LendIt has announced a list of keynote speakers for LendIt USA 2017 on March 6 and 7; keynote speakers will cover the industry's most important topics and innovations; as fintech regulation and a new presidential administration influence the market, LendIt USA 2017 will also be featuring some of the industry's most influential government officials including Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Thomas Curry, comptroller of the currency for the US Department of the Treasury and Patrick McHenry, US congressman. Source
Fintech companies are always looking for the right type of venture capital for their business; at LendIt USA 2017 we hosted a panel that featured a diverse group of leading venture capitalists in the fintech space; the panel was a great mix with a seed stage investor, an international investor, a nonprofit fund looking to grow jobs and the fintech sector in New York, a credit fund who has moved into venture capital investing and a strategic investor at a key Wall Street bank; panelists discussed their investment strategies when evaluating companies and when they look to invest during a company's lifecycle; panelists also discussed key areas where money is currently being invested and what areas of fintech are oversaturated with capital. Source
Scott Sanborn gave a recap of his LendIt USA 2017 keynote presentation and reiterated his excitement and positive outlook for the marketplace lending industry in a blog post; Sanborn identified three key areas of importance: evolving the customer experience, unleashing the platform potential and amplifying core innovations; with a focus on these three things Lending Club plans to see more borrowers and investors as well as a number of new and innovative partnerships fueling its future business growth. 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
Banks have been trying to understand what they will need to change to stay competitive as finance becomes more digital; the key question they try to answer is buy, build or partner; at LendIt USA 2017 we hosted a keynote fireside chat that focused on how a global cooperative bank stays innovative; digitizing their lending process to become more like a platform, understanding that fintech is more of an evolution and not a revolution, better understanding the customer's needs and offering hybrid solutions is key to staying ahead of the innovation curve. Source
Celent is a research and advisory firm to mid and large sized banks, credit unions and technology providers; the company partnered with FI Navigator to present data on mobile app adoption in banking; we know what the historical channels of branches, contact centers, ATMs, internet and mobile are all about; mobile is becoming an omnichannel platform for both bankers and customers spanning branches, contact centers and ATMs which Bob Meara explores in his presentation; shares that half of retail customers aren't using digital channels, concerns from consumers about digital and mobile channels, and other data about mobile adoption. Source
PitchIt 2017 was a competition for fintech startups, in exclusive partnership with global venture capital fund 500 Startups, the world leader in investing in and mentoring early-stage fintech startups; the platform nurtures emerging talent in fintech throughout the competition, provides selected finalists with unparalleled access to industry expertise as well as invaluable exposure and branding; eight finalists present their businesses to a panel of select judges who then ask questions to determine a winner. Source
While fintech innovation has greatly evolved in recent years, there is still much more to be accomplished; one area available for significant market growth is financial inclusion; Lend Academy talks about fintech innovation for the underserved bank customer in their article; LendIt will be running a financial inclusion track this year at LendIt USA to help support development of this market opportunity. Source
We are just five weeks away from the annual LendIt USA show. The LendIt team, including myself, have been working...
Providing credit to the underserved is something a lot of companies attempt to achieve; 138 million people in the US need access to credit and most of these individuals are concentrated in nine states; when it comes to credit there isn't a lot of options for non prime consumers; at LendIt USA 2017 James Gutierrez of Insikt discussed expanding access to credit where the consumer gets a personal touch to their experience; at his previous firm James offered face to face loans in Latino supermarkets to the underbanked; his experience there allowed him to bring that personal interaction to a digital platform without losing the intimate feel; Insikt is able to scale in a quicker fashion but still provide credit where the consumer knows they are getting an option that suits their needs. Source