Afterpay and Touchcorp are merging to form NewCo which will provide an advanced solution for merchant network installment payments; Afterpay has steadily grown its merchant network which pays a 4% fee for the installment service; Touchcorp will help provide advancements in payments technology for Afterpay and the integrated services will allow for broader expansion. Source
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently published their draft framework for a fintech regulatory sandbox; this will enable Indian...
Capital Float will partner with Amazon India to provide loans for e-sellers; Capital Float will provide the loans through a credit facility called Pay Later which it is already using with e-commerce clients PayTM, Snapdeal and Shopclues; with the Pay Later solution, Capital Float is well positioned to service a fast growing e-commerce market which is expected to grow revenues from $30 billion in 2016 to $120 billion in 2020. Source
Amazon India is integrating its first small business lender via API into the Amazon Lending marketplace; India’s Flexiloans will allow...
Japanese bank Nomura has taken a 22 percent stake in AI startup Aim2 to apply the technology to financial markets;...
A WeBank employee wrote a post in WeChat Moment, announcing that the loan amount of Weilidai (WeBank's micro loan product) is over RMB100 billion ($14.92 billion); Weilidai's loan amount has increased almost 300% over the past seven months; according to its financial results, WeBank lost RMB583 million ($86.97 million) in the first year (2015); but in 2016, it made a profit of RMB401 million ($59.82 million); in the first four months of 2017, WeBank made a profit of RMB500 million ($74.59 million); in terms of product, WeBank has launched an enterprise-grade product, "Weiyedai"; Weiyedai provides unsecured loans of up to RMB3 million ($447,507) to enterprises, with annual percentage rates ranging from 10.95% to 16.43%. Source (Chinese)
OpenTap has begun to offer marketplace loans in India targeting low to middle income consumers; company seeks to meet the market demand for borrowers who are creditworthy yet don't qualify for traditional loans; estimates the target market for low to middle income consumers at 12,000; loans will be available for up to Rs 50,000 ($730); average loan size has been approximately Rs 25,000 ($365). Source
P2P loan originations for Chinese online lender Dianrong more than doubled from 2015 to 2016; the platform reported 2016 originations of 16.2 billion yuan ($2.3 billion) and the firm plans to continue growing its market share as regulations help the success of established P2P lending firms in China; Dianrong's co-founder and co-CEO, Kevin Guo, talked with Reuters about the firm's growth and China's evolving market; says smaller firms will have difficulty staying in business and that Dianrong plans to grow significantly in the near-term with a new funding round and the goal to grow loan originations by 50% annually over the next three to five years. Source
Sources have reported that Zhongan is no longer considering an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong or the US due to a shifting market perspective; international interest and competitive pressures are cited as the main factors for the change in the IPO strategy; the insurance company was planning for an IPO in Hong Kong or the US sometime in the first few months of 2017; the China listing will likely delay the offering and the firm has not disclosed its new timing. Source
Yirendai launched a new open technology platform at LendIt USA called Yirendai Enabling Platform; the platform will provide solutions for data acquisition, anti-fraud technology and customer acquisition; it is primarily targeted for Chinese marketplace lenders; its capabilities are expected to help marketplace lending companies improve customer experience, increase efficiency, lower costs and mitigate fraud. Source