The Sift app was designed to increase transparency in credit card spending and provide credit card users with detailed information on fees and alternatives; the app has the capability to analyze 90% of all issued credit cards in the US for hidden benefits, price adjustment refunds, extended warranties, return protection and more; the firm has announced a $1.5 million fundraising round with the launch of the app and has plans to increase its users and expand the app's offerings. Source
"Rocket Mortgage has forever changed the way people think about getting a mortgage," said Jay Farner, CEO of Quicken Loans; for 2016 Quicken Loans has reported record originations of $96 billion with $7 billion contributed by Rocket Mortgage which has been originating loans for 11 months; consumers have reported high demand for the Rocket Mortgage product which provides a much simpler process for homeowners by digitally verifying income, credit, assets and property valuations. Source
Harit Talwar discussed the new Goldman Sachs online lending platform, Marcus, and six ways the company is striving for a competitive edge in the market at LendIt USA; one of the platform's top marketing initiatives is direct mail marketing which Talwar say consumers are highly responsive to; the firm is also not charging any fees, allowing for one deferred payment and staffing its call center with human agents. Source
LendingHome will now offer an online mortgage product for consumers; LendingHome was launched in 2014 and has been funding short-term bridge and rental loans for property investors; the platform has funded over $1 billion in loans; features of the product include: an automated process, real time rates, loan guidance and real estate agent connectivity. Source
The US marketplace lending industry has matured with a number of self-regulating industry associations however the evolution of the industry and its integration into mainstream financial services has brought about increased regulatory attention which was one prominent topic for discussion at LendIt USA; HousingWire details the keynote speeches from Thomas Curry and Patrick McHenry also discussing insight from Amias Gerety; Richard Cordray from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was also a featured keynote speaker discussing government regulatory efforts pertaining to the industry. Source
Kabbage has announced the pricing of its first securitization of the year; the portfolio was valued at $525 million and includes small business loans; it is structured in four classes and has received ratings from Kroll Bond Rating Agency with the majority of the portfolio rated A; the deal is expected to close around March 20. Source
Experienced fintech expert, John Sculley talked about investment opportunities he sees in the market at LendIt USA; former president of Pepsi and former CEO at Apple, Sculley says he is interested in transformative opportunities; in the fintech sector, Sculley recently joined the board of directors at Lantern Credit after becoming an investor; Lantern Credit is positioned to provide transformative technology with machine-learning services for financial institutions that allows for a broader assessment of a borrower's creditworthiness. Source
PayPal CEO Dan Schulman is committed to helping support and promote financial inclusion by democratizing financial services and making banking activities more broadly available to everyone; the company is well positioned to support this initiative with more than six billion transactions occurring on its platform annually; Schulman provides some metrics around the benefits of digital transactions noting that the typical underserved population spends 10% of its disposable income on unnecessary fees and interest rates and with technology the cost of basic transactions can be lowered by as much as 80% to 90%.
PeerStreet has partnered with Betterment to provide increased access to its platform data for investors through the Betterment service; with the new partnership investors can now view their PeerStreet positions on the Betterment dashboard; the partnership is facilitated by data integration from Quovo. Source
Featured keynote speaker Richard Cordray from the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) discussed the Bureau's fintech initiatives at LendIt USA; a video of the presentation can be found here; in prepared remarks Cordray discussed the Bureau's focus on both providers and consumers with three areas of special interest including: consumer-friendly innovations, consumers' control over their personal financial data and the use of alternative sources of data for underwriting loans; recent fintech innovation activity from the CFPB has primarily been centered around its Project Catalyst; on February 16 the CFPB also issued a request for information on the uses of alternative credit data with an open comment period until May 19. Source