A recent study by Harvard Business School looked into the contribution of marketplace lending on the overall lending market; while companies like Lending Club and Prosper have improved consumer access to affordable loans the study also discussed whether these types of platforms are too transparent; this transparency according to the study gives large investors who leverage the availability of data an advantage in buying loans resulting in an uneven playing field. Source
DoorDash is looking to aggressively expand their recruitment for new drivers and recently struck a partnership with fintech Acorns; DoorDash...
Lightning Labs announced it had raised $2.5 million and at the same time released a beta version of their technology; one of the criticisms of bitcoin is that it can handle a limited number of transactions per second; some believe that bitcoin should increase its block size to process more transactions; Lightning Labs is working on the Lightning Network to add another layer of transactions to sit on top of the blockchain network which would allow for more transactions to take place. Source
In an effort to increase security banks have started to move to the internet domain dot-bank; the switch has not been widely adopted but those who have done it say the investment is worth it; “Anybody can have dot-net or dot-com,” said J. Marty Filogamo, SVP and marketing manager of Farmers & Merchants State Bank. “Not everyone can have dot-bank.”; this is part of a wider trend in banking as more banks look to increase digital products and security. Source.
DreamFunded is launching new offerings under Reg CF; real estate investments on the platform will now be available for any investor; its first Reg CF offering is a fix and flip real estate loan secured by a first mortgage with a minimum investment of $500; the loan is offering 10% interest paid monthly. Source
Writing an opinion piece on CoinDesk the Managing Director and CTO of the DTCC Rob Palatnick explores the progress of blockchain technology in finance; he says that while we are still in early days of implementation the industry has learned how important collaboration is to mitigate risk, enhance efficiencies and drive down cost; working together will help to avoid the many silos that exist today and allow for blockchain technology to reach its potential; he also looks at some of the recent consortiums and the work the DTCC has done so far in the space. Source.
Forbes interviews Perry Rahbar, CEO of DV01 on his previous experience at Bear Stearns during the mortgage crisis and how that brought him to start his new firm; DV01 provides insight and transparency to portfolios of marketplace lending loans; DV01 has also been asked to participate in Lending Club's securitizations; according to Rahbar, "DV01 helps people get a transparent view of what's going on, what's causing problems and what's performing well. Historically, you couldn't do this in an easy fashion." Source
dv01 shared they have raised a $15 million Series B round led by Pivot Investment Partners and included George Soros’s...
dv01 provides insight on marketplace lending originations with data from Lending Club, SoFi, Marlette and Prosper; shows 2Q17 originations increasing 21% from 1Q17 and up 52% from 2Q16 with average loan coupons increasing to 14.31%; average FICO has increased from 703 to 711 as firms tighten their credit underwriting. Source
We are all aware that the coronavirus is having a dramatic impact on consumers as over 30 million people are...