Zopa has announced it plans to apply for banking licenses; company will be the first alternative finance platform to seek licensing as a bank; CEO Jaidev Janardana wrote to clients on Wednesday with details on the company's plans; Zopa will seek to offer deposit accounts and new lending products; requires Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority licenses which the company expects to take 15 to 24 months. Source
Shanghai-based marketplace lender, Lufax, has announced it will be expanding its business into Hong Kong and Singapore; firm also announced plans in September for a Hong Kong-listed IPO which is expected to raise approximately $5 billion; company will leverage its relationship with Ping An for the expansion; funding for the expansion will also be supported by a $1.2 billion fundraise from earlier in the year. Source
In a press release this week, marketplace lender, SoFi, provided more details on its partnership with Protective and announced the launch of a new term life insurance offering for millennials; product provides life insurance for up to $1 million and features a 20 minute application and approval process. Source
Marketplace lender, LendingHome, has reached a new milestone; firm has funded over $750 million in mortgage loans since its launch in April 2014; claims to be the largest mortgage marketplace lender; firm attributes the rapid growth to a broader range of investors, now including retail investors, and the secured status of the real estate loans; Matt Humphrey, LendingHome CEO, shares additional thoughts in the included Q&A. Source
New regulations for peer-to-peer lending in Thailand are scheduled for approval by the end of the year; the new regulations will be formulated from an open comment, public hearing which ended on October 15; a licensing process is also expected to follow in 2017. Source
The partnership with Sino Guarantee will provide lending capital of RMB 500 million to China Rapid Finance also helping the marketplace lender to develop and offer lending products on wealth management platforms; Bank of Shanghai will also provide capital support as well as payment channels and fund custody services. Source
The People's Bank of China is reportedly ramping up efforts to create a digital currency that would coincide with their paper currency; the currency released by the People's Bank of China will be legal currency and make use of special encrypted technology; there has been an effort within the central bank to create a digital currency since 2014; problems related to the right technology and deployment of the currency have persisted. Source
The world's oldest central bank is now looking to the future; Riksbank is looking to issue a national digital currency as they have seen a 40% drop in use of notes and coins since 2009; they do not view the digital currency as a replacement for notes; the new currency would be viewed as complementary; challenges lie ahead as there is no blueprint for this; Cecilia Skingsley, deputy governor at the Riksbank, told the Financial Times, "This is as revolutionary as the paper note 300 years ago. What does it mean for monetary policy and financial stability? How do we design this: a rechargeable card, an app or another way?" Source
Wirecard is a German payments provider that has helped to set up the current boom in fintech and banking apps in Britain; Wirecard is seen as the infrastructure behind many fintech startups that have raised hundreds of millions of pounds in the UK; companies use Wirecard to sublet their banking license and because they are able to issue cards from Visa and Mastercard. Source
Ernst & Young announced its annual Fintech Asia 100 list at the Singapore FinTech Festival; Next Money, Ernst & Young and Visa all contributed to the list; statistics from the list reported 26% of the individuals were female, 38 entrepreneurs, 41 CEOs, 15 different markets, India with the most members on the list at 18, and Singapore, Hong Kong and mainland China with 15. Source
