Amber Baldet was ranked 31 and is working with the JPMorgan team to develop blockchain solution Quorum; others in fintech include Vitalik Buterin the creator of ethereum, Brian Armstrong from Coinbase, and Ernie Garcia, Ryan Keeton and Ben Huston from Carvana. Source
Personal Capital is a free app that allows individuals to track their financial life by connecting accounts including bank accounts, credit cards and investment accounts; the app is now tracking $4.9 billion and according to their CEO, Jay Shah, their customer base is increasingly affluent; the company upsells their app users on financial advice and is providing a dedicated financial advisor if users have over $200,000 of investable assets; Shah answers several questions in an interview with Business Insider including their pitch to users, who their paying users are, why he thinks users will pay for the service and where the company is headed. Source
In speaking to CoinDesk, AngelList CEO Naval Ravikant said he is looking to fund a blockchain alternative to Twitter; he explained that the prize will be awarded to anyone who can build a Twitter alternative and where people can monetize the contributions; this is part of a program that will help developers who are looking to build applications on the Blockstack platform; Naval tells CoinDesk, "I am indeed helping the Blockstack team and will be donating a small prize for a decentralized microblogging service." Source
The company recently held a conference call with investors to discuss options with a company called Jazco reportedly offering to take over the remaining deals on the site; the company was reportedly issued a subpoena by the SEC at some point regarding operational questions; in early 2016 a law firm attempted to restructure the firm but the company continued to face challenges; eventually the CEO William Skelley left the company at which point a consultant stepped in; no deals have been originated since late 2016. Source
State regulators are reacting to the proposed federal charter that would grant nationwide licensing to fintech companies; states are beginning to plan for initiatives that would make state chartering more compelling for fintechs while also protecting standards built for banks in the state; states believe harmonizing the regulatory requirements is necessary; New England states are currently working in collaboration on licensing and overall state regulators are envisioning a passporting environment where states collaborating on requirements can institute approvals with lower costs. Source
Fifth Third Bank will fund loans on the platform and also receive platform borrower referrals; in December 2016, Fifth Third Bank participated in a $16.5 million Series B funding round supporting ApplePie Capital; the ApplePie Capital lending platform was established in January 2015 and specializes in loans to franchise businesses across the United States; it has partnered with over 60 franchise brands and financed over $100 million for franchise businesses. Source
Competition in the personal loan market has become quite heated since the financial crisis; banks of all sizes, and credit unions now have to compete with the likes of emerging fintech companies who have originated billions in loans; at LendIt USA 2017 Ken Lin of Credit Karma did a keynote presentation on some of the keys to success in this highly competitive market; helping to understand the trends of the last few years (higher defaults and increased APRs) can first give you a better understanding of current market conditions; the keys to success to overcome and reverse those trends are to continuously refine your underwriting models, solve real customer pain points and find a way to win on mobile; keeping ahead of the curve is not easy with so many players but making improvements to certain areas could go a long way. Source
DreamFunded is launching new offerings under Reg CF; real estate investments on the platform will now be available for any investor; its first Reg CF offering is a fix and flip real estate loan secured by a first mortgage with a minimum investment of $500; the loan is offering 10% interest paid monthly. Source
The fintech company is graduating from the Y Combinator's summer 2017 class and will be presenting at Demo Day next week; the company was founded by former Blend employees and offers similar technology for loan applications; different from Blend, it seeks to serve a broader target market than just mortgage loans and it is also focusing on mid to small market companies; it offers a white label software service that can be used to improve online loan applications. Source
President Trump is renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and fintech is a part of the discussions; President Donald Trump requested the renegotiation with a key focus on US workers; Vanessa Rubio, undersecretary of Mexico's finance ministry, told Reuters that discussions on financial services have also been important and said, "We are not yet sure what will end up in the text of the new agreement, but we are sure that we need to have a discussion about new services, above all about the fintech industry." Source