Digital-only bank N26 has launched a new credit product for its customers as digital-only banks struggle for profits due to high operating costs; the new credit product will offer credit lines of up to 25,000 British pounds ($26,810) for 5 years with varying interest rates; the product launch occurs as many digital banks seek expanded offerings to offset some of the high costs associated with deposit accounts. Source
Congressman Patrick McHenry and Congressman Jeb Hensarling have both released comments supporting President Donald Trump's executive order on Dodd-Frank; the executive order on Dodd-Frank signed on Friday outlines core principles for regulating the United States financial system and asks the Treasury secretary and regulators to come up with a plan for replacing Dodd-Frank; Congressman Jeb Hensarling has proposed the Financial Choice Act to overhaul Dodd-Frank; if new policies are enacted it would ease lending requirements for banks making credit more available for consumers and small businesses from mainstream financial institutions. Source
Sofi has been leading the US fintech market with new products and record originations from its core student loan business; they recently acquired Zenbanx to offer deposit products; they are also expanding into nearly all aspects of financial services; Lend Academy talks with Mike Cagney in their podcast; Mike talks about their business model and how they are different from other top US lenders; also provides insight on their securitization funding and strategy. Source
New marketplace lending real estate platform Credit Peers has launched for investors with a minimum investment of 500 British pounds ($618.64); the firm is offering individual investors the opportunity to invest in commercial real estate properties; the platform elicits borrowers for commercial properties including multi-residential, office and retail buildings; it plans to focus on connecting individuals with investments in the commercial property market. Source
Specialist fund manager Fintex Capital has hired Alan Margolis to expand its business with a new real estate lending strategy; the firm is active in the marketplace lending sector working primarily with Auxmoney; the new real estate business will invest in short-term and medium-term loans from real estate lenders and platforms. Source
Short-term marketplace lender 4Finance has originated over 4 billion euros ($4.27 billion) in loans with 1.1 billion euros ($1.17 billion) in 2016; the firm is based in Latvia and was founded in 2008; it currently offers balance sheet lending activities in 17 countries. Source
Cloud Lending Solutions provides digital technology platform services for origination, underwriting, servicing and collections; in their featured blog post they provide insights on the use of regtech for online lending platforms; utilizing regtech solutions can significantly help internal controls, business processes and cost structures for online lenders while also helping to improve the overall borrower experience. Sponsored Blog Post
Many people don't realize the role that non-bank lenders play in the mortgage business; the below bar chart breaks down the top originators in Q2 2016; while traditional banks still are represented in the top 10 and Wells Fargo still leads by a wide margin, non-banks represented 63% of the total number of originations in the top 10; non-banks lead origination of mortgages which are insured by the Federal Housing Administration and the Veterans Administration; the graph shows the trend we have seen since 2009 of non-bank lenders increasing their share of the market; at LendIt we will feature a panel on the shifting mortgage origination landscape with companies such as Better Mortgage and loanDepot. Source
Credit China Fintech plans to expand its investments in peer-to-peer lending and payment companies; it invests in companies in the fintech industry and has recently invested in Ping An Securities Group Holdings Ltd. and blockchain technology firm BitFury Group Ltd.; recent investments have caused some scrutiny from short seller Anonymous Analytics which negatively affected the stock price in December 2016; the firm's stock price has regained its value since then with a current market capitalization of approximately $3 billion; over the past three years the firm has raised HK$4.3 billion ($554 million) and it plans to acquire at least one more company in the first quarter of 2017. Source
Fintech is helping to increase consumer spending in China as lenders provide increased access to capital; these lenders are becoming more integrated with merchants and providing point of sale credit options; Dumaio is one example of a fintech lender that has been successful by adapting to market demand; real estate fintech platforms are also emerging in the country with Shenzhen-based Touchouwang offering domestic real estate investment opportunities and Beijing-based Uoolu offering foreign real estate investments. Source