Lend Academy provides insight on online lending performance trends in their article; details interest rate changes and trends from 2010 to present; from 2010 to 2014 returns were relatively stable; in 2015, Lending Club interest rates increased with the Fed's first rate increase in many years however the rate increases were primarily focused on the higher risk loans; capital market investors began slowing investment in 2015 and reduced investments even further after the resignation of Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche in May 2016; interest rates at Lending Club have been gradually rising since late 2015, specifically in the higher risk loans; rate increases were put in place to help to offset some degradation in performance; Lend Academy will explore recent vintage performance in part two. Source
According to new data bank branches in the US decreased by 1,700 over the last 12 months; this is the biggest decline on record; closings are concentrated in big cities and surrounding suburbs and is attributed to less foot traffic; other closures occurring in rural areas are due to some regional lenders leaving the area; the decrease in regional bank branches is something that has accelerated more recently compared to big banks beginning to close branches years ago; Capital One, SunTrust and Regions have closed 32%, 22% and 12% of their branches respectively from mid-2012 to mid-2017. Source
Mike Cagney was previously a co-founder of SoFi; after resigning last year he began work on a new startup which involves home improvement financing and HELOCs; the company is called Figure and is live at www.figure.com; according to the website, “Figure is a financial technology company with the mission of leveraging blockchain, AI and advanced analytics to unlock new access points for consumer credit products that can transform the financial lives of our customers. We provide home equity release solutions, including home equity lines of credit, home improvement loans and home buy-lease back offerings for retirement.” Source
In a statement defending allegations against its issuance of new bank charters, the FDIC reaffirmed its authority to review and approve applications for US businesses seeking deposit insurance from the FDIC; the criticism comes from the OCC as it continues to develop plans for its national fintech charter; in a podcast interview Friday with a Commodity Futures Trading Commission official, Keith Noreika criticized the FDIC's process for chartering banks, suggesting that the open process was too long and cost too much for requesting companies eventually leading to many withdrawn applications; Noreika also said the OCC has proposed a bill that would take away the FDIC's role in approving newly chartered entities for deposit insurance. Source
Content marketing has become a widely used trend among financial firms to build brand awareness about products; what most companies find is cutting through the noise is quite hard as most companies share content that can seem the same from the user perspective; some are trying different techniques like having users write content or testing different visuals; companies need to figure out the types of pieces that work best for their particular segment. Source.