Shift.com, a peer-to-peer used car online marketplace, has partnered with Hertz to sell the rental car business' cars on its platform; the partnership is changing the firm's business model and providing a bridge for future growth; the platform seeks to offer 20% of its used car inventory from Hertz and will also focus new market launches around new Hertz inventory; the partnership will help to reduce costs of used car acquisition which has resulted in a reduction of 25 employees from the firm's workforce; licensing details are also a factor which have caused the firm to temporarily pause its business in Washington, D.C.; the firm's website currently markets its services in Los Angeles, Orange County, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Source
Ripio, previously known as BitPagos, has secured $1.9 million in funding for expansion in South America; the firm's Series A funding investors included Huiyin Blockchain Venture, Digital Currency Group, Boost VC and Draper VC; the company was founded in Buenos Aires, Argentina and will use the funding for expansion to Brazil and Mexico; currently the firm offers bitcoin and digital wallet services; it targets underserved banking consumers through its wallet app which also aggregates data for microloan approvals. Source
The implementation of GDPR is around the corner as it starts in May across Europe, while most of the regulations will benefit robo advisors the compliance costs could rise significantly; users will be able to ask for all data related to them and all data a rival adviser might have on them, getting this done correctly and efficiently will take time; the customer benefits are high, startups on the other hand might end up getting a lot more costs then anticipated. Source.
In October, CFPB Director Richard Cordray warned banks not to limit access to financial data by third parties working on behalf of the customer; now the bureau he leads is opening an inquiry into a data sharing dispute between banks and fintech companies; the inquiry is focused on consumer choice, security and control; the CFPB believes this will help banks and fintech companies better understand what the customer needs, how to accurately give the customer choice and security, and who ultimately owns the customer's data. Source
As more banks start utilizing new technologies like artificial intelligence and blockchain current employees are beginning to worry about their future; Lyn Hall-Fore, U.S. director of BSA/AML compliance tells American Banker, “We told them, this is to make your job easier and better and give you more capacity to think, but still meet your production quotas”; finding the right balance will be a struggle as banks continue to innovate. Source
There are differing beliefs on payday loans and how far regulation should go to protect consumers; to better answer the effects of payday lending on consumers many people turn to research; results of a study done in 2014 are now in doubt after a watchdog group found that $30,000 of grant funding came from a payday-industry-backed organization; since these types of studies help shape policy it has brought into question how deep these types of studies should be evaluated. Source
