The CEO and founder of Blinker tells us how his company is disrupting the user car buying and selling experience. 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
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.
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.
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
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
The CFPB handles more than 84 thousand debt collection complaints in 2017; consumers also downloaded advice on settlement negotiations more than 800 thousand times; "From now on we will be working closely with the FTC to enforce the FDCPA while protecting the legal rights of all in a manner that is efficient, effective, and accountable,” acting Director Mulvaney said in a press release reported by American Banker; the CFPB and FTC filed more than 14 enforcement cases as a result of collections last year. Source.
Punjab National Bank in India recently was the victim of a fraud that cost the bank more than $2bn; some have argued that if the system in which the bank used was on the blockchain the fraud would not have happened or it would have been detected quickly; banks still operate on systems that don’t always connect or still involve a lot of paper; enlisting blockchain will help to make the process more efficient, transparent and safe; when this could be implemented is a different question as banks have started testing the new technology, it has yet to be widely adopted across the globe in banking. Source.
According to Bloomberg, Google is working on its own blockchain technology in their cloud business; the distributed ledger would allow third parties to post and verify transactions and will also offer a white-label product for companies; Google has also been active in acquiring and investing in startups according to the source. Source
Many consumers love the convenience of digital communication but still seek live human interaction. Source