PayKey, a mobile banking fintech, raised a $10mn series B round led by MizMaa; other investors include SBI Group, Digital Ventures, SixThirty, Fintech71 and The FinLab; the company plans to use the funds for global expansions and further product development; PayKey has a mobile banking keyboard that allows users to complete actions without opening the specific bank app. Source.
Clearbanc provides revenue-based financing to online businesses; a new program launched with Facebook will give Facebook’s 5 million merchants in Canada and the US access to $500,000 in financing; advertisers who have been working with Facebook for 6 months and have positive economics on ad spends will be able to apply through Clearbanc’s Chrged program and connect their Facebook Ad account. Source
Adam Ludwin responds to comments made by Jamie Dimon recently in a lengthy letter; explains his perspective on the market, breaks down his definition of cryptocurrencies and more. Source
Tezos raised $232 million in their initial coin offering; according to sources there is a dispute happening behind the scenes between the two founders (Arthur and Kathleen Breitman) and the president of a Swiss foundation (Johann Gevers); the two founders helped create the foundation to handle the ICO and to develop the Tezos network; the Breitmans made accusations of self-dealing, self-promotion and conflicts of interest against Gevers in a letter to other members of the board; Gevers refutes the claims made by the couple. Source
Banks speaking at the BankAI conference this week talked at length about what artificial intelligence means in consumer banking; “We have to keep up and we have to stay ahead,” said Diane Morais, president of consumer and commercial banking products at Ally Bank according to American Banker; the banks also talked through current use cases for AI and what the future might look like for banking. Source.
- Lendio Joins Innovative Lending Platform Association
- SoFi Launches Student Loan Refinancing for Medical Residents
- Chinese Search Giant Baidu Joins Hyperledger Blockchain Consortium
- First Associates Receives FCA Authorization to Service Loans in the United Kingdom
- Lendy has repaid £100m to investors this year
- Great Expectations - Improving the Loan Application Process for Small Business Borrowers (Fundera & Oliver Wyman
Consumer lending Platform Affirm is looking to move beyond lending and into the financial advice space; currently Affirm works with retails to offer consumers a credit option when making a purchase; they are exploring ways to help customers better understand their debt and offer a way to help them reduce interest payments; Affirm has lent over $1bn to date Source.
Shares of Qudian surged almost 48 percent on the first day of trading; the share offering raised about $900mn, making it the largest Chinese listing in the US this year; reaching as high as $35.45 the company ended the day at $29.86; Qudian extends loans to millennials and students for small ticket items like smartphones or concert tickets. Source.
Gabriella Kinder, head of alternative credit at NN Investment Partners, writes a piece in AltFi focusing on where the lending gap is since the end of the financial crisis; she explains that the lending gap has been reduced and alternative lending has opened up opportunities; while banks are in better shape they still face challenges on the digital front and credit has been increasing since the start of 2015; overall the gap has reduced and new opportunities have opened up as finance has become more diversified and digital in recent years. Source.
PayPal has helped to secure the ability for Venmo payments to be accepted at over 2 million retailers; users will be able to make purchases in store and online using the Venmo app; the move will help PayPal to get merchants interested in other products and allows them to begin monetizing Venmo; the strategy is another piece of good news for PayPal as just this week they surpasses Amex in market cap. Source.