ApplePie Capital has built a dynamic marketplace lending platform with a range of high net worth and institutional investors focused on business lending for franchises; Lend Academy talks with ApplePie Capital CEO Denise Thomas in their podcast; the podcast provides in-depth details on platform loan terms for franchisees; Denise Thomas also gives insight into the small business franchise market and talks about recent capital investments for the platform. Source
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will hold a fintech forum focusing on blockchain and artificial intelligence on March 9, 2017; the forum will be the third fintech forum for the FTC; event will be free and open to the public at the University of California, Berkeley. Source
HouseCanary is working to provide better real estate property valuations through its fintech services; uses machine learning and algorithms to analyze data and identify home values; the company has reported a funding round with $33 million in new capital from investors including Eric Schmidt and Kobe Bryant. Source
New insurtech platform Ladder has launched, offering digital life insurance; the platform's life insurance product will be available to consumers in California; the company is marketing a faster, more efficient process for life insurance applications and coverage; its platform can approve customers in minutes for life insurance policies up to $8 million; it charges no annual policy fees and its policies are reinsured by Hannover Re US. Source
OneMain has rejected an unsolicited exchange offer from IEG Holdings; on January 6, 2017, IEG submitted an offer to buy shares of OneMain, a consumer finance company offering personal loans; IEG is an online consumer loan provider with stock trading on an over the counter market exchange; OneMain says the offer does not reflect the value of the company or the best interests of its shareholders. Source
Marketplace loans are attracting increased investment interest from all types of investors and specifically retail investors because of their low minimum investments and ease of access; Forbes outlines the industry's tools for platform diversification and aggregation in their article; featured platforms include NSR Invest, LendingRobot, BlueVestment and PeerCube. Source
The Marketplace Lending Association has announced the addition of 11 new members bringing its total membership to 14; the organization launched in April 2016 with three founding members: Lending Club, Prosper and Funding Circle; LendIt has joined the consortium as an associate member along with dv01; all together the expanded membership broadens the scope of representation within the industry and also helps to give the association a more powerful voice in Washington as marketplace lending regulations evolve in 2017. Source
State legislators have voiced opposition to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's (OCC) proposed fintech charter; primarily concerned with nationalized rules that would ease regulations currently in place by state governments and allow payday lenders to evade state rules established for consumer protection; senators have also opposed the national charters suggesting that federal regulators collaborate with state regulators; the OCC's comment period for the proposed fintech charter is open until January 15. Source
Online lending platform Marcus by Goldman Sachs is now open to all borrowers; the bank launched its lending platform in October 2016 for borrowers receiving an email code; like other marketplace lending platforms it offers low borrower interest rates; one of its leading advantages is that it offers no fees; Goldman Sachs will announce its fourth quarter earnings in January with insight expected on the new platform's business. Source
Commercial real estate marketplace lending platform Money 360 originated loans of $35.6 million in December; the bridge loans ranged from $2.5 million to $12.5 million with durations between one and two years; according to Founder and CEO Evan Gentry, the firm expects momentum to continue in 2017 with performance from the platform a factor of increased demand from borrowers and investors for commercial real estate financing. Source