ReadyForZero has notified users that the site will shutdown on November 12; the platform was acquired in 2015 by Avant to provide debt management and credit monitoring services for consumers; Avant is a marketplace lender focused on personal loans; users were notified of the consumer finance website's closing by an email from ReadyForZero and Avant has not provided any further details on the closing. Source
Credible is a multi-lender focused on student loans; company announced the addition of the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA) to its platform which now includes six refinancing lenders; MEFA will provide student loan refinancing through its MEFA Education Refinancing Loan; the MEFA Education Refinancing Loan is available in all 50 states, has a minimum of $10,000 and includes both fixed and variable interest rate options with the majority of rates ranging from 3.31% to 6.85%. Source
StreetShares is a marketplace lender focused on lending and investing for veterans; company has announced partnership with JPMorgan to launch the StreetShares Foundation which will promote veteran-owned businesses through a $10,000 monthly contribution from JPMorgan for veteran small business awards; StreetShares will manage the monthly veteran small business awards with the $10,000 divided between first, second and third place businesses each month; awards will be given based on public voting. Source
American Banker speculates on what President-elect Donald Trump will do with the CFPB, which has enhanced consumer financial protections in recent years; Trump has not been definitive but rather generally against current levels of financial regulation; in October, the US Court of Appeals for DC found that the CFPB's director could be unilaterally replaced by the US President; the agency has until November 25 to appeal; if they should lose the appeal, the publication poses options for the incoming President of (a) pressuring current Director Cordray to resign then replacing him with someone who will drop the legal appeal, or (b) have Republican lawmakers in the next congressional session replace the single director oversight with a five-member commission and subject the CFPB to Congressional appropriations review. Source
FastPay is an online lender and credit provider for digital businesses in the US and UK; the company has partnered with Hitachi Capital America Corp. for a new FastPay for Enterprise product; the new product will provide working capital loans of $10 million or more to digital media enterprises. Source
Santander Consumer USA Holdings describes itself as a technology-driven consumer finance company; they focus on vehicle finance, and have been originating retail installment contracts since 1997; company announced originations for the quarter of $5.2 billion; "Fewer originations are in part due to our disciplined underwriting standards as we are committed to driving originations at the right price and structure, and in part due to increased competition in the prime space," said Jason Kulas, president and chief executive officer. Source
The financial markets were slightly surprised by the presidential outcome with Dow futures down approximately 250 points on Wednesday morning; uncertainty over some big changes specifically in financial services from Donald Trump will be a factor for markets and the industry going forward; in financial services Trump looks to deregulate the industry easing many of the controls implemented by Dodd-Frank; another factor for fintech will be Trump's position on net neutrality which could limit open source internet development; overall, speculators see increased volatility and uncertainty for the near-term. Source
Arbor Commercial Mortgage and its affiliates are private lenders for commercial and multi-family real estate as well as a REIT sponsor; they have launched the ArborCrowd real estate crowdfunding platform; their marketing emphasizes 30 years of experience in real estate, careful selection of sponsors, and individuals investing alongside institutional capital providers as well as the project sponsors themselves. Source
AdaPia D'Errico, a prominent executive and marketer in real estate crowdfunding, is departing Patch of Land; CEO Paul Deitch, who was recently brought into the company to help it mature and reorganize, bid D'Errico a fond farewell; she will continue to serve in an advisory role through 2017, while considering future options including other aspects of real estate; she is replaced by Robert Greenberg, who joined the company in August as a marketing consultant. Source
Lending Club's stock increased $0.76 for a 15% gain on Monday after reporting third quarter earnings that beat analysts' expectations; company also announced a new partnership with Credigy who will be investing up to $1.3 billion in Lending Club's loans; Lend Academy provides details on the company's earnings report in their article; highlights from the earnings report include revenue of $112.61 million, up from $102.4 million in the second quarter; earnings per share of -$0.04, up from -$0.09 in the second quarter; loan originations also increased with total third quarter volume of $1.97 billion, up from $1.96 billion in the second quarter however still significantly down from their high of $2.75 billion in the first quarter of 2016. Source