According to TechCrunch, scammers are using Zelle to take advantage of customers; a seller of a product who is attempting to defraud customers will ask a customer to pay using Zelle instead of PayPal; many users are not aware that Zelle does not provide some of the same buyer protections that PayPal has been known for; Zelle is more similar to Venmo for transferring money to those you trust. Source
In this week’s PeerIQ Industry Update they cover the recent rebound of equity markets after a volatile few weeks, regulatory news and a deep dive on fintech M&A; OnDeck announced they had reached GAAP profitability and it was reported that SoFi missed their internal targets; PeerIQ takes a deep dive on why banks should buy online lenders; some of the key reasons inclined ROE potential for the banks and to avoid potentially losing market share to big tech firms who might enter the space in the next few years. Source.
According to KPMG’s Pulse of Fintech report fintech investment increased for the third straight quarter to $5.8bn; the big driver behind this is banks continue to increase their investments and partnerships with fintech firms; “You’re seeing more partnerships because there is more interest on both sides in collaborating, and bringing two different sets of values to the table,” said Luis Valdich, managing director of venture investing at Citi Ventures, to American Banker; banks have been keen to focus on news technologies like artificial intelligence, advanced analytics tools and blockchain. Source.
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan says that the big bank point of view of Dodd-Frank is that the law is fine; he explained that none of the big banks are trying to touch the law and it has made the financial system safer; small banks have been pushing to roll back some of the regulations associated with Dodd-Frank because they feel it is too burdensome; the interview at the Economic Club of Washington also touches on fintech, blockchain and other bank related issues. Source.
Coinbase launched their Coinbase Commerce platform to allow merchants to accept digital currency; the service will be integrated into the merchant’s checkout or added as a payment option; the company is accepting merchants by having them email in to be added; this positions Coinbase well as Stripe no longer accepts payments and PayPal has been slow to adopt. Source.
BBVA and digital business account provider Azlo struck a partnership that focuses on freelancers; with the freelance worker trend increasing the bank is looking to position themselves to better serve the market; BBVA invested in and helped incubate the company through their New Digital Businesses unit; this is part of a wider trend at the bank to help innovation, both inside and outside the bank itself. Source.
Mastercard has launched their in house content studio to help broaden the institution’s brand; the idea is to make themselves look as if they are a tech company; they have hired a content team and have already started making Storylabs in series; the move is part of a wider trend in financial services as companies like JPMorgan Chase, WealthSImple and Acorns have all been producing content; they also recently started a podcast named “Fortune Favors the Bold” by journalist Ashley Ford. Source.
The partnership will allow community banks and other loan purchasers to access the online lending space; it will leverage the Cross River’s expertise in capital, technology and regulatory compliance with PeerIQ’s expertise in data analytics and risk management. Geoffrey Kott, head of finance and strategy at Cross River Bank stated, “PeerIQ’s risk management platform — with its leading loan-level analytics and monitoring capabilities, credit facility management toolkit, and full integration of TransUnion data — will both augment our internal capabilities and provide best-in-class loan-level monitoring tools for our clients and partners.”; Cross River Bank currently works with many big names in fintech, including more than 15 online lenders. Source
The CEO and Founder of FS Card talks about the challenges of creating a new credit card company for the underserved. Source
The LendIt team has combed through hundreds of applications to determine the finalists in 21 categories. Source