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·Mar. 7, 2017

LendIt News is Now Live after Launching at LendIt USA

LendIt News has launched as a new media brand for LendIt; serving as a unique industry resource, it will provide up to date content and analysis on fintech industry news, giving LendIt followers daily insight on the industry's most important topics and trends; subscribers receive daily industry news emails and insight on global activity. Source

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News Roundup Online Lending

·Mar. 1, 2017

Jason Jones Talks with Forbes about LendIt

Jason talks with Forbes about his involvement in marketplace lending, the development of the first LendIt USA event in 2013 and much more; initially founded by Jones, Bo Brustkern and Peter Renton, LendIt started as a meetup and has grown to become the biggest show in lending and fintech in the US, Europe and China; this year's LendIt USA event will feature the market's leading online lenders, new tracks for fintech innovation and PitchIt at LendIt with eight finalists presenting before a panel of judges; LendIt hosts three events throughout the year with its next event in China. Source

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News Roundup Online Lending Real Estate USA

·Feb. 22, 2017

Brew Johnson a Featured Real Estate Speaker at LendIt USA 2017

PeerStreet is a platform founded by Brew Johnson? and Brett Crosby; initially launched to take advantage of inefficiencies in the real estate market, the platform has grown to service a wide range of accredited investors; the platform has originated over $200 million in real estate loans; it attributes its success to the platform's focus on short-term, first position lien loans, and a robust legal and compliance team; Brew Johnson will be speaking at LendIt USA 2017 on a panel discussing "Residential & Commercial Real Estate: What's next for real estate crowdfunding?" Source

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News Roundup Online Lending

·Feb. 3, 2017

Video: The Consumerization of Credit

Originators of all stripes are using machines in the underwriting process. Understanding the capabilities and how best to underwrite in a more automated way is something lenders are still working on.

At LendIt USA 2016 Douglas Merrill of Zest Finance discusses the credit and underwriting process and how consumers are really looking for an experience that automates the choice of loans for them based upon the existing data available.

Douglas believes that speed matters but nobody knows that it matters, when consumers come to the lender for a loan they are not looking for a loan but for life certainty. The loan is just a product, a seamless and improved experience is what the borrower wants.

We should be discussing loans in seconds and microseconds, not days or weeks. Machines can help to automate the process based on your existing data set and a borrower should not need to fill out a loan application. Computation, storage and bandwidth are free and infinite. The things we can do with data are exciting and seemingly endless.

The current underwriting has been stuck in the 70's. Data has enabled us to change underwriting and develop new types of products; machines can help to make this happen. Why do lenders make you apply for a loan? Lenders know enough about you to know what you should need and they don't need you to fill out an application at all.

An automated underwriting process and the amount of data available through traditional and nontraditional means will help to continue the advancement in credit. At LendIt USA 2017 we will be covering the latest innovations in credit and underwriting. Learn what is coming next from the top originators, credit bureaus and service providers.

Check out the full video here:

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Fintech News Roundup Regulation USA

·Jan. 27, 2017

Video: Fintech: A Policymaker’s Perspective

With the recent news from the OCC and a new administration in Washington, regulation of fintech is top of mind for everyone in the industry. The president of the San Francisco Fed, John C. Williams, joined us at LendIt USA 2016 to discuss fintech regulation in his keynote address.

He believes right now is a critically important time to have an open and honest dialogue about fintech and its role in the financial system. Fintech holds a lot of promise, it can help to improve efficiencies in the current system and can help the overall economy be more successful in achieving its fundamental goals.

The laws of innovation often mirror the laws of physics, for every great stride there is an equal and opposite risk. While he discussed the fact that innovation holds a lot of potential, the regulatory structure needs to asses the risks and ensure correct protections are in place.

Fintech companies are currently lowering costs, increasing access to the underbanked and helping to revitalize impoverished neighborhoods. One of his biggest points was even though fintech is looking to help the impoverished, it can actually hurt them the most as bad actors will prey upon the vulnerable.

Williams covers vigilance and a level playing field, looking at how the industry can help improve many different facets of the financial system but at the same time ensuring those in this burgeoning market do not pose a risk to the financial system. As he was beginning to wrap up his speech to allow for an interactive Q&A with the audience, Mr. Williams said he sees the potency of the possible in fintech.

Check out the full video here:

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Fintech News Roundup Online Lending

·Mar. 3, 2017

Lend Academy Article: LendIt PitchIt Finalists, Where are they now?

Lend Academy summarizes the activity of past LendIt PitchIt finalists in their article; a LendIt competition for startup businesses, PitchIt provides finalists the opportunity to present their business in front of a panel of judges and an audience of investors with the goal of receiving new venture capital funding for business growth; since 2015, PitchIt has helped support the success of the many finalists detailed in the Lend Academy article. Source

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News Roundup Online Lending

·Mar. 1, 2017

Video of the Week: Providing Access to Credit in Underserved Markets

The underserved or underbanked have always had a problem getting access to credit that is affordable. The panel at LendIt USA 2016 entitled, "Providing Access to Credit in Underserved Markets" explored the different types of thin file borrowers around the world.

Lenders first need to understand who they are looking to serve and be sure to define their market. Understanding the type of borrower you are looking to serve will allow you to better evaluate the limitations of the data you will receive from this borrower.

How do lenders look to serve borrowers with a thin file, no file or limited data set from the traditional credit bureaus? They look to compile alternative data to help them evaluate the different borrowers.

These non-traditional lenders will pull some traditional data, as well as alternative credit bureau data and proprietary data such as questionnaires they ask to these borrowers. Alternative data can be phone payment records, bank transaction analysis and social data.

These newer lenders are no longer constrained by technology; banks used to have about thirty variables to analyze a borrower, now companies can look at two or three times that amount and are no longer limited by legacy technology.

LendUp, ZestFinance, China Rapid Finance and Oportun all serve a different type of borrower, but they all extend credit to the non-prime, non-traditional borrower. Serving these types of borrowers has additional impacts as well, the more people that are able to access affordable credit the better it is for broader communities.

To learn more about the latest trends and technology in credit and underwriting please join us at LendIt USA 2017, where we will have a dedicated track covering the market.

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News Roundup Online Lending

·Feb. 6, 2017

The “Tech” in FinTech: Global Insights to Win the $4tn Local Market

LendFoundry provides insights on the global fintech market opportunity in their featured blog post; the firm launched its fintech lending operating system at LendIt USA 2016; provides marketplace lenders with a comprehensive solution for loan originations, marketing, acquisition, underwriting and servicing. Sponsored Blog Post

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News Roundup Online Lending USA

·Feb. 3, 2017

Video: A Look Back at PitchIt@LendIt 2016 with AutoFi

Last year at PitchIt@LendIt, AutoFi took home the top prize; in his pitch (34:00) Jonathan Palan, president and co-founder of AutoFi discusses AutoFi and the auto finance market; Jonathan previously spent six years at Lending Club and LendingHome; he shares that the auto market is a massive opportunity and is also a fragmented marketplace; consumers are beginning to go online to buy cars; 84% of new car purchases have financing and 68% of used cars have financing; AutoFi's thesis is that if car buying is going online then auto lending has to go online; they are a B2B software platform to help do just that; in a big vote of confidence for the company, they recently inked a deal with Ford to provide digital financing options to consumers; applications for PitchIt@LendIt 2017 close today.

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News Roundup Online Lending USA

·Jan. 24, 2017

Lend Academy Article: The Lend Academy/LendIt Response to the OCC

In December the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released its proposal for a fintech charter with an open comment period until January 15; the OCC has received numerous comments which can be found here; Lend Academy and LendIt submitted a response in favor of the fintech charter; their response outlines the difficulties online lenders have in complying with different rules in each of the 50 states; suggests nationalization of regulation would make platform operations more efficient and help the industry to broaden the benefits it can offer to financial inclusion and other nationwide initiatives. Source

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