Massachusetts lender Radius Financial Group has begun experimenting with an all paperless mortgage in recent months as they look to become more efficient in this technological age; the process includes DocMagic, the MERS loan registry, Fannie Mae and Santander Bank; so far they've been able to complete six applications; the savings seen are significant, $200 a loan and on average nine to 13 days by using an e-warehouse line as compared to the traditional warehouse line. Source
In May 2015 SoFi's CEO, Mike Cagney, said the company planned to go public within the next 12 months; current plans have changed and the CEO now says it has no plans for an IPO anytime soon; the market for online lending IPOs has been volatile in recent months; SoFi has also been significantly focused on expanding its products beyond just student loans to meet broader needs for its customers; the CEO says its business and expanding business lines subject it to quarterly fluctuations in reporting metrics which could be detrimental under public investor scrutiny; given the firm's positioning it could be one of the industry's leading beneficiaries of the OCC's new fintech charter which will allow for national standards; as of last year SoFi had a valuation of approximately $4 billion and currently it's involved in a $500 million funding round to increase loan purchases and potentially equity. Source
In a recent interview, SoFi CEO Mike Cagney stated, "We feel very confident that in 2017 you'll be able to have a SoFi bank account with a debit and/or credit card."; further details are not known on how SoFi plans to offer deposit accounts; Cagney stated the company is working on two or three initiatives; back in July Cagney told investors that getting a traditional bank license was not a viable solution; the company may be able to leverage the OCC's recently announced nonbank fintech charter. Source
Rob Pfeifer has been appointed to chief risk officer at Affirm; was previously chief financial officer; Pfeifer has been with Affirm since March 2013; prior to Affirm, Pfeifer worked in various financial analysis roles; he has extensive experience in forecasting, reporting and deal transactions.
Citizens Bank has entered into a partnership with Fundation to extend capital to small businesses; Citizens Bank will offer a digital solution so small businesses can apply and get a loan through one process; businesses who don't meet Citizens' credit profile will then be underwritten by Fundation; this is the second fintech partnership for Citizens Bank as they recently entered into a partnership with digital wealth management service SigFig. Source
Marketplace lender Argon Credit has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy; its loan underwriting was centered around machine learning algorithms which it marketed as decisioning as a service; offered subprime loans from $2,000 to $35,000 with APRs ranging from 4.99% to 149%; in May 2015 it secured a $75 million debt funding investment from credit hedge fund, Princeton Alternative Funding; prior to that it had raised $5.05 million. Source
Avant's new partnership with Regions bank is helping growth projections and business development plans for the firm in 2017; Avant says the Regions partnership which began in October is expected to generate 25% of the firm's loan volume in 2017; the partnership includes referrals from Regions for customers who are not approved for loans; the firm also has four other partnerships planned for 2017; it plans to hire 125 new employees and is targeting monthly loan volume for 2017 of $250 million; also says it's launching a credit card product in July; the credit card will be offered to customers not approved for loans on the platform. Source
NSR Invest, which allows Lending Club and Prosper investors to analyze loan data and direct investments, has made Prosper's Q3 data available; users can now backtest the most recent Prosper loan data and view trends of older vintages yet to reach maturity; originations for Q3 2016 totaled $311 million. Source
Parasail Health has built a lending platform to support loans for healthcare expenses; firm has partnered with healthcare companies to provide alternative payment options for healthcare needs; Parasail currently has contracts with over 700 providers and has built integration capabilities for approximately 15 channel partners; offers loans and simplified payment processing for a range of healthcare expenses. Source
Small business marketplace lender Bizfi.com has announced a new milestone; cumulative originations reached $2 billion in December; firm offers direct loans and provides a range of financing solutions for US small businesses including loans from alternative lenders and the Small Business Administration; platform has over 45 funding partners. Source