Credibly discusses the evolution of the fintech market and the firm's current market position in their featured blog post; central to their discussion is the integration of data science into all aspects of finance and the intersection of data science and bank partnerships; in what Credibly calls Generation 3.0 of fintech, online lenders are developing lending business models which also include software as a service (SaaS) products that are an extension of their proprietary technology; Credibly discusses the benefits of SaaS technology and the strengths banks present in partnering with fintech innovators; together the user experience is only expected to improve as more partnerships are formed throughout the industry. Sponsored Blog Post
FT Alphaville provides interesting insight on a recently released report from Altus Consulting; cites "meteoric rate of expansion" of P2P with annual originations growing 70% per year; while the report gives the impression that P2P growth may be short lived, further details reveal how the expansion of interest is likely to create more institutional and retail products for investment; also notes innovation in fintech investing platforms which will help to increase interest in P2P investments. Source
Fintech is helping to increase consumer spending in China as lenders provide increased access to capital; these lenders are becoming more integrated with merchants and providing point of sale credit options; Dumaio is one example of a fintech lender that has been successful by adapting to market demand; real estate fintech platforms are also emerging in the country with Shenzhen-based Touchouwang offering domestic real estate investment opportunities and Beijing-based Uoolu offering foreign real estate investments. Source
Specialist fund manager Fintex Capital has hired Alan Margolis to expand its business with a new real estate lending strategy; the firm is active in the marketplace lending sector working primarily with Auxmoney; the new real estate business will invest in short-term and medium-term loans from real estate lenders and platforms. Source
LendingPoint plans to expand its online balance sheet lending services nationwide with support from a new partnership with FinWise Bank; LendingPoint currently offers loans in 26 states with nationwide expansion now planned for the first half of 2017; the firm uses a proprietary credit model that seeks to provide loans for fair credit consumers with credit scores ranging from 600 to 700; LendingPoint has funded more than $185 million in loans; its loans range from $3,000 to $20,000, with terms from 24 to 48 months. Source
Morningstar has assigned a MOR RV1 vendor ranking for First Associates; First Associates is an industry leading loan servicer for marketplace loans; Morningstar provides rankings of vendor service businesses based on a variety of business factors. Source
South East Asia SME marketplace lender First Circle has announced new funding that will help it further develop its business in South East Asia; the firm was the first to begin lending to SMEs in South East Asia offering its loans in the Philippines; it provides loans for underserved businesses through use of a proprietary underwriting system; the firm says it will use the new investment funding to further develop its technology platform and lending business in the Philippines. Source
First Trust has filed a Form D with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a pooled fund that will include marketplace lending securities under the name First Trust Marketplace Lending Partners, L.P.; minimum investment in the fund is $50,000; firm offers a range of investment funds including many funds with an income focused investment strategy. Source
Fitch Ratings has upgraded its ratings for the Citi Held for Asset Issuance 2016-PM1 (CHAI 2016-PM1) portfolio which includes loans originated from the Prosper platform; the ratings agency upgraded the Class A, B and C tranches; it attributes the upgrades to growth in hard credit enhancement available to the notes. Source
ApplePie Capital is the marketplace lending leader in franchise business loans; in their featured blog post, CEO Denise Thomas discusses the investment opportunity that the firm's platform presents and ApplePie Capital's business model; cites five reasons for investing in franchise debt including the stable, high single-digit to low double-digit returns with lower risk than many of the market's competing fixed income products. Sponsored Blog Post