According to the WSJ, SoFi is pulling back on its expansion to foreign markets and asset management; two executives, Peter Early and Arkadi Kuhlmann are leaving the firm as part of the shift in focus; they led asset management and banking respectively at SoFi; despite some of the challenges the company extended $3.52 billion in loans in the third quarter, up almost 80% from the same period last year. Source
A consensus over the upcoming bitcoin split was not reached and the plan was cancelled; the hope was for a new version that could handle double the number of transactions; upon hearing the news bitcoin’s value shot up to over $7,800; the current version can only handle about five transactions per second and to compete with names like PayPal and Visa that will need to change at some point in the future. Source.
Jay Clayton's statements suggest that firms using ICOs may need to register them with the SEC; he stated in a speech on Wednesday, "I have yet to see an ICO that doesn’t have a sufficient number of hallmarks of a security."; there have been more than 160 ICOs to date which have raised over $3 billion. Source
43 percent of borrowers applied for a mortgage digitally, up from 28 percent last year but satisfaction scores were down according to J.D. Power; Craig Martin, director of the mortgage practice at J.D. Power, said in a press release, "A critical element of satisfaction is setting expectations, and this tends to be a weakness of technology.”; Customers also rated non bank lenders higher than their banking counterparts as borrowers look to new lenders who provide a more seamless experience. Source.
Banks have started to push a lot more of their technology investment into mobile; banks like Capital Bank in North Carolina has seen a jump in mobile usage from 17 percent three years ago to 43 percent today; while most banks have a mobile app experience they do not offer all the features that are found online; while banks are making progress there is still significant innovation ahead. Source.
Peter Renton, Founder of Lend Academy was at the American Banker Digital Lending + Investing conference last week; Renton reflects on the discussion with the leaders of Marcus, shares the progress of the company thus far and his perspective on Goldman's venture. Source
A case study at the Harvard Business School was presented as part of the executive MBA program on the bank’s digital strategy; Goldman CFO Marty Chavez recently stated “Goldman is for risk what Google is for search”; the move to becoming a tech company is not easy as other areas of the bank do not see the same benefits; Goldman is clearly on the front edge of innovation in banking today. Source.
There has been a number of news items in recent weeks about how difficult it is for banks and fintech companies to work together; banks tend to be more intrusive and fintechs come with a significant culture shift; one thing has become clear and that is the benefits outweigh the hassle; banks and fintech companies benefit greatly from partnering and customers clearly when they do. Source.
Shares in the online lender have sunk almost 20 percent on news that they will lower their full year earnings forecast; the company also announced that they are limiting lending to lower grade borrowers as they continue to tighten their credit standards; while scandal has hurt the company, they have been tightening their credit standards for close to two years as they continue to adjust models. Source.
While giving a speech the acting head of the OCC stated that banks need more competition not less; he also commented on companies like Amazon or Apple becoming banks, Noreika states; “Laws that prevent companies with resources and means from becoming competitor banks only serve to protect existing big banks from would-be rivals”; as Crowdfund Insider reports the benefits of having big tech companies become banks could help to lower cost, increase access and help to serve those who might be left behind by traditional banks. Source.