Legion Capital, a venture capital and advisory firm, has launched a subsidiary called Stage 1 Funding, LLC; the new firm will look to address the demand for small business finance; Joseph B. Hilton of the Hilton Hotel Family will serve as President and they will focus on accounts receivable finance, equipment finance and venture debt or equity. Source
IRA Financial Group, a New York provider of retirement plan solutions, is offering a self-directed IRA for P2P loan investors; the firm has designed the IRA for P2P lending; loan investments in the self-directed IRA would be tax deferred. Source
Student loan marketplace lender, Earnest, has completed its fourth securitization; Goldman Sachs and Barclays were the lead arrangers; portfolio valued at $174.44 million; the October securitization is the fourth for the year with previous securitization deals in February, May and July. Source
Prosper is lowering rates for higher credit quality borrowers and increasing rates in the lower credit quality segments; borrowers with loan ratings AA through C will see a rate decrease of as much as 79 basis points while borrower ratings D through HR could see an increase of as much as 74 basis points; in total, across all ratings, rates will be lower by approximately 39 basis points; Prosper says the rate changes are a result of the credit market environment, interest rate expectations and competition for consumer loans. Source
Mastercard is the latest company to be added to OnStar Go, a cognitive mobility platform where drivers can browse stores and restaurants and purchase directly on their dashboard; get gas and pay for it without getting out of the car; after its launch in July, Masterpass is currently available in 33 markets, with plans to expand into 36 by the end of this year; the new dashboard will be deployed across two GM vehicles in the US by 2017; "The global momentum we're achieving with banks, merchants and consumers is proof-positive of our efforts to create simple and secure digital payment experiences anywhere consumers want to shop," said James Anderson, Executive Vice President of Digital Payment Products at Mastercard. Source
BBVA Compass and the Opportunity Finance Network are teaming up to identify and increase training for 25 leaders in community lending through an Opportunity Fellows Program; BBVA Compass is a leading banking franchise with 668 branches mainly in the US sunbelt; Opportunity Finance Network is an association of community development financial institutions (CDFIs); the chosen Fellows will receive six days of training through early 2017 on themes including financial innovation and financial inclusion; applications open mid-November 2016; cost is not specified but appears to be complimentary or highly-subsidized for the leaders given the opportunity to participate. Source
Republic Bank & Trust Co. launched a digital-only bank branded as MemoryBank, this would stand alone from Republic and would aim to offer simplified products; this digital bank is courting those in Generation X, as opposed to the millennial generation; according to Andrew Varga, Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer of Republic Bank & Trust Co., the new digital bank will allow for the regional bank to have a national footprint. Source
Sharestates is raising capital for a Series A funding round on SeedInvest; planning for potential investment of $3 million in preferred equity; Sharestates provides real estate investment opportunities and access to capital on its platform; has total loan originations of $178 million. Source
MPOWER Financing, which provides funding for international students attending US universities, secured $6 million in funding; the round was led by private equity firm, Zephyr Peacock India; the company will use the capital to enhance its technology and expand marketing efforts in emerging markets, especially India; in addition to providing loans the company also helps to build credit history of students and provides them with personal finance education to use in life after college. Source
Online auto insurance company, EverQuote, has raised $23 million in Series B funding; the funding is part of a pre-IPO plan to provide liquidity to its founders and employees; the firm will also use the funding to hire 120 employees focused on sales and data; plans also include directly selling insurance on the platform with the use of proprietary data from the firm's app, EverDrive. Source