A new study conducted by the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) and Core Innovation Capital found that the underserved banking customer paid $141 billion in fees while at the same time accounting for $1.6 trillion in economic activity; the underserved or underbanked are defined as the 67 million who do not use a bank account but use prepaid cards and other alternative finance options to handle their money; according to CFSI president and CEO Jennifer Tescher, the biggest driver behind the fees are auto insurance and subprime installment lending. Source
The love-child of Moneylion's Even aquisition, Engine, looks to create tools for even non-financial companies to embed personalized products.
Increased challenges have buffeted an already unstable SME lanscape - Is B2B BNPL a saving grace or could it ultimately worsen conditions?
Insurance and insurtech companies are seeking synergies in the industry as technology is evolving; at the Intelligent InsurTech Europe conference this week in London, industry participants discussed the many ways companies are partnering and developing new services; the industry conference revealed many large companies are investing in insurtech through incubators and direct investment; in-house innovation labs are also a prevalent trend occurring with large insurance companies; most large insurance companies are finding it important to partner and invest with insurtech companies in order to stay current with the industry’s evolving landscape. Source
The results of TransUnion’s new global credit study challenge industry perceptions and give direction to serving new-to-credit consumers.
Finnovista is a leading market advocate for fintech in Latin America and Spain; looking ahead to 2017 the organization thinks fintech will be important in promoting financial inclusion specifically with 40% of the fintech services in Latin America focused on unbanked and underbanked consumers and businesses; Finnovista's Fermin Bueno says Latin America has the ecosystem, venture capital and government support for fintech growth and financial inclusion improvements; Bueno also predicts growth in fintech will increase competition for traditional providers with 30% of traditional industry income at risk from fintech companies. Source
A new partnership between Republic and BankProv simplifies the escrow process for companies raising money on the platform.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a study analyzing the UK's mortgage industry; study will focus on the industry's tools for consumers and the partnerships among mortgage lenders; the FCA will specifically seek to identify ways to better utilize technological solutions within the industry; the FCA will be obtaining information from a range of market participants and plans to release the results of the study in an interim report in 2017 followed by a comment period and final report in 2018. Source
Steps are being made to close the gender divide in fintech, but lack of access to funding can be crippling to female-led firms.
I80 Group meets an essential but largely unmet need in fintech — scalable, non-dilutive capital, its founder and CIO Marc Helwani said.