TearSheet put together 5 interesting charts helping to provide greater explanation to certain areas of fintech; the charts include where and how banks spend on innovation, Goldman Sachs job listing, ethical concerns in using AI, mobile wallet traction and the top reasons for borrower dissatisfaction; the charts helped to reveal that Goldman is working hard to become a technology company, mobile wallet traction is quite low and interest rates by online lenders is the second biggest reason for borrower dissatisfaction. Source.
According to Recode, Mike Cagney is back with a new startup and is pitching to investors such as Peter Thiel and others who backed SoFi; he is reportedly looking to raise around $25 million for the new company which may focus on HELOCs. Source
Peter Renton reviews his 2017 marketplace lending predictions and shares projections for 2018. Source
Startups like Propy, ShelterZoom and RealBlocks have begun letting people buy and sell real estate using the blockchain; Eric Piscini, principal, banking and technology consulting at Deloitte tells American Banker, “Maybe banks will be leaner because they won’t need to have as many people as they used to, to manage those processes.”; using blockchain technology can help to make the entire process of buying or selling real estate more efficient; banks will need to focus on other value added services outside of just lending and servicing; the power of blockchain technology is beginning to be felt all across the financial landscape. Source.
Codispoti originally joined JP Morgan Chase to create a credit card that would appeal to millennials; this led to the launch of the Sapphire Reserve; now Codispoti is focused on overseeing JPMorgan’s branches and how they can better serve millennials, which make up 61% of their new customers; the current vision includes advice centers similar to Apple’s Genius Bar. Source
Continuing their strategy of moving to balance sheet lending platforms the fund sold their entire holding in Prosper marketplace loans; the holding amounted to 4.1 percent of the company’s net asset value or NAV as of October 31st; the company also said they were able to reinvest all the process form the Prosper sale into balance sheet investments and have increased their balance sheet exposure to 79 percent of the fund. Source.
In 2017 the CFPB saw a ton of regulation and a battle for the successor to former director Richard Cordray; this coming year could be even more tumultuous as acting director Mick Mulvaney looks to undo many of the regulations Cordray put in place and the ensuing court battle over who is the rightful director; recent rule like the arbitration rule have been reversed and they payday lending regulation could be next to go; with a number of regulations in need or more clarity or a court decision the next 12 months could prove crucial for the future of the agency. Source.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Founders Fund has amasses hundreds of millions of dollars or bitcoin recently; the fund started with about $10mn to $15mn worth of bitcoin and has since seen that initial investment skyrocket; while many traditional wall street names have yet to buy into bitcoin the move by Mr. Thiel and his fund point to their confidence in the currency; during an interview in October Mr. Thiel was reported to say, “While I’m skeptical of most of them, I do think people are a little bit underestimating bitcoin, specifically, because it is like a reserve form of money.” Source.
An article in Tearsheet discusses how VCs are more interested in funding companies looking to improving legacy financial systems; Patricia Kemp, partner at Oak HC/FT responded to a comment about the prospects of consumer facing fintech in 2018 stating, “The largest category of successful fintech are the ones that are helping the banks get there.”; while there are still opportunities for new consumer solutions, it is just as important to innovate on back-end systems. Source
As banks look to reassess how to utilize their branch space, TearSheet took a close look at the Citizens Bank branch overhaul; the bank is looking to make the branch into digitally connected community centers; they are looking to reduce their branch footprint by 50 percent over the next decade and look to utilize the spaces they have better; less teller lines, more private meetings rooms and digital tools to help engage the different types of customers. Source.