Scott Sanborn took over as chief executive officer at Lending Club, facing the challenge of rebuilding confidence in an innovative business model that helped to introduce the concept of P2P lending to the US in 2006; bringing unique experiences from a career that began in advertising, Sanborn has been with Lending Club since 2010, beginning in a role as chief marketing officer for the firm; in the Q&A he provides details about the firm's strategy for evolving through challenging times and what the firm is doing to meet new goals for the future. Source
SoFi is becoming one of the US's largest and most comprehensive marketplace lenders. Since launching in 2011 they have originated over $15 billion in loans. They market themselves as a new kind of finance company and recently acquired Zenbanx, expanding their products to deposit accounts. SoFi also offers student loan refinancing, mortgage loans, personal loans, wealth management and life insurance.
In Lend Academy's recent podcast with SoFi, CEO Mike Cagney provides some insight on how the company might be valued on a per customer basis. Mike Cagney says larger banks are valued at approximately $10,000 to $100,000 per customer. SoFi currently expects to have 500,000 customers by the end of 2017 and 2 million customers in the next two to three years; at a value of $50,000 per SoFi customer, this would imply a $100 billion valuation. Source
SoFi has announced a new fund following a theme discussed at LendIt USA 2017; SoFi's new fund, the SoFi Prime Income Fund, will target family offices; it has raised $105 million from 33 investors each contributing a minimum of $500,000 and will include SoFi's unsecured student and personal loans; it adds to a Credit Opportunities Fund introduced last year; at LendIt USA 2017 panelists discussed new fund creation by platforms; the industry has begun to favor platform fund development over retail fund development; the complexity of marketplace loans and specifically their liquidity risks have kept them from widespread expansion in the retail fund management industry; challenges such as managing international currencies and using alternative leverage strategies are just a few of the retail fund risks for investment managers. Source
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has opened a comment period for information on alternative credit data. The CFPB issued the request for information (RFI) on February 16 and the comment period is open until May 19. Responses to the RFI can be found here.
The CFPB, established by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act and led by Director Richard Cordray, is interested in obtaining information on the currently available sources of alternative credit data in the market and alternative credit data underwriting models being used by fintech innovators.
The CFPB's RFI follows an increasingly emerging financial inclusion trend in fintech. The market has seen a number of new companies seeking to make credit more accessible for thin file borrowers. Meanwhile, innovation around alternative credit data is also surfacing. The CFPB seems to be taking an active role in this emerging trend and will likely publish a comprehensive report on its findings and perspective following the comment period. Source
GreenSky is the third most valuable fintech company in America; managed by David Zalik it provides a unique lending service with a business model scalable to diverse industries; currently focused on home remodeling contractors it offers fast approvals for borrowers with support by phone, website or mobile app; Forbes provides more details on David Zalik, the evolution of the business and its future aspirations. Source
Credit bureaus in the US have become integrated with fintech companies in different ways; Forbes talks with Alex Lintner about Experian's business initiatives and the solutions the company is providing for the fintech industry; Alex says the company is focused on digital technology solutions for credit data that help improve the loan application for consumers; Lintner also notes the availability of full file reporting which can meet the growing demand for alternative credit underwriting and the company's development of APIs for startup businesses. Source
Jilliene Helman won the LendIt Fintech Woman of the Year award at LendIt's first industry awards show and has led RealtyMogul since 2013 as the firm's founder; offering debt and equity real estate investments as well as a REIT, RealtyMogul is one of the most innovative real estate investing platforms that has evolved from the JOBS Act's new regulations for crowdfunded investments; Helman talks with Forbes about the firm's REIT investment, the experience of its management team, and how economies of scale and the firm's technology are helping the firm succeed. Source
LendingHome was founded in 2013 and is the second startup business founded by Matt Humphrey; the firm announced its new consumer loan mortgage product at LendIt USA 2017; since its initial launch, the business has originated over $1 billion in mortgage loans with a focus specifically on fix and flip property owners; the new product will expand the capabilities of the firm's technology by offering consumer mortgage loans to first time homebuyers; the product expansion is a natural extension of the business and talking with Forbes, Humphrey says it has been a part of the firm's plan since founding the company. Source
David Kimball became Prosper's CEO in 2016 after serving as CFO for the firm; in February the firm signed a deal with a consortium of investors committing a potential $5 billion in loan investments for the platform over the next two years; Kimball talks about the firm's business, his perspective on fintech and his experiences as CFO and CEO. Source