Trading cryptocurrencies has shown itself to be quite a lucrative business, at the same time the exchanges where trading occurs underscores how risky trading might be; exchanges can lack basics controls on know your customer (KYC), fraud prevention and more; there have also been a number of significant thefts or hacks where millions were lost; while the risk is real it has now slowed the market's growth as total value of all digital currencies has soared to over $140bn. Source.
Lending Club's chief technology officer, John MacIlwaine, has resigned and will pursue another opportunity; the firm will conduct a search for a new chief technology officer and has appointed the senior vice president for technology to oversee the business; MacIlwaine had been with Lending Club since 2012 and has extensive experience in executive management roles overseeing financial technology platforms. Source
The China Banking Regulatory Authority has mandated that all P2P lenders work with a custodian; a month after the requirement was announced, the majority of industry platforms have still not partnered with a custodian; most Chinese custodian banks do not offer P2P custodian services so the partnerships require added deliberation and communication; a number of new regulations are affecting the industry and it appears Chinese custodian banks will have a significant impact on the future of the industry given the online lenders they choose to partner with for P2P custodian services. Source
Since launching BankMobile as a digital only bank in 2015 Customers Bancorp has seen the venture have some success but not yet reach profitability; after a deal with Flagship Community Bank for BankMobile fell through they are now looking to spin the business off; American Banker interviewed Luvleen Sidhu, BankMobiles’ President, about the spinoff deal and the future of the firm; topics discussed include why they chose a spinoff strategy, the future of the leadership, profitability and potential future ventures. Source.
Dalian Wanda Group is a Chinese multinational conglomerate and the world's largest private property developer and owner; it is rumored that the Wanda Group may be interested in acquiring European bank ownership to build out its financial division; current financial businesses include an investment company and Aeon Life Insurance; speculators report the Wanda Group would face challenges acquiring a European bank due to regulatory constraints around banking industry involvement. Source
The recent regulatory crackdown on cryptocurrency markets, specifically in China, has dropped the worldwide market cap to $98.95bn; as recently as two weeks ago the market cap was up around $180bn; while the size of the market continues to fluctuate, it remains to be seen where prices will head when regulatory crackdowns pass. Source.
The Curo Group targets underbanked consumers through WageDayAdvance in the UK and Speedy Cash in the US; they went public on Wednesday at $14 a share and were up more than 2.4 percent in their first day of trading; the former head of the CFPB led a Industry crackdown on payday lenders but new leadership points to those restrictions being lifted; the company charges about $25 per $100 borrowed and are backed by private equity group Friedman Fleischer & Lowe. Source.
Generally banks have the customers but are working with an old tech infrastructure; conversely, fintechs have the new tech, but lack the customers; Tearsheet shares data on how much it costs for large banks and fintech companies to acquire customers and why partnerships often make sense; one personal finance app and lender that is reporting low cost of customer acquisition is MoneyLion; the cost to acquire a customer for them is $5 or less. Source
Leading global technology provider DH Corporation launched Total Lending™ Small Business to help improve the small business lending experience; this is a cloud based, mobile first application for banks and credit unions; "It's vitally important that banks embrace the kinds of technologies that will provide them with a competitive edge in todays' era of disruption," explained Duncan Hannay, president, global lending solutions, D+H. Source
Dan Loeb of Third Point is the latest hedge fund to invest in marketplace lending; the hedge fund manager has reported a 10% allocation to marketplace loans and says that he will be reducing his investment in structured credit and specifically residential mortgage backed securities to allocate to the fixed income alternative; Loeb says he is working with marketplace lenders on securitized portfolios and is excited about the investment opportunities available in the marketplace lending market; the firm also has a venture capital business, Third Point Ventures, which is invested in SoFi, Upstart and Swift Capital. Source