The franchise will be in Seattle’s Central Region; Lendio franchises help businesses understand their financing options and apply for loans; Lendio currently has partnerships with more than 75 lenders across SBA loans, startup loans, equipment loans and commercial real estate; Lendio surpassed $300 million through the platform last year. Source
American Banker shares several blockchain projects underway in financial services; Includes JPMorgan Chase’s open source ledger Quoram and initiatives from Northern Trust, ING and the DTCC; while there is a lot of interest in blockchain technology many initiatives aren’t in production; various perspectives are shared in the piece as to why adoption hasn’t taken off. Source
Banks have started to implement behavioral biometrics more and more as it is seamless for customers and helps to better detect fraud; behavioral biometrics firms like BioCatch has provided banks with the type of security they like, customers cannot see if but it also is harder for criminals to spoof; BioCatch reviews more than 5 billion transactions per month and has about 60 million users in their system; another reason banks love this type of security is the privacy regulations are not as strict, the data is not personally identifiable and is based on type of actions. Source.
Florida based Axiom Bank launched a new all digital account targeted at the unbanked; Axiom partnered with fintech company Malauzai to help design and launch their mobile app; "For many in our community, AxiomGo provides the first tangible banking experience that not only eliminates expensive fees, but also enables them to perform any banking transaction needed at any time of day,” says Ron Strand-Sorrell, the bank's chief operating officer, in a release reported by American Banker. Source.
The report is titled “Do Fintech Lenders Penetrate Areas That Are Underserved by Traditional Banks”; the report used account-level data from LendingClub and other US Banks with assets over $50 billion; according to the paper’s abstract: “We find that LendingClub’s consumer lending activities have penetrated areas that may be underserved by traditional banks, such as in highly concentrated markets and in areas that have fewer bank branches per capita. We also find that the portion of LendingClub loans increases in areas where the local economy is not performing well.” Source
The CEO and founder of Blinker tells us how his company is disrupting the user car buying and selling experience. Source
The Venture Capital industry has seen some early signs of positive change when it comes to gender discrimination and diversity; though some still believe there is no issue and that they cannot do anything to effect change; brave women like Ellen Pao and Susan Fowler have helped others to share their stories and men in power have been forced to leave and policies at firms have changed; you are starting to see VC’s hire more women and require companies they fund to show diversity among their executive ranks; there is still a ways to go for VC’s and Silicon Valley overall, though change is happening. Source.
Citigroup has shrunk its retail banking business over the years, but is now looking to become a national player; they plan to do this by expanding mobile app features to serve new customers wherever they live; the app will include banking, credit card, lending, investment tools and account aggregation; Citigroup has invested three years into their digital plans and also has plans for a roboadvisor within the app Source
In 2011 Regions Bank started studying their customers usage of social media and how that might effect the bank’s interaction and understanding of them; they found household revenue of customers active on social media was 60 percent higher and household deposits of social media users was 76 percent higher than non social users; the bank has a social strategy that focuses on increasing loyalty, delivering customer service but most importantly driving revenue; Tearsheet interviewed Melissa Musgrove, head of social media at Regions Bank, about how they have evolved since 2011 with their approach to social media; they also discussed challenges faced inside the bank, what drives revenue and what keeps Melissa up at night. Source.
Santander has teamed up with Ripple to bring to market the first international money transfer app by a large retail bank based on blockchain technology; the project does not yet have a launch date but Business Insider reports the companies said in the next few months; the app will allow for transfers to be settles within 24 hours and customers will be able to understand all costs before making a transfer. Source.