With controversy around ESG investing coming to a head, solar loans could offer respite, doing good and doing well as an asset class.
The results of TransUnion’s new global credit study challenge industry perceptions and give direction to serving new-to-credit consumers.
Results from MoneyLion's first Personal Financial Wellness Study confirm the growing influence of digital sources in our financial lives, but the steep drop-off of knowledge among millennials and Gen Z consumers.
As more and more fintechs disrupt the traditional banking sector, Citi is looking to embrace the new technological advances to ensure they stay relevant; the bank formed a Citi fintech division in November 2015 and stocked it with former employees of Amazon and PayPal; Citi is looking to launch a new version of their mobile app that will include voice and facial recognition to eliminate password entry; Stephen Bird, Citigroup's CEO of global consumer banking, recently told Fortune magazine, "what happens in an extinction phase is that you either rapidly adapt and new means of competition are created, or you go extinct."; the bank is looking to continue making advancements to keep up with industry tech trends. Source
Sharestates is raising capital for a Series A funding round on SeedInvest; planning for potential investment of $3 million in preferred equity; Sharestates provides real estate investment opportunities and access to capital on its platform; has total loan originations of $178 million. Source
Marketplace lender, Peerform, has been acquired by Versara Lending; Versara is a New York City-based consumer lender seeking to expand its lending business in consumer loans; Peerform will enhance the lending capabilities for Versara and Peerform Founder Mikael Rapaport will join Versara Lending as a senior vice president. Source
PeerIQ provides insight on Cross River Bank and its $28 million investment from venture capitalists; the deal highlights Cross River Bank’s partnerships with marketplace lenders and provides a leading example for how banks can seek to gain from online lenders while also mitigating true lender risk; Cross River Bank likely to set a precedent for banking investment in MPL loans; success with marketplace lending partnerships has helped it to achieve a return on equity of 26.5% versus 9.8% for FDIC-insured institutions. Source
- OnDeck Adds Former GE Capital and Sun Trust Executives to Finance Team
- Elastic Line of Credit Surpasses $1 Billion in Total Funding
- SenseTime Raises US$410M Series B Financing
- BitGo Raises $42.5M in Series B Funding
- Creditas Raises $50M in Series C Funding
- CAN Capital Makes Three Strategic Hires to Strengthen Sales and Technology Teams
- How asset managers like FinEx Asia are using AI to disrupt traditional bank lending
- Digital challenger Starling to hit profit in 2019 says founder Anne Boden as European expansion takes crucial step
- Compass gets $450M from SoftBank; real estate portal now valued at $2.2B
- Finance teams are ‘bottlenecking’ banks’ digital transformations
- Prosper Appoints Claire Huang to Board of Directors
BBVA Compass and the Opportunity Finance Network are teaming up to identify and increase training for 25 leaders in community lending through an Opportunity Fellows Program; BBVA Compass is a leading banking franchise with 668 branches mainly in the US sunbelt; Opportunity Finance Network is an association of community development financial institutions (CDFIs); the chosen Fellows will receive six days of training through early 2017 on themes including financial innovation and financial inclusion; applications open mid-November 2016; cost is not specified but appears to be complimentary or highly-subsidized for the leaders given the opportunity to participate. Source
The Economist magazine's intelligence unit (EIU) has published a report on regulatory support for financial inclusion in developing countries and it is now gaining traction with press and analysts; the report scores countries on having an inclusiveness strategy and building governmental and private sector expertise, then provides in-depth details in areas including credit markets, non-regulated lenders, payments and insurance; Colombia ties Peru this year for the most progressive country; India has shown the most improvement; Latin America and East/South Asia are leaders regionally while Africa and the Middle East remain behind; the EIU performed the research in conjunction with the Center for Financial Inclusion at Accion and the Multilateral Investment Fund at the Inter-American Development Bank. Source