Here are what I consider to be the top 10 most important fintech news stories of the past week.

Is an Algorithm Less Racist Than a Loan Officer? from The New York Times – This is a long article but worthwhile reading in full. The basic premise is that algorithms can be less racist than human underwriters but you have to be careful what data you include.

The rise of the mobile wallet from The Finanser – If you want to understand why China processed $50T in mobile payments in 2019 and the US did less than 1% of that amount then read this excellent piece by Chris Skinner.

Better.com in talks to raise $100M at $4B valuation: report from FinLedger – One of the leading real estate fintechs is looking to raise money at a $4 billion valuation after an 8x increase in revenue this year.

LendIt Fintech Industry Awards 2020 Finalists Announced from Lend Academy – This past week we announced the six finalists in all thirteen categories for the 4th annual LendIt Fintech Industry Awards. Winners will be revealed on Monday.

Valar triples down on Petal, leading $55M Series C round into the credit card disruptor from Techcrunch – Petal closed this Series C in April but it was just announced this week. Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures is back with a third investment in the credit card startup.

Exclusive: Trading app Robinhood raises $660 million in latest funding round from Reuters – Robinhood has extended their Series G round with another $460 million from the likes of Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, DST Global, Ribbit Capital, 9Yards Capital, and D1 Capital Partners.

Funding Circle losses deepen as pandemic hits peer-to-peer lending momentum from City A.M. – In the UK Funding Circle released their financial results for the first half of the year and as expected it was not pretty. The company lost £113.5 million, up from a £31.3 million loss for the same period last year.

How Cross River Bank gathered $250 million in deposits in 15 days from American Banker – I don’t think any company acted more quickly and had more success than Cross River Bank did during the early days of the PPP. Their story is incredible.

LendingClub: Research Indicates Consumers Pay Personal Loans Before Credit Cards, Reports that Repayment Rates are High from Crowdfund Insider – two recent studies underscore the reasons consumer lending has performed better than expected during the pandemic.

Digital Account Openings Surged Long Before The Pandemic [Thanks To Bank Of America And Chase] from Forbes – Ron Shevlin digs into account opening trends and finds that digital applications to open primary checking accounts overtook branch applications some time in 2019.

Here are what I consider to be the top 10 most important fintech news stories of the past week.

Affirm raises $500M, unveils new product for smaller purchases from FinLedger – If you needed any more evidence that the Buy Now Pay Later segment is hot here it is. Affirm has just closed a $500 million Series G funding round, no word on valuation. And it also launched a new product to go head to head with Afterpay.

Chime is now worth $14.5 billion, surging past Robinhood as the most valuable U.S. consumer fintech from CNBC – Speaking of massive funding rounds, Chime just closed on a $485 million Series F at a $14.5 billion valuation and there are now talks of an IPO on the horizon.

Payments provider Klarna raises $650 million from Silver Lake-led investor group from Reuters – To round out the trifecta of massive funding rounds this week we have another Buy Now Pay Later entrant, actually the original player from Europe: Klarna. They closed on $650 million at a $10.65 billion valuation.

German fintech backed by Peter Thiel taken down by coronavirus from Sifted – At the opposite end of the spectrum we have Monedo, formerly known as Kreditech, filing for bankruptcy, citing the toll of the pandemic on the company.

Pandemic accelerated KeyBank’s digital shift by 5 years, CEO says from Banking Dive – KeyBank CEO says that his company’s digital transformation has been accelerated by five years and this will have “implications for what goes on in the branches”.

Kraken is launching a crypto bank in Wyoming, paving the way for possible stock offerings from The Block – The cryptocurrency exchange is launching a bank, taking advantage of the new regulatory framework in Wyoming that has been specifically built to attract crypto companies like Kraken.

Goldman Sachs is taking what it learned from a $100 million acquisition to upgrade the Marcus app from CNBC – Goldman Sachs launched Marcus Insights to give consumers a holistic view of their finances leveraging their acquisition of Clarity Money.

Digital Finance Platform MoneyLion Introduces Thematic Investing Solutions from Crowdfund Insider – This is an interesting innovation from MoneyLion. Their new ETF-based thematic investment solutions will come in three flavors: Future Innovation, Earn & Grow and Greater Good.

How the latest cashless movement is hurting the unbanked from American Banker – Podcast with the always thoughtful Aaron Klein of the Brookings Institution on the impact of the pandemic on the 14 million unbanked Americans.

Regulating Fintech as It Becomes Pervasive from The Wall Street Journal – Last week’s op-ed by acting OCC head Brian Brooks elicited some strong responses from the states and others.

Here are what I consider to be the top 10 most important fintech news stories of the past week.

Fintech Can Come Out of the Shadows from The Wall Street Journal – Op-ed by Brian Brooks, acting head of the OCC, on why fintech charters make sense and why the arguments of the states such as New York are not valid.

Citigroup’s Fraser to Be First Woman to Lead a Big Wall Street Bank from The New York Times – Finance has been very slow to embrace diversity but we finally have the first woman who will be leading a big bank. Jane Fraser will take over as CEO at Citi when Michael Corbat retires in February.

Startup bets people will save money for a chance to win $10 million from American Banker – Yotta Savings is still nascent with just 6,500 customers but they have a unique approach, offering a sweepstakes ticket for every $25 their customers save with a chance to win up to $10 million.

SoFi Launches 20-Year Partnership With Los Angeles Rams to Kick Off Inaugural Season At SoFi Stadium from Crowdfund Insider – The football season kicks off this weekend and with it the new SoFi Stadium will be hosting its first event, albeit without fans.

Fiserv Adds Buy Now, Pay Later Option from PYMNTS – It seems that every week someone else is jumping in on the buy-now-pay-later craze. This week it was Fiserv’s turn.

Online loans are holding up better than expected from American Banker – While the crisis is still far from over the performance of the online lending platforms has exceeded expectations given the economic challenges of the past six months.

Exclusive: Klarna talks to investors on raising funds at over $10 billion valuation: sources from Reuters – The European buy-now-pay-later king, Klarna, raised money at a $5.5 billion valuation last year but they are now looking to add more funds to their coffers at a valuation close to double that.

Stash sees sign-ups, deposits swell as customers shift into ‘save’ mode from Banking Dive – Stash, the banking and investing fintech, now has more than 5 million accounts and has grown assets under management 60% so far this year as consumers save more.

Nat Hoopes Leaving the Marketplace Lending Association from Lend Academy – The first executive director of the Marketplace Lending Association is leaving after four years and is joining Upstart as VP and Head of Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs.

Mastercard launches CBDC testing platform for central banks from Finextra – Central Bank Digital Currencies are going to be a hot trend this decade and Mastercard has built a virtual testing platform to help central banks explore digital currencies.

Here are what I consider to be the top 10 most important fintech news stories of the past week.

PayPal Enters Installment Loan Business Targeting Fintechs Affirm And Afterpay from Forbes – The already hot buy-now-pay-later space just got even hotter. PayPal is now joining the fray with “Pay in 4” which is basically a direct copy of what Afterpay does but with lower fees.

BankThink: Colo. ‘true lender’ settlement is path forward for bank-fintech partnerships from American Banker – This op-ed captures exactly why the Colorado settlement is a big deal for the bank-fintech partnership model. It provides a sensible framework for other states to follow.

Why BofA – Not Fintechs or Amazon – Should Keep Bankers Awake at Night from The Financial Brand – Interesting piece about Bank of America and their digital initiatives. Based on the data in this article it appears they are the big bank leader when it comes to digital banking.

Insights: COVID-19 Performance Report, Volume 11 from dv01 – The latest edition of the dv01 performance report includes data from August. Despite government support running out at the end of July the American consumer is proving to be resilient when it comes to paying back personal loans.

The Fintech 250: The Top Fintech Companies Of 2020 from CB Insights – This week CB Insights released their third annual Fintech 250, a list of the top private #fintech companies impacting all areas of finance. Lots of great names on the list.

BankThink It’s time to tie banks’ business models to customer well-being from American Banker – It is a travesty that banks offer products that are often misaligned with their customers’ interests. Todd Baker and Corey Stone propose a new regulatory framework where banks would be evaluated on their impact on financial health. Great idea!

Nobody Wants An Online Bank (And Other Wisdom From Investing $100 Billion In Fintech) from Forbes – With $100 billion invested in fintech in the last three years Ron Shevlin provides four lessons that VCs and fintech entrepreneurs should have learned.

Wealthfront launches automatic savings, investment feature from Banking Dive – Wealthfront’s launch of their Autopilot tool this week is a big deal. It is the first step to a world of autonomous finance where machines execute on a plan that automatically optimizes your finances.

Varo’s No Fee Overdraft saved Americans more than $100 million over the past year from Tearsheet – I hate overdraft fees but banks made $11.7 billion from them in 2019 with most of that coming from people who could ill afford the fee. Varo has a no-fee overdraft that allows consumers to overdraw their account by up to $50, saving its customers $100 million since August 2019.

Ocrolus Maps the Fintech Lending Ecosystem from Lend Academy – Ocrolus resurrect the old Orchard Lendscape providing an up to date Fintech Lending Market Map which is a great resource for the industry.

Here are what I consider to be the top 10 most important fintech news stories of the past week.

It’s Official: American Express is Acquiring Kabbage from Lend Academy – It is barely a week after the rumors started but it is now confirmed that American Express will be acquiring Kabbage.

Online loans defy fears of mass delinquencies from The Financial Times – Many thought the unsecured personal loan space would struggle during a recession as defaults skyrocket. So far, the opposite is proving to be true (at least for now).

The Bank Partnership Model Affirmed in Settlement With Colorado from Lend Academy – This groundbreaking settlement resolves the “true lender” issue in Colorado and could be used as a regulatory framework across the country.

Life as a Loan Shark from The Humble Dollar – Interesting perspective from a community banker that bought a payday lender to try to serve his town’s unbanked population. He couldn’t make it work.

States sue FDIC over ‘rent-a-bank’ partnerships from American Banker – It was a busy week for “true lender” issues. As several states have sued the FDIC over the issue arguing it will lead to more predatory lending.

The Fed And Digital Currencies – What’s Possible? from Forbes – A Middlebury professor analyzes a recent speech by Federal Reserve Board governor Lael Brainard on Central Bank Digital Currencies.

Why Amex is buying Kabbage from American Banker – Penny Crosman digs into the Amex-Kabbage deal to discover the motivations for the acquisition.

Exclusive: Wirecard UK to be bought by Railsbank after downfall of parent company from Sifted – The Wirecard fire sale has begun with competitor Railsbank picking up Wirecard UK for an undisclosed amount.

At least 67 Fintech Unicorns Operating Globally, with North America Leading the Way, and Asian, European Markets Growing Fast from Crowdfund Insider – There are now at least 67 fintech unicorns, globally, that are valued at a combined $244.6 billion, according to a recently published infographic by CBInsights.

Starling, Revolut and Monzo’s annual results compared from Sifted – Each of the leading UK digital banks have things they do well but they are all still losing boatloads of money.

Here are what I consider to be the top 10 most important fintech news stories of the past week.

AmEx in Advanced Talks to Buy SoftBank-Backed Kabbage from Bloomberg – Last week we learned that Kabbage was for sale and this week it was revealed that the leading suitor is American Express and the price may be as much as $850 million.

Facebook Financial formed to pursue company’s commerce ambitions from American Banker – Facebook has formed a new group to run all of their payments projects and it will be run by David Marcus, who is also in charge of their Libra project.

Coinbase to Offer Bitcoin-Backed Loans to US Customers from Coindesk – the biggest name in cryptocurrency has entered the lending space allowing customers to borrow against 30% of their bitcoin holdings.

Customers Bancorp to sell BankMobile for $140M from Banking Dive – Customers Bank is spinning off BankMobile to a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) for $140 million and it will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

BankThink: PPP had its strengths. Its successor can be stronger. from American Banker – Sam Graziano, the CEO of Fundation, has some interesting ideas for the next round of PPP.

Deadline for the Global Covid-19 Fintech Survey is Fast Approaching from Lend Academy – The most important survey in the history to fintech is coming to a close on Monday, August 17; please take the survey if you have not already done so.

China to Expand Testing of a Digital Currency from The Wall Street Journal – China is expanding its digital currency pilot program to include a number of large cities including Beijing.

Where Fintech Ranks on the Inc 5000 List for 2020 from deBanked – The Inc. 5000 list was released this week with dozens of fintech companies making the list.

PayActiv Secures $100M in Series C Funding from FINSMES – One of the leaders in the earned wage access space, PayActiv, has received a big cash injection with the close of their $100 million Series C led by Eldridge.

Square’s Cash App tests new feature allowing users to borrow up to $200 from TechCrunch – Cash App, the peer to peer payments service from Square, is getting into small dollar lending, testing a $20 to $200 loan with 1,000 users with a flat 5% fee.

Here are what I consider to be the top 10 most important fintech news stories of the past week (we have a new graphic this week courtesy of my 11 year old daughter).

Google checking accounts: Why banks want in from American Banker – Google is now partnering with eight financial institutions to offer digital checking accounts, here is what is in it for the banks.

LendingClub Releases Q2 2020 Earnings from Lend Academy – LendingClub reported their Q2 earnings today and as expected it was a significantly down quarter.

Barrons: Online Lender Kabbage Shopping For Buyers from PYMNTS – There are rumors flying around that Kabbage is seeking a sale and could garner a price of up to $1 billion.

Curve’s new credit proposition plans to entice up to 300,000 UK customers in three years and make a splash in the US from AltFi – UK fintech Curve has an innovative new credit offering that will break new ground when it launches.

Metro Bank is acquiring peer-to-peer lender RateSetter for up to £12M from TechCrunch – After once being worth £200 million, UK peer to peer lending platform RateSetter sold for just £3 million with the potential for the sale to be worth £12 million after three years if certain milestones are met.

LendingPoint Inks a Deal With eBay to Provide Small Business Loans from Lend Academy – Near prime consumer lending platform, LendingPoint, is getting into small business lending with this new pilot program with eBay called eBay Seller Capital. The executive team at LendingPoint all have deep small business lending experience so this move was not that surprising.

Dan Gilbert’s Wealth Soars to $34 Billion After Rocket IPO from Bloomberg – Rocket Cos, the parent company of Quicken Loans, Rocket Mortgage and Rocket Loans, went public this week and the shares rose more than 19% on their first day of trading making founder Dan Gilbert’s net worth soar to $34 billion.

Consumers, Flush With Stimulus Money, Shun Credit-Card Debt from The Wall Street Journal – I keep hearing this story from all kinds of consumer lenders. Consumers are deleveraging, paying down all kinds of debt, during the pandemic.

Founder of consumer lender Aura steps down as CEO from American Banker – James Gutierrez, the founder and CEO of Aura, has stepped down as the company tries to arrange a financing package.

Uber’s Departure From Financial Services: A Speed Bump On The Path To Embedded Finance from Forbes – Ron Shevlin looks at the rise of embedded finance and why the exit of one prime example, Uber, will not change the trajectory of this new trend.

Here are what I consider to be the top 10 most important fintech news stories of the past week.

Enova Acquires OnDeck for $90 Million from Lend Academy – Enova, best known for short term consumer loans, is acquiring OnDeck, one the leading online small business lenders, in a $90 million cash and stock deal.

Varo Becomes First Consumer Fintech to Land a National Charter from Bloomberg – Finally…after three and a half years the regulatory journey of Varo to become a nationally chartered digital bank has reached its conclusion.

Affirm Prepares IPO That Could Value Fintech Firm at Up to $10 Billion from The Wall Street Journal – Preparations are at an early stage but Affirm is working with Goldman Sachs on a potential blockbuster IPO possibly before the end of the year.

Intuit Adds Bank Account to Quickbooks Offerings from Lend Academy – The leader in small business accounting announces a new tech-enabled bank account called QuickBooks Cash with a rich set of features and integrations.

JPMorgan Chase partners with fintech start-up Marqeta to launch ‘virtual’ credit cards from CNBC – Marqeta will be providing JPMorgan Chase its virtual card technology that will allow new Chase business customers to use their card immediately instead of waiting to receive a physical card in the mail.

Banks, credit unions pan OCC idea to create charter for payments firms from American Banker – Just like they did with the fintech charter trade groups that work on behalf of banks and credit unions warned the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency against creating a payments charter.

Monzo: Covid:19 casts ‘significant doubt’ on ability to continue operating from Finextra – Leading UK digital bank Monzo released its annual report this week and the numbers were not pretty. The company reported that in 2019 they lost £113.8 million and the fallout from the pandemic casts “significant doubt” on their ability to continue as a going concern.

Tech unicorn Dave admits to security breach impacting 7.5 million users from ZDNet – Popular digital banking app Dave has confirmed it suffered a security breach after a hacker published details of 7.5 million users on a public forum.

The New Stimulus Is The Right Time For Streaming Wages from Forbes – As Congress is debating another stimulus package to help support consumers and small businesses, now is the perfect time for them to support real-time wage access since mailed payments can take months to reach people.

Consumer lender Oportun hits pause on debt collections from American Banker – Fintech lender Oportun is making two changes in response to the pandemic: it is hitting pause on collection efforts and it will cap interest rates at 36%.

Here are what I consider to be the top 10 most important fintech news stories of the past week.

Affirm, Shopify partner for new interest-free, zero-fee online shopping option from CNBC – This is a really big deal. Affirm will be powering Shopify’s buy now pay later product. I would argue this could be bigger than Affirm’s Walmart deal as Shopify has over one million merchants and is growing rapidly.

Kabbage Launches Checking Accounts for Small Business from Lend Academy – The new Kabbage Checking account pays 1.1% interest and has probably the richest feature set of any small business checking account today.

FDIC floats certification program for fintechs working with banks from American Banker – The FDIC has proposed a potential set of standards and a certification program intended to make it easier for financial institutions to partner with technology firms.

Inside Goldman’s product roadmap for digital bank Marcus from Tearsheet – Goldman Sachs is working on becoming a full service digital bank but is looking for inspiration from the big tech companies rather than big banks as it considers where to take its brand.

The OCC Issues Proposed True Lender Rule that Should Clarify Online Lenders and Bank Relationships from Crowdfund Insider – The OCC officially proposed a new rule that would resolve uncertainty over the issue of true lender once and for all. The proposed rule basically says a bank is the “true lender” if, as of the date of origination, it is named as the lender in the loan agreement or if it funds the loan.

The Online Bank Insurgency Of 2020 from Forbes – Some great stats here on digital banking penetration from Ron Shevlin from a new study: 14.2 million Americans—6% of US adults with a checking account—now consider a digital bank to be their primary bank.

Mark Cuban-backed finance app Dave says its new mobile bank account is headed for 1 million users from CNBC – Dave began slowly rolling out their new bank account in May to a waiting list of two million people and they are getting a 50% uptake.

New York Passes Small Business Lending Disclosure Bill from Bloomberg Law – New York has passed a bill that will require lenders to disclose terms such as an estimated annual percentage rate, the total repayment amount, and other fees or costs of financing extended to small businesses.

The CFO of Visa maps out 2 areas it’s investing in beyond cards to keep up with fintechs that are transforming the payments game from Business Insider – Visa has started to look beyond their core offering for additional revenue opportunities as the payments market heats up.

Jack Ma’s Ant Group Plans Dual IPOs in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bypassing New York from The Wall Street Journal – Ant Group, formerly known as Ant Financial and the maker of Alipay, is going to IPO in both Shanghai and Hong Kong.