The company shared information about their loan business in a broader update about the company; total lending was $3 billion since Amazon Lending started in 2011; an article by PYMNTS.com in June 2017 reported that the company had surpassed $1 billion in loans; in 2017 over 300,000 small and medium sized businesses joined Amazon Marketplace. Source
Kreditech, looking to launch in India, partnered with Mambu and their Software as a Service banking platform; Kreditechis planning to launch in India this year with their partner PayU, the payments provider; Alexander Graubner-Müller, CEO of Kreditech, tells Banking Technology that Mambu’s cloud-native solution “easily integrates into our architecture, allowing us to quickly scale and adapt to market and consumer demands”.; this will now be the sixth country the company is in and they plan to get it up and running in the first quarter of 2018. Source.
The new express branches are meant to help customers with routine transactions like withdrawals and deposits; customers looking for further advice or a loan would be able to connect via videoconference or go to a typical branch; they are looking to serve millennials in a more efficient way and allow them to access bankers and wealth managers through a digital experience using iPads; removing some of the human intensive areas of the bank and making it more self serve will cut down on costs and help to serve the younger, digital customers. Source.
Goldman Sachs continues to expand into consumer lending and plans to offer home improvement loans this month; the loans are non-secured personal loans with interest rates lower than credit cards but higher than HELOCs; the company believes the quick financing time will be attractive compared to a HELOC. Source
The CEO and Chairman of Laurel Road, formerly Darien Rowayton Bank (DRB), shares how he built a small community bank into a leader in student loan refinancing. Source
Investing startup M1 Finance decided in December that charging 25 to 40 basis points was not working, so it decided to allow users to use their platform for free; since shifting to the free model the company has seen more than $1mn a day come onto the platform; rival robo advisors like Betterment and Wealthfront think the move is an act of desperation, though both companies offer or have offered some version free services; CEO of M1 Brian Barnes tells Business Insider, “M1 is very limiting from a trading perspective but it is a phenomenal tool for building a portfolio for the investments you want." Source.
This past weekend p2p payments platform Zelle started a marketing push in 6 major US markets; Early Warning, Zelle’s owner, started the ads during last weekends NFL football games and has plans to further advertise during the Grammy Awards, the NBA All-Star Game and more upcoming events; while Zelle has past Venmo in volume the platform is not nearly as widely known and it isn’t entirely clear how many users they have because it is integrated with your banking app; the company also plans to do a push in print and digital ads over the coming months. Source.
Wells Fargo has seen customers become more adept at using digital and plans to accelerate their branch closure plans; the company is looking to close more than 800 branches by the end of 2020; “Our vision of satisfying our customers’ financial needs remains unchanged, but how we execute this vision has evolved; this evolution includes developing new ways to more efficiently serve our customers and create a better customer experience,” said CEO Tim Sloan on a conference call as reported by TearSheet; the closures are expected the save the bank about $4bn. Source.
In this week’s PeerIQ Industry Update they look at the record levels of consumer debt, some regulatory changes, new securitizations and give an update on recent hirings; consumer credit is now at an all time high surpassing $1tn, though per capita levels remain below peak; the Trump administration is looking to revise the Community Reinvestment Act rules to include small business loans; Marlette’s newest securitization, MFT 2018-1, consists of loans originated by Cross River bank for over $390mn and it has received ratings from Kroll; PeerIQ also announced the hiring of 6 new employees as the company continues to grow. Source.
Cumulative issuance for marketplace lending securitization now totals $28.2 billion across 106 deals; Q4 2017 issuance totaled $4.4 billion which was another record quarter; SoFi issued the largest consumer and student lending deals ever; PeerIQ shares other highlights in their quarterly report. Source