The platform currently works with approximately 1,000 brokers; source reports it is focusing its efforts on brokers using the platform regularly with a new master broker system for inactive intermediaries; Funding Circle is requiring brokers to make at least one introduction to the platform per quarter. Source
Data from KPMG's Q4 2016 The Pulse of Fintech report showed US fintech funding decreasing to $12.8 billion in 2016, down from $27 billion in 2015; deal flow was also lower with 489 deals in 2016, a decrease from 615 deals in 2015; globally, funding was lower at $25 billion versus $47 billion in 2015. Source
Scott Zoldi, chief analytics officer at FICO, discusses innovation in credit data, credit scoring and fraud protection; FICO has been using artificial intelligence for decades and the firm has over 130 patents; Scott has experience in theoretical physics and joined FICO in 1999 to focus on the use and development of data with a specific interest in machine learning; Scott talks about the company's standard credit scoring services and also the innovative solutions FICO has developed including the FICO XD score for financial inclusion and their fraud solution product, Falcon. Source
Renaud will kick off day two of LendIt Europe with a keynote speech discussing online lending 2.0 as well as the US online lending industry and its role within fintech overall; Laplanche is currently the CEO of newly founded US consumer lending platform Upgrade; the platform raised $60 million from a Series A fundraising and launched in April 2017. Source
Banking-as-a-service, banking-as-a-platform, platform-as-a-service, open banking and open application program interfaces (APIs) are all terms being used by fintech companies who are building innovative products for banks; the long term question is will the banks buy or partner with this technology and in a banking system like the US how wide will adoption need to be for the banking system as a whole to change; recent surveys by Cornerstone Advisors of 300 community banks, regional banks and credit union CEOs shows the current economic environment and presidential election has them very optimistic; when they are making money, they innovate less. Source
Legion Capital, a venture capital and advisory firm, has launched a subsidiary called Stage 1 Funding, LLC; the new firm will look to address the demand for small business finance; Joseph B. Hilton of the Hilton Hotel Family will serve as President and they will focus on accounts receivable finance, equipment finance and venture debt or equity. Source
CNBC talks with Eyal Lifshitz of Bluevine who says fallouts from public companies have affected valuation discussions noting that investors are more skeptical now after struggles from Lending Club and OnDeck; Lifshitz expects companies will drop out of the market and Schwark Satyavolu, general partner at Trinity Ventures, says the industry is likely to see more acquisitions and consolidation. Source
Wealth Migrate is claiming to be the first real estate online investing platform that has incorporated blockchain technology; the company focuses on cross-border real estate investing; blockchain is being applied to defining and recording smart contracts and a decentralized, unalterable record of investment transactions. Source
After a pilot study with ZestFinance to test alternative underwriting, the firm has now announced it will extend its model to more broadly consider alternative data for loan underwriting approvals; alternative loan data is being increasingly utilized across the financial services industry; Ford believes the new underwriting initiative could help improve sales for the firm which are down 4.3% year-to-date through July. Source
UK robo advisor Scalable has doubled its assets under management in the last three months to EUR 200 million ($213 million); this includes approximately 5,000 client portfolios with an average value of EUR 40,000 ($42,659); the firm says it continues to grow steadily adding EUR 1 million ($1.07 million) in assets under management per day; Scalable launched in the UK in the summer of 2016; it has since expanded to Germany and Austria and has reported significant growth from a partnership with Siemens Private Finance for employee investment plans. Source