Stripe, the most valuable fintech startup, has raised another $150 million and is now valued at $9.2 billion; the new round is being co-led by CapitalG, an investing arm of Alphabet Inc., and General Catalyst Partners; Sequoia Capital is also reported to be participating; Stripe is used by businesses to accept and track digital payments. Source
The Federal Reserve has announced it will hold an industry conference on financial innovation, titled, "Financial Innovation: Online Lending to Households and Small Businesses"; the event will take place on December 2 and will involve academics, industry participants and policymakers; discussions will focus on academic research and the evolving online lending industry. Source
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
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will appeal the court's unconstitutional ruling in the case of CFPB v. PHH in which PHH argued the CFPB's authoritative powers were too broad following enforcement actions that resulted in penalties primarily for referring consumers to mortgage insurers for compensation; the CFPB is requesting that the case be heard by all judges in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rather than a panel of only three judges which provided the October ruling; if the verdict in the case is unchanged, the president will still be able to replace the CFPB director at his discretion; it's likely that Director Cordray could be replaced by President-Elect Donald Trump given his plans for Dodd-Frank. Source
Overstock.com is utilizing blockchain for a blockchain security offering; the offering is part of its preferred stock capital raising which provides investors the option to invest through the company's blockchain technology using a URL; this offering has confirmed subscriptions with the post-trade process being managed on a shared, distributed ledger; since Overstock.com is a publicly traded company, all details of the subscription process have been documented with the SEC. Source
OnDeck has announced that it will be presenting at the J.P. Morgan 2016 Fintech & Specialty Finance Forum on November 30 in New York City; Noah Breslow, chief executive officer, and Howard Katzenberg, chief financial officer, will be the featured speakers; the event provides an opportunity for fintech and specialty finance companies to present on the competitive advantages of their firm for a range of corporate leaders, financial sponsors and institutional investors. Source
Online multi-lender, LendingTree, has acquired CompareCards, owned by Iron Horse Holdings; the acquisition will expand LendingTree's online credit card comparison offering also bringing new technology, issuer relationships and educational tools to the site; LendingTree's stock has gained 13.44% following the company's announcement. Source
PeerIQ's weekly newsletter provides insight from a week in Washington, D.C. beginning with the SEC's Fintech Forum on Monday, November 14; Ram Ahluwalia participated as a panelist providing an industry perspective on the "Capital Formation" panel; newsletter also provides details on potential terms from the OCC in their fintech charter and highlights three bills affecting fintech; PeerIQ also discusses the effect of capital and liquidity rules on asset-backed securities from banks. Source
The New York City-based company raised their Series A funding from WisdomTree Investments, Inc., who sees this opportunity as a strategic investment; the deal will set up WisdomTree's asset allocation models to be made available through AdvisorEngine's open architecture platform and WisdomTree will actively introduce the new platform to its distribution network; AdvisorEngine intends to use the funds for the continued development and expansion of its wealth management platform. Source
Trust Stamp, who focuses their business on identity authentication that leverages artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies, just raised a new round of funding from Second Century Ventures; the amount of the funding has yet to be disclosed; Trust Stamp uses artificial intelligence software to comb through public records and social media data to provide ID verification to real estate professionals who meet new clients; the new funding will help them to continue building out their technology and integrate blockchain into their processes. Source