On Wednesday, the governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, said that fintech could signal an end to the traditional bank model; this could also increase herding risks, adding "As those risks emerge, authorities can be expected to pursue a more intense focus on the regulatory perimeter, more dynamic settings of prudential requirements, a broader commitment to resolution regimes, and a more disciplined management of operational and cyber risks."; Mark Carney is also chairman of the Financial Stability Board which will report to the G20 in July on risks and rewards in fintech. Source
Funding Circle has revised its credit underwriting model for its secured property loans offered to SMEs; the new credit underwriting model has been adjusted based on three years of secured property loan data from the platform; the new secured property loan underwriting model will increase rates for certain secured property loans and also expand the firm's secured property loan risk bands beyond A+ and A. Source
Investors in the UK are anxious for new innovative finance individual savings account (IFISA) options with P2P lenders as the new tax year begins; the IFISAs were launched for P2P investing nine months ago however limited options still remain due to the authorizations given by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA); it is expected that the largest providers, Zopa, Funding Circle, Ratesetter and LendInvest, will receive authorization however it has not been granted yet from the FCA; platforms currently offering IFISAs include Abundance, CrowdStacker and Crowd2Fund; Folk2Folk is currently the largest lender authorized with plans for also launching an IFISA. Source
Online lender Welendus has announced a Seedrs campaign with targeted fundraising of 300,000 British pounds ($375,060); firm provides short term financing options at affordable rates; plans to launch in the first quarter of 2017. Source
Luxury assets lender Borro has raised 5.6 million British pounds ($6.93 million) in new equity capital; firm received Financial Conduct Authority authorization in 2016 and reported business growth of 30%; the funding will help support the firm's balance sheet lending; since 2011, firm has lent 230 million British pounds ($286 million). Source
The UK's oldest and biggest online lender will be cutting rates by 0.2% across all accounts for the third time in the last five months; Chief Product Officer Andrew Lawson told investors via email that since competitors have been cutting rates they also needed to continue their rate cuts and they could also see this trend continuing; left with a choice of cutting rates or lending to a risky borrower, Zopa opted to cut rates and keep their lending practices static. Source
LandlordInvest has launched the UK's first secured property P2P lending innovative finance individual savings account (IFISA); the firm offers 5% to 12% returns on its loans and investors can now invest tax free with the IFISA; platform investments include bridge loans and term loans for buy-to-rent landlords; most of the firm's loans are for amounts ranging from 30,000 British pounds ($37,895) to 750,000 British pounds ($947,363) with a payoff term of five years; process for offering the IFISA took less than two months with approval obtained by HM Revenue and Customs shortly after the firm's Financial Conduct Authority approval in December. Source
Crowdfund Insider talked with Zopa about 2016 and 2017; the firm had a successful year in 2016 despite the industry's challenges; highlights from the year included lending over 680 million British pounds ($855.02 million) to nearly 100,000 customers, becoming profitable, securitizing its first loan portfolio and announcing plans to launch a bank; in 2017 the firm plans to build on its success while also beginning plans for launching a bank with deposit accounts and overdraft alternatives by 2018; in its core business products, Zopa CEO Jaidev Janardana says the firm will be looking for new partnerships that support its auto finance, point of sale and personal loan businesses. Source
Landbay, UK Bond Network, Downing and Peer Funding will use Goji to offer investments in Innovative Finance ISAs (IFISA) in the UK; the offerings are anticipated to launch before the tax deadline; Jake Wombwell-Povey, Goji co-founder and chief executive officer, said: "We're signing up an increasing number of platforms who are keen to offer their investors a best of breed IFISA service. There is a great deal of complexity in bringing the IFISA to market and we are focused on ensuring that it is as easy as possible for investors to access this new opportunity to drive returns. Interest in this new and attractive investment vehicle is not surprising given the low yields available on traditional fixed income and savings and increasing inflation." Source
Firm offers online mortgage loan comparisons and facilitates mortgage loan services through its platform; firm has been in business for nine months with mortgage loans of 50 million British pounds ($62.17 million); the new funding was provided by Ribbit Capital and Mosaic Ventures; firm says it will use the funds to expand its products and engineering team. Source