SoFi has begun to acquire state life insurance licenses and is working with Protective Life Insurance Co. on a life insurance partnership; known for student loan refinancing, life insurance would add to the company's expanding product offerings which now include mortgage loans, personal loans and wealth management. Source
The Marketplace Lending Association was launched in April of 2016 and is one of the industry's leading advocacy groups; in September it hired Nat Hoopes to lead the Association and represent the industry in Washington, D.C.; Lend Academy interviews Nat Hoopes in their most recent podcast, providing details on his background in the industry, the evolvement of the MLA and his insight on the current regulatory developments affecting marketplace lending. Source
HSBC has moved 3000 members of its staff into a new building and are viewing this digital group differently than their core suit-and-tie employees; the bank believes separating them out will better help to fuel new innovative ideas; HSBC CEO Stuart Gulliver said, "To survive for 150 years we've had to evolve. Most of the risk we've dealt with is political. Actually what's happening in the digital space is there is a threat, particularly to retail banking... in payments, in wealth management." Source
Estonia-based marketplace lender, Bondora, has announced plans for a new business model and system design that will change the way the company services its borrowers and investors; the changes will involve a new system design for borrowers and investors; according to Bondora, splitting the business into two separate parts will allow for greater pricing efficiency and better reporting and analytics. Source
With improved labor market data and a better than expected third quarter GDP report on Friday, the Federal Reserve is expected to outline plans for a December rate hike at its November Federal Open Market Committee Meeting (FOMC) this week; economists are expecting verbiage similar to that used last October before the Fed's last rate increase, indicating the economy was on target to meet the FOMC's objectives. Source
Blockchain has the capability to help improve the insurance industry in a number of ways specifically lowering costs and helping to process claims; P2P insurance platforms are already taking advantage of blockchain's capabilities; Dynamis is one leading example, recently receiving a $2.6 million investment for their P2P insurance platform built on blockchain; according to TechCrunch other areas of the insurance market likely to utilize blockchain include parametric insurance and microinsurance. Source
10x Future Technologies, founded by former Barclays CEO Antony Jenkins, is developing a cloud-based core banking system that will allow banks to hold deposits and accounts; the company believes their technology will give banks better access and insights into clients' data; this new tailored access will allow the banks to offer products that will better fit their customers' needs. Source
Orchard's Weekly Online Lending Snapshot for the week of October 27 focuses on new marketplace lending securitizations and the snapshot's new tracking for recent securitization issuances; other key data points from the week include Yirendai leading publicly-traded marketplace lenders with a monthly stock gain of 12.52% and the UK Ranger Direct Lending Fund continuing to lead among UK listed funds with a monthly gain of 6.46%. Source
Reg. CF crowdfunding platform, Wefunder, is now accepting Bitcoin; Wefunder has taken the lead on Reg. CF crowdfunded investments accounting for 33 of 46 offerings; after numerous requests from its investors the platform has been able to incorporate Bitcoin investments; says the acceptance of Bitcoin will make it even easier to invest in early stage companies. Source