Panel explores a diverse set of small business lenders based in Canada; topics covered include the differences of regulation, underwriting, and views on traditional banks between Canada and the rest of the world; Canada has five large banks which control a majority of the market which makes it hard to build a brand as an alternative lender; panelists answer how they can overcome this challenge and scale their business; they also share their thoughts on the current market opportunity and what the future holds for fintech companies in Canada. Source
The Association of Alternative Business Finance (AABF) has added three new alternative lenders to its membership; new members include Invoice Cycle, Merchant Money and Reward Finance Group; launched in February 2017 the AABF seeks to support UK alternative lending for small businesses. Source
Bond Street is partnering with NerdWallet to develop small business lending resources to educate small businesses on its loans; resources will include service from NerdWallet's Small Business Loan Tool as well as guides and webinars on marketplace lending and small business planning; with the partnership, Bond Street intends to more broadly market and service small business lenders with its loan offerings which range from $10,000 to $1 million. Source
Kabbage is reportedly considering an acquisition of small business online lender OnDeck; S&P Global analyzes a potential merger between the two firms which has high value deal prospects including combined 2016 SME loan originations of $3.82 billion, costs savings from similar balance sheet and securitization funding sources, and similar success in technology licensing partnerships, overall resulting in increased margins, earnings and more competitive terms to borrowers; the valuation metrics and negotiation factors are the main constraints to a potential deal; the minimum enterprise value reported by S&P Global is $291.7 million which is below its current market cap of $372.4 million and far below its original IPO valuation of $1.3 billion; key factors to watch for 2017 will be OnDeck's forecasted EBITDA and fundraising obtained by Kabbage. Source
MarketInvoice has appointed Shaun Alexander to head of risk; Alexander joins MarketInvoice from Santander and will be the firm's first head of risk directly overseeing the underwriting unit of the business; the new hire is another example of a fintech firm adding traditional banking risk oversight experience; MarketInvoice expects Alexander will help improve risk management for the firm by providing broader insight on sector risks and market risk factors. Source
Small business lender Kabbage has announced a new milestone with total lending originations of over $3 billion; firm has provided loans for over 100,000 small businesses; helping to reach the new high, the firm provided 20,000 loans in March and reports $1 billion in funding serviced in less than a year. Source
Through the partnership Zoho will offer Fundbox credit products to its customers in the US; Zoho is a cloud-based operating system for businesses; Zoho's customers rely on the system to manage their finances, invoices and working capital; with the Fundbox partnership, businesses can now easily connect with Fundbox for credit solutions to manage their cash flow planning. Source
Growth Street has appointed Greg Carter to CEO; Carter is a founder of the firm and has been the firm's chief risk officer since its launch; Carter will replace James Sherwin-Smith who has been CEO since the firm launched in 2015; Growth Street is a UK lender focused on SME business lending; it markets returns of up to 6.5% and provides a range of business lending products including working capital loans of up to 500,000 British pounds ($623,763); in 2016 it reported loan originations of approximately 54 million British pounds ($67.37 million). Source
Androscoggin Bank launched a new online lending platform for small businesses in January to better compete with the market's options for online small business loans; the firm's Fast Response Business Loans Platform was built in partnership with an undisclosed fintech firm and has processed half a dozen loan applications since its launch; its lending criteria is based on credit score, number of years in business and being based in Maine; its interest rates start at 6% and it currently offers credit lines of up to $10,000 and term loans of up to $100,000. Source
Firm has been providing working capital financing for small and medium size businesses (SME) for three years; reported working capital funding of approximately $200 million in 2016 and estimates total funding through 2017 to reach $700 million; firm primarily lends to retail, IT services, business services, media and entertainment, engineering and construction through its flexible working capital financing and Flex Credit product which offers revolving business credit lines of up to $100,000. Source