Funding Circle's, Samir Desai discussed his platform's business model at this week's Web Summit; Desai provided details on how his platform categorizes small business loans and makes credit approval assessments, noting that approximately 80% of businesses funded would likely be approved by traditional banks; also highlights the benefits of diversification for investors who can invest in multiple loans through a single platform; says 90% of investors are earning over 5% a year. Source
The financial markets were slightly surprised by the presidential outcome with Dow futures down approximately 250 points on Wednesday morning; uncertainty over some big changes specifically in financial services from Donald Trump will be a factor for markets and the industry going forward; in financial services Trump looks to deregulate the industry easing many of the controls implemented by Dodd-Frank; another factor for fintech will be Trump's position on net neutrality which could limit open source internet development; overall, speculators see increased volatility and uncertainty for the near-term. Source
UK millennial banking app, Loot, has raised $2.5 million from backers that include SpeedInvest and Global Founders Capital; Loot is an app for millennials to monitor spending and transactions; an account is setup using a photo, ID/passport and a UK address. Source
Arbor Commercial Mortgage and its affiliates are private lenders for commercial and multi-family real estate as well as a REIT sponsor; they have launched the ArborCrowd real estate crowdfunding platform; their marketing emphasizes 30 years of experience in real estate, careful selection of sponsors, and individuals investing alongside institutional capital providers as well as the project sponsors themselves. Source
Lending Club's stock increased $0.76 for a 15% gain on Monday after reporting third quarter earnings that beat analysts' expectations; company also announced a new partnership with Credigy who will be investing up to $1.3 billion in Lending Club's loans; Lend Academy provides details on the company's earnings report in their article; highlights from the earnings report include revenue of $112.61 million, up from $102.4 million in the second quarter; earnings per share of -$0.04, up from -$0.09 in the second quarter; loan originations also increased with total third quarter volume of $1.97 billion, up from $1.96 billion in the second quarter however still significantly down from their high of $2.75 billion in the first quarter of 2016. Source
Santander Consumer USA Holdings describes itself as a technology-driven consumer finance company; they focus on vehicle finance, and have been originating retail installment contracts since 1997; company announced originations for the quarter of $5.2 billion; "Fewer originations are in part due to our disciplined underwriting standards as we are committed to driving originations at the right price and structure, and in part due to increased competition in the prime space," said Jason Kulas, president and chief executive officer. Source
Folk2Folk has announced it will be using Microsoft Azure to support its loan management system; use of Microsoft Azure follows recent plans to significantly increase the firm's branch offices over the next two years; firm's business facilitates peer-to-peer lending through branch office locations. Source
Marketplace lender, Bitbond, has been an industry leader, providing the first global P2P lending platform for small businesses and now known as the world's first P2P lender allowing transactions with digital currency; Radoslav Albrecht, Bitbond's founder, sees digital currency, and specifically Bitcoin, as an opportunity to expand lending availability to borrowers and help returns for investors; Bitbond is able to offer digital currency transactions through its licensing from the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority which took three years and required in-depth investigation of the company's operations including their know your customer and anti-money laundering procedures. Source
AdaPia D'Errico, a prominent executive and marketer in real estate crowdfunding, is departing Patch of Land; CEO Paul Deitch, who was recently brought into the company to help it mature and reorganize, bid D'Errico a fond farewell; she will continue to serve in an advisory role through 2017, while considering future options including other aspects of real estate; she is replaced by Robert Greenberg, who joined the company in August as a marketing consultant. Source
A legal case initiated by the city of Miami, Florida has reached the Supreme Court; the case (a combination of two earlier cases) claims that banks, including Bank of America and Wells Fargo, are financially liable for a decade of targeting blacks, Latinos and other minorities for loans with risky terms, including prepayment penalties, negative amortization and no documentation; there is concern that the case may be delayed until the Supreme Court regains a tie-breaking ninth Justice, or result in a return to the lower courts. Source