"The Hourglass Effect" is a white paper written by Frank Rotman from QED Investors in 2015; it provides a historic look at the evolution of the marketplace lending industry and how its growth has coincided with the slowdown in traditional bank lending following the 2008 financial crisis; it outlines ten years of industry growth and includes in-depth details on the economy, marketplace lending and banks; Frank Rotman also presented the white paper in a recorded presentation at LendIt USA 2015. Source
Banks are coming under increasing pressure to update legacy systems and provide a more digitized experience to customers, automated bots are another tool beginning to be used; while most banks are still in pilot mode, some are beginning to have wider adoption as they have seen how technology in other areas of the bank have improved efficiency and experience; "The technology works and banks are starting to have more confidence in them," explained KPMG's Managing Director for Emerging Technology Risk Services Kiran Nagaraj, bots can help make interaction with customers more efficient and allow for high-volume, repetitive processes and tasks to be done a lot faster. Source
Bank service provider Misys is looking to bring an end to alternative lending by giving banks a solution that is similar to that of marketplace lenders; "There's clearly a demand for banks to take back that piece of the lending market," explained Misys Senior Product Officer Jean-Cedric Jollant in a discussion with PYMNTS; Misys believes this solution would give banks more lending options and they would no longer have to partner with an online lender; Jollant goes on to say that 90% of the online lending market will collapse and only the top names will survive a decade or two. Source
European banking profits are at risk from digitization according to a McKinsey report; the report, "A Brave New World for Global Banking", says European banks have $35 billion, or 31%, of profit at risk from digitization; fee-based products for traditional banks versus online banks is the main factor for profit; McKinsey says banks must enhance their business models, provide competitive digital tools and data analytic platforms; also suggests that banks partner with financial companies across the industry to reduce and share innovation costs; the McKinsey report also says banks will need to streamline their information technology structures and be more proactive in their regulatory strategies. Source
According to Reuters, the American Bankers Association (ABA) is soliciting a marketplace lending partner; the Association acts as a consultant for small banks with less than $250 million in assets and the partnership would help the ABA in its vendor consulting efforts for these small banks; small banks are one subset of the market that has expressed significant interest in online lending and online lending partnerships. Source
Robots have begun helping to take over menial tasks at banks and now there is talk that a full back office operation is not far away; "I think we're going to see it move from a few narrow functions to across the enterprise," said Alan McIntyre, the industry managing director for banking at Accenture; making these changes will help banks to cut costs and improve efficiency, at least when times get extremely busy; banks won't yet fully remove the human component but the trend is moving in the direction of more automation when running the back office. Source
Juzhen is developing new blockchain technology for banks that will focus on privacy, biometrics and access control; the firm is the largest China-based blockchain startup; it is working with the ChinaLedger blockchain consortium and has a thorough understanding of the Chinese market's infrastructure and banking culture. Source
Banks are integrating automation to help improve cost pressures yet competition from fintech companies continues to increase; professionals believe the market's fintech revolution will transform the industry and lead to greater automation, consolidation and fintech partnerships; banking automation appears to be one leading factor banks are focusing on as they analyze the market's competitive challenges; automation, blockchain and new technologies are all important topics being discussed at this year's World Economic Forum in Davos. Source
Technology developer Misys has created P2P lending software for banks allowing them to add another layer to their lending capabilities; the firm is marketing the software to banks as an alternative for traditional lending; the software can integrate with traditional banking technology and allows borrowers to be matched with individual or institutional lenders willing to fund their loans; could affect new structuring of banking partnerships; large partnerships to date have included Spanish banking group Banco Santander with US marketplace lender Kabbage and JPMorgan with OnDeck. Source