As a thirty year veteran of consumer lending, loanDepot CEO Anthony Hsieh has seen his share of transformative changes; his keynote at LendIt USA 2017 focused on the modern version of consumer lending and how online lenders are only just scratching the surface; while originations have grown each year loanDepot still only accounts for about two percent market share as the second largest non bank consumer lender; he believes online lending is still in the bottom of the first or top of the second inning; non bank mortgage lenders now account for five of the top ten originators, a few years ago only two non bank lenders cracked the top ten; regulations, capital markets and technology have all contributed to the market changing since the crisis of 2008; he also talks about the future of the customer experience and their continued investment in technology. Source
AutoFi has raised $10 million from a Series A fundraising and has plans to expand its auto lending technology services; the platform currently allows auto dealers to sell cars online, connecting buyers with lenders; it will add vehicle leasing options for customers; it is also expanding its services to Canada through a new partnership with Tricor Automotive Group. Source
Global fraud prevention and identity verification startup Emailage raised $10 million in growth funding; the round included Anthos Capital, with participation from Radian Capital, Wipro Ventures, Mucker Capital and Tallwave Capital; they are looking to increase existing partnerships and accelerate growth in North America, Europe and Latin America markets; the company provides real-time risk intelligence by leveraging the email address as a unique global identifier. Source
Fluid received the LangDi PitchIt Fintech Choice Award; competing as one of eight finalists in the LangDi PitchIt competition, the company was recognized for its development of an innovative credit product for college students; Fluid provides college students with interest free loans of up to $500 and is supported by adtech revenue. Source
Clarity Services reports on details of its new Clear Bank Debit™ product in a blog post; product allows underwriters to confirm a consumer's banking status and utilize banking account transaction details for alternative credit underwriting; according to Clarity Services, the view provided by Clear Bank Debit™ can help lenders better understand risk. Source
Only a few months ago Mark Cuban was criticizing cryptocurrencies as a bubble, he is now backing a new fund; Runa Capital principal Nick Tomaino founded the fund 1confirmation, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission; "I think Nick is one of the sharpest minds in the space, and I'm a big believer that there will be transformational apps built on blockchain," Cuban told CoinDesk; the recent change in opinion by Cuban points to a trend from Wall Street that shows more traditional finance players accepting the value of cryptocurrencies; the fund will make $100,000 to $500,000 investments and focus exclusively on cryptocurrency assets. Source
The accelerator is being launched by the founder of venture capital firm Boldstart Ventures, Ed Sim, and is the first accelerator dedicated to the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain; Sim tells CoinDesk: "We feel like there's a tremendous amount of corporates working and using Hyperledger Fabric, but there aren't as many startups working in that area. We'd like to bridge the gap."; the program, will last eight weeks helping companies to build with the open-source code and they will receive an undisclosed amount to help them along the way. Source
Steve McLaughlin has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to M&A in fintech, having advised on many deals in the space; he founded his firm FT Partners when he was 32 years old; according to data from KPMG, M&A was down in 2016 by 68% compared to 2015; McLaughlin shares his thoughts on what has contributed to the decline and where the industry is going from here; believes that the ability for companies to raise financing rounds has contributed to the lower amount of M&A deals; many companies in fintech are also fairly young when it comes to the earnings which makes M&A not as attractive to banks; McLaughlin also talks about the deals that have occurred in fintech and the sectors that are hot in 2017. Source
The company says it is recommitting to being a technology company and refocusing on product development; the recommitment will cause less of a focus on customer growth which it has been emphasizing following its new relationship with partner bank Compass; it plans to return to its original mission of being a technology company focused on product development for its customers; the company already offers a number of innovative tech solutions including a checking account product that allows customers to itemize savings for specific goals; the new focus has resulted in the termination of five executives and a 10% reduction in staff. Source
As online financial services expand, marketers are seeking new ways to get in front of their customers; Facebook Messenger chatbots are one example and TD Ameritrade is taking full advantage of this source; it has launched a Facebook Messenger chatbot that gives customers instant updates on their portfolios and trades; the firm has worked through a number of security and encryption issues and is now offering one of the industry's leading Facebook Messenger chatbot services. Source