California mortgage lender Opes Advisors is using proprietary software technology to help clients think more holistically about how buying a home fits into their financial plans; the company originates approximately $3 billion in mortgage loans per year and has built technology software that advises clients on comprehensive financial planning; also offering wealth management, the company provides comprehensive advisory services that are unique in the mortgage lending market. Source
The Fed made one increase to the federal funds rate in December 2016 and economic market activity appears to be improving with the election of President-Elect Donald Trump; Rohit Arora of Biz2Credit says the outlook is optimistic for small business owners in 2017; with only one rate increase, borrowing rates are still low for small business owners and lenders are approving a higher percentage of loans; Donald Trump's plans to alleviate some of the burdens from Dodd-Frank on banks is also likely to help approval rates for small business owners. Source
Insurtech firm Lemonade is expanding to 46 new states and the District of Columbia; launch in Washington, Wyoming and Mississippi will be delayed because of statutory wait times; firm will continue to focus on its main product which includes insurance for homeowners and renters. Source
Diwakar Choubey of MoneyLion speaks with Lend Academy in their last podcast of 2016; MoneyLion is an online lender also offering a financial wellness app; firm has received significant funding in 2016; MoneyLion launched in 2014 with an initial focus on a data decision services platform which later evolved into a full service lending platform; firm currently functions as a balance sheet lender but plans to expand to a hybrid approach in 2017. Source
LendingRobot is planning to offer its clients a new marketplace lending credit fund with blockchain automated fund reporting; algorithms will automate investors' fund preferences into one of four options based on risk tolerance and investment horizons; the fund offering will add to the company's current business which allows customers to invest in multiple loan platforms from a single account. Source
Lending Club is offering a bonus for IRA investors; Lend Academy provides details in their article; any investor who opens or adds to an IRA account with at least a $5,000 investment by April 30, 2017 will receive a bonus; bonuses range from $150 to $3,000 for investments from $5,000 to $100,000 and over. Source
Small business marketplace lender Bizfi.com has announced a new milestone; cumulative originations reached $2 billion in December; firm offers direct loans and provides a range of financing solutions for US small businesses including loans from alternative lenders and the Small Business Administration; platform has over 45 funding partners. Source
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
NSR Invest, which allows Lending Club and Prosper investors to analyze loan data and direct investments, has made Prosper's Q3 data available; users can now backtest the most recent Prosper loan data and view trends of older vintages yet to reach maturity; originations for Q3 2016 totaled $311 million. Source
Avant's new partnership with Regions bank is helping growth projections and business development plans for the firm in 2017; Avant says the Regions partnership which began in October is expected to generate 25% of the firm's loan volume in 2017; the partnership includes referrals from Regions for customers who are not approved for loans; the firm also has four other partnerships planned for 2017; it plans to hire 125 new employees and is targeting monthly loan volume for 2017 of $250 million; also says it's launching a credit card product in July; the credit card will be offered to customers not approved for loans on the platform. Source