While speaking at American Banker’s Retail Banking conference Rilla Delorier, executive vice president and chief strategy officer at Umpqua Bank, said...
The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index decreased to 104.7 from 105.3 in March and fell below expectations of 104.8; small businesses were less optimistic about business growth as momentum from the Trump administration slowed; lower sales expectations and uncertainty were key factors for the March Small Business Optimism Index report which collected its data prior to the delayed Obamacare vote which many small business owners were watching closely. Source
Salt Lending has written a blog post sharing the immense amount of interest in their blockchain backed loans; since launching on December 28th, 2017 they have issued $23 million in loans yet there is still demand of over $1.3 billion; the company is working on scaling and automating processes, but is focusing on addressing existing demand before adding new members. Source
Bank of America Merrill Lynch has formed a partnership with quant hedge fund MANA Partners that will help the bank test algorithms to stay compliant with MiFID II in Europe; the testing environment allows for traders to see if algorithms are safe and how they affect other traders; the move is seen as part of a trend by banks to cut costs and get more efficient within their trading practices. Source.
Jared Hecht is the CEO and Co-Founder of Fundera, a comparison site for small business loans; like all companies in...
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has shifted back to a softer stance since the Trump administration took office; according to the New York Times the agency is using directives from the interim head to ease back regulations enacted during the Obama administration; the move is part of a wider push to set back financial regulations that some say have hurt banks in recent years. Source.
WSFS Financial is working with SoFi to offer the new accounts early next year; the bank will process payments and provide debit card sponsorship services for SoFi Money. Source
Content creators on social media platforms YouTube, Instagram and Twitch now have a credit card targeted just for them; the...
Aspiration has taken their marketing aim directly at some of the biggest banks by offering what they see is a better product and experience; “We’re not going after these banks for the sake of it, we’re talking about their actions and their approaches versus ours,” said CEO Andrei Cherny to TearSheet; the company does not charge ATM fees or monthly service fees and investments are done on pay what is fair basis; Aspiration is going beyond just the user experience by donating 10 percent of revenue to charity and focuses on whether customers spend at companies that are ethical and sustainable. Source.
American Banker sat down with Varo Money CEO Colin Walsh to talk about where the company stands in their quest...