Only a few months ago Mark Cuban was criticizing cryptocurrencies as a bubble, he is now backing a new fund; Runa Capital principal Nick Tomaino founded the fund 1confirmation, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission; "I think Nick is one of the sharpest minds in the space, and I'm a big believer that there will be transformational apps built on blockchain," Cuban told CoinDesk; the recent change in opinion by Cuban points to a trend from Wall Street that shows more traditional finance players accepting the value of cryptocurrencies; the fund will make $100,000 to $500,000 investments and focus exclusively on cryptocurrency assets. Source
Clarity Services reports on details of its new Clear Bank Debit™ product in a blog post; product allows underwriters to confirm a consumer's banking status and utilize banking account transaction details for alternative credit underwriting; according to Clarity Services, the view provided by Clear Bank Debit™ can help lenders better understand risk. Source
Fluid received the LangDi PitchIt Fintech Choice Award; competing as one of eight finalists in the LangDi PitchIt competition, the company was recognized for its development of an innovative credit product for college students; Fluid provides college students with interest free loans of up to $500 and is supported by adtech revenue. Source
Global fraud prevention and identity verification startup Emailage raised $10 million in growth funding; the round included Anthos Capital, with participation from Radian Capital, Wipro Ventures, Mucker Capital and Tallwave Capital; they are looking to increase existing partnerships and accelerate growth in North America, Europe and Latin America markets; the company provides real-time risk intelligence by leveraging the email address as a unique global identifier. Source
AutoFi has raised $10 million from a Series A fundraising and has plans to expand its auto lending technology services; the platform currently allows auto dealers to sell cars online, connecting buyers with lenders; it will add vehicle leasing options for customers; it is also expanding its services to Canada through a new partnership with Tricor Automotive Group. Source
As a thirty year veteran of consumer lending, loanDepot CEO Anthony Hsieh has seen his share of transformative changes; his keynote at LendIt USA 2017 focused on the modern version of consumer lending and how online lenders are only just scratching the surface; while originations have grown each year loanDepot still only accounts for about two percent market share as the second largest non bank consumer lender; he believes online lending is still in the bottom of the first or top of the second inning; non bank mortgage lenders now account for five of the top ten originators, a few years ago only two non bank lenders cracked the top ten; regulations, capital markets and technology have all contributed to the market changing since the crisis of 2008; he also talks about the future of the customer experience and their continued investment in technology. Source
Inc. has released their list of the 5000 fastest growing private companies; this year over 250 companies made it in the financial services category; the list shares basic information about each company including revenue numbers; several online lenders made the list including Avant, OppLoans, Kabbage, loanDepot, Lighter Capital, FastPay, National Funding and ZestFinance. Source
Financial Planning explores the possibility of an IPO from the leaders in the robo-advice market including Betterment, Wealthfront and Personal Capital; the companies continue to raise money but some question the viability of the market; Betterment has over $10 billion in assets under management, Wealthfront has $7.4 billion and Personal Capital has $4.9 billion; the companies have a combined 420,000 clients and 548,000 accounts; article shares statements by each company regarding IPOs and the differences between the platforms. Source
Sallie Krawcheck previously worked as a Wall Street executive but has since founded Ellevest; the company offers a digital investing platform helping female investors access low-cost ETFs based on goals; Venus Williams, a professional tennis player, is among investors in the company; according to Krawcheck, women are less concerned with beating the market and focus rather on ensuring their money won't disappear completely; the platform also considers the longer lifespans of women and the possibility of extended time off from work; Business Insider provides screenshots of setting up an account; the app is not yet in the app store. Source
Voice recognition and machine learning technology are combining to offer consumers new services across various industries; in financial services ING has invested $945 million in a digital technology initiative that plans to include voice automated banking services through devices such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home; Amazon Alexa is now working with many financial services clients for voice integration including UBS, LPL, Fidelity, Capital One and Betterment; this week it was also reported that Wal-Mart will partner with Google to offer customers voice directed ordering through Google Home on Google Express. Source