While fintech companies have focused on speeding up the lending process to small businesses, the IRS's continued use of fax machines continues to slow down the lending process when borrowing from traditional institutions; in an article from American Banker, the cumbersome process of getting a tax transcript from the IRS is outlined; when customers need capital on short notice they are often left with higher financing costs; Representative Patrick McHenry recently introduced the IRS Data Verification Modernization Act that aims to provide near-real-time communication of information which may level the playing field across lenders. Source
Fintech companies have found it increasingly hard to work with tier one banks; while most talk openly in private some companies have begun talking publicly about the frustrations; issues the commonly deal with include sense of entitlement, questions about intellectual property, failure to pay and long lead times. Source.
JPMorgan Chase ran a pilot last year which offered bonus rewards to customers of their Sapphire credit cards if they closed a mortgage; JPMorgan experienced significant demand from the pilot with homes purchased doubling for those who owned the Sapphire cards; the bank is now expanding the promotion to other credit cards they offer; Business Insider shares more on JPMorgan’s market opportunity and the millennial demographic. Source
Fintech startup Earnest has expanded their product offering to in school loan offerings; David Green, Chief Product Officer, Earnest tells...
Parasail Health has built a lending platform to support loans for healthcare expenses; firm has partnered with healthcare companies to provide alternative payment options for healthcare needs; Parasail currently has contracts with over 700 providers and has built integration capabilities for approximately 15 channel partners; offers loans and simplified payment processing for a range of healthcare expenses. Source
The Small Business Administration has been using a system known as E-Tran which was never intended to handle the volume...
The new unit at the SEC was started in September to focus on potential illegal activities in the digital currency market; the ICO that was shut down promised returns of 1,000 percent; the SEC filed charges against Dominic Lacroix who they claim was trying to raise $15mn from thousands of investors. Source.
The New York Stock Exchange, operated by Intercontinental Exchange, has decided to go all digital and close the trading floor...
JPMorgan Chase and the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) announced their 4th annual Financial Solutions Challenge to help improve the financial health of underserved communities; for the first time the competition will focus on entrepreneurs of color, women and individuals with disabilities; "The FinLab believes that diversity among leaders and teams also leads to more inclusive products and services with the potential to scale to millions of customers,” explained the press release that accompanied the announcement. Source.
Small banks are unable to put endless resources into projects to test new technologies and must be more strategic in...