaining some ground in India's P2P lending market; the firm is emerging from the Y Combinator Winter 2017 program and seeks to capitalize on two factors supporting the growth of P2P in India: 1) the use of the Aadhaar ID system and 2) the country's demonetization which eliminated 85% of the country's currency and shifted the economy towards a focus on digital transactions; using digital IDs and a technology platform for underwriting and instant approvals will allow the firm to capitalize on a $50 billion personal lending market; the firm's average loan size varies from $500 to $1,000 with repayment terms up to nine months; led by former Goldman Sachs bankers, the P2P platform has already processed approximately $3 million in loans. Source
Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) has provided ratings and released more details on Marlette Funding's Marlette Funding Trust 2017-1 (MFT 2017-1) securitization; the transaction is valued at $257.44 million and includes consumer loans from Marlette; the portfolio includes three tranches rated A to BB; the majority of the loans are contained in tranche A which accounts for 80%. Source