During the week I share the latest marketplace lending and fintech news on Twitter as it happens. Then every Saturday I take the most interesting news items and blog posts from the past week and share them here.

Digital challenger banks stockpile cash at record rate from Financial Times – The Financial Times discusses the new report out this week from CB insights that shows digital banking is the fastest growing segment of fintech in 2019.

The Federal Reserve Is Too Late To The Real-Time Payments Party from Forbes – Interesting observations from Ron Shevlin on FedNow, the new real time payments system announced last week by the Federal Reserve that will supposedly be ready by 2023. Basically, they should have made this announcement years ago.

Fintech P2Binvestor has Financed Over $1 Billion in Lending: A Discussion with Founder Krista Morgan from Crowdfund Insider – Q&A with Krista Morgan, the CEO of P2Binvestor on crossing $1 billion in originations, partnering with banks, her experience as a female fintech founder, their expectations for the rest of the year and more.

Fintech Debt Investors Follow Equity Dollars Into Latin America from Forbes – Latin America is hot in fintech right now. There have been some big equity deals done recently and now the debt investors are coming.

It’s Time For Regulators To Expand Opportunities For Smaller Investors from Forbes – Good piece by Brew Johnson of PeerStreet on the need for the accredited investor rule to be changed. This is long overdue.

Funding Circle Surpasses $10 Billion Lent to Small Businesses Globally (press release) from BusinessWire – Big milestone for Funding Circle announced today. They have crossed $10 billion in total loans issued globally.

Monzo launches loans, but they’re not the cheapest from AltFi – I have been waiting for the UK digital banks to embrace lending. Today, we learned that Monzo has launched a consumer lending operation (in house) with loans up to £15,000. [Read more…]

During the week I share the latest marketplace lending and fintech news on Twitter as it happens. Then every Saturday I take the most interesting news items and blog posts from the past week and share them here.

Online lenders make case for cash-flow data while acknowledging pitfalls from American Banker – On the heels of the FinRegLab report users of cash flow data in underwriting give their perspective.

LendingClub: America Does Not Need Another Credit Card, Apple Card Spells Disaster for Consumers from Crowdfund Insider – Unsurprisingly LendingClub is not a fan of the new Apple Card by Goldman Sachs.

Swedish fintech Klarna valued at $5.5 billion in funding round from Reuters – The title of most valuable private fintech company in Europe keeps changing. Just this year it has been OakNorth, N26, Transferwise and now Klarna has taken over the title with a $460m round that values the firm at $5.5b.

An update on credit access and the Bureau’s first No-Action Letter from the CFPB – The CFPB provides an update on the use of alternative data in underwriting and the No Action Letter issued to Upstart in 2017.

What business does a crowdfunding fintech have with banks? from American Banker – Interesting Q&A with Krista Morgan of P2Binvestor about raising capital and bank partnerships.

Thiel-Backed Valar Leads Finance Round for Crypto Startup from Bloomberg – Crypto lender BlockFi just raised $18m in a Series A from Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures as they look to expand their product mix. Congrats to Zac Prince and team on the funding round.

Blend’s CFO explains how the buzzy mortgage startup overshot its own expectations with a $130 million Series E — and the metrics that made investors salivate from Business Insider – A deep dive into the recent funding round by digital mortgage leader Blend with comments from the CFO. [Read more…]

During the week I share the latest marketplace lending and fintech news on Twitter as it happens. Then every Saturday I take the most interesting news items and blog posts from the past week and share them here.

Fintech decacorn Nubank raises $400M led by TCV from TechCrunch – The most valuable digital bank (outside of China) is not in the U.S. or Europe, it is in Brazil. Nubank just closed a $400 million round led by TCV that values the company at more than $10 billion.

Iwoca doubles lending, turns first annual profit from AltFi – UK small business lender iwoca almost doubled loan originations in 2018 to £325 million while at the same time earning their first profit.

What’s next for OnDeck after breakup with JPMorgan? from American Banker – Monday was not a great day for OnDeck as investors sold the stock when it announced the loss of Chase as a client. American Banker looks at the aftermath and what is next for the company.

Elevate Credit CEO Resigns as Q2 Revenue Misses, Guidance Cut from Crowdfund Insider – The CEO of Elevate, Ken Rees, has resigned as the company releases a tepid second quarter earnings report.

Fintechs invited to enter £2m affordable credit challenge from Peer2Peer Finance News – I like this new £2m challenge in the UK to fintech companies to come up with better ways of providing affordable credit to consumers.

Inside the U.S. launch of Visa’s fintech Fast Track program from Tearsheet – Visa has launched their fintech Fast Track program to help startups get going. Tearsheet talks with Visa’s global head of fintech about this new program.

Europe’s startup banks are coming to America. Can they succeed? from CNN – Interesting look at the prospects of the European digital banks opening up in the US this year. [Read more…]

During the week I share the latest marketplace lending and fintech news on Twitter as it happens. Then every Saturday I take the most interesting news items and blog posts from the past week and share them here.

US mobile bank MoneyLion raises $100 million at ‘near unicorn’ valuation from Techcrunch – The big funding rounds keep coming. Today, we have MoneyLion announcing a $100m Series C financing at close to a billion dollar valuation.

Atom Bank raises £50m from investors including Neil Woodford from the Financial Times – Now, it is Atom Bank’s turn. They have raised £50 million in new equity including £10 million from beleaguered fund manager Neil Woodford.

What Funding Circle Tells Us About Fintech Valuations from Finextra – Interesting commentary on the dangers of high valuations in fintech using Funding Circle as an example.

Robinhood, the no-fee stock trading app, just announced a giant-size $323 million round of funding, making it worth over $7 billion from Business Insider – Then we have the huge round from Robinhood. They have put the missteps of late last year behind them with another huge round, $323 million, at a $7.6 billion valuation.

Everyday is Betterment’s new banking offering from Tearsheet – We keep seeing more and better savings account offerings. Betterment has launched Everyday Savings that will pay 2.69% with no minimums and FDIC insurance up to $1 million.

The Use of Cash-Flow Data in Underwriting Credit: Empirical Research Findings from FinRegLab – While using cash flow data in underwriting is becoming common place these days there has never been any independent research done on the benefits and pitfalls. Until now. Kudos to the FinRegLab team for getting their first research paper out the door.

The Employer’s View Of Early Wage Access from PYMNTS.com – The new generation of workers are demanding flexibility in how and when they are paid. Early wage access is moving mainstream and many fintech companies are at the forefront here. [Read more…]

During the week I share the latest marketplace lending and fintech news on Twitter as it happens. Then every Saturday I take the most interesting news items and blog posts from the past week and share them here. 

European Challenger Banks Launch U.S. Invasion – Is America Ready? from The Financial Brand – Interesting piece about leading European digital banks Monzo and n26 and what they need to do to succeed in the US.

Credit Card Statistics from CompareCards – Despite the rapid growth of the personal loan space credit card debt keeps rising, it now stands at a total of $1.072 trillion, an all time high.

Lendbuzz, AI Auto Startup That Steps in When FICO Fails, Raises $150M from Xconomy – Auto lender LendBuzz has raised $150 million, including $20 million in equity from 83NorthVC, as they focus on bringing better auto lending deals to thin file consumers.

UK FinTech Investment Flying High in H1 2019 from Innovate Finance – The UK fintech sector keep rocking along. They had a record $2.9 billion in venture capital raises in the first six months of 2019.

Goldman Sachs paid price for expansion into consumer banking from American Banker – Digging in to Goldman Sachs earnings reveals that the company has suffered $1.3 billion in losses in its consumer facing business (Marcus) along with a new transaction banking platform that is designed for corporate customers.

Challenger bank Varo, which has raised $179 million from Warburg Pincus and TPG, just took a big step that might separate it from competitors like Chime and Monzo from Business Insider – Digital bank Varo filed an application with the FDIC on Monday, one of the final steps it has to take before it can receive a national banking charter from the OCC.

First Associates Closes Investment Round with Stone Point Capital & Combines Operations with PFSC from First Associates – There was some action in the loan servicing business this week. First Associates has closed an investment round with Stone Point Capital and combined operations with PFSC. [Read more…]

During the week I share the latest marketplace lending and fintech news on Twitter as it happens. Then every Saturday I take the most interesting news items and blog posts from the past week and share them here.

Banks in no rush to join Facebook’s crypto project from Financial Times – It is interesting but not surprising that not one large bank has come out publicly supporting Facebook’s Libra project. In both the US and Europe banks have either been keeping quiet or are negative on the idea.

Monthly Jobs Report; Mortgage Fintech Innovation from PeerIQ – The weekly PeerIQ newsletter digs into Friday’s jobs report and looks at the state of play in mortgage innovation.

A brief history—and future—of credit scores from The Economist – Interesting piece in The Economist on the history of credit scores and the rise of alternative data in developing countries.

Digital banks seek to turn popularity into profits from Financial Times – The digital banking movement in the UK is led by the likes of Monzo . They are bringing a fundamentally different business model to banking but can they make a profit? 

Landbay announces £1bn funding to support buy-to-let lending from UKTN – The UK buy-to-let fintech lender Landbay has closed a huge £1b funding agreement with “a leading financial institution”.

Peer-to-Peer Lending- State of the Market Report 2019 from AltFi – Excellent report out this week on the European p2p lending market by AltFi.

Royal Bank of Scotland ‘in discussions’ with Facebook about Libra from Yahoo Finance – It seems at least one bank has started discussions with Facebook’s Libra. Oscar Williams-Grut is reporting that RBS are “in discussions with Facebook around Libra and what it might be and where it might go.” [Read more…]

During the week I share the latest marketplace lending and fintech news on Twitter as it happens. Then every Saturday I take the most interesting news items and blog posts from the past week and share them here. 

Klarna and fintech peers fuel fears of fresh wave of retail debt from Financial Times – I am a big fan of point of sale lending but offering installment loans doesn’t mean consumers will make good choices.

[Video] sophisticated fintech leaders of Germany discuss the future of finance from the LendIt Fintech Blog – My good friend and partner Bo Brustkern just got back from a whirlwind tour of Europe. Here he shares some thoughts from German fintech leaders.

Monzo, the UK challenger bank, raises £113M Series F led by YC’s Continuity fund at a £2B post-money valuation from TechCrunch – Yet another massive funding round for a UK fintech leader. TechCrunch is reporting that Monzo has closed a £113M funding round that values the company at close to £2B.

State regulators expand multistate licensing process for fintechs from American Banker – Finally, some movement on bringing the states together to make licensing for fintech companies easier. This is is about money transfers, next, they need to tackle lending.

Small-dollar lending fintech attracts Prudential backing from American Banker – Small dollar lender Aura (formerly Insikt) has received a $10 million investment from Prudential to expand its operations and lending capacity.

Funding Circle set for its largest ever securitisation from Peer2Peer Finance News – In the UK Funding Circle is putting together their fourth and largest securitization to date, a £244m deal.

Federal Lawmakers Not Convinced NY Confession of Judgment Ban is Enough from deBanked – There has been movement on the regulatory front for small business finance in past week. Last week we had the confession of judgment ban in NY state and there is now a bill being introduced in Congress as well. [Read more…]

During the week I share the latest marketplace lending and fintech news on Twitter as it happens. Then every Saturday I take the most interesting news items and blog posts from the past week and share them here. 

Google and PayPal explored OCC’s fintech charter, then walked away from American Banker – This is a bit of a moot point now with the lawsuits proceeding but it is interesting nonetheless. Google, PayPal and “dozens of other technology and fintech companies” met with the OCC during the past year to discuss the new charter.

This bank is ditching fees amid the rise of cheap checking accounts from fintech upstarts from CNBC – One bank has seen the light. Discover is dropping fees from online checking and savings account in response to customer expectations that have been changed, in part, by fintech companies.

Borrowell Closes $20 Million Series B as it Tops 1 Million Users from BetaKit – Our northern neighbors appear to be on a roll this month. Toronto-based Borrowell has closed a $20 million Series B and announced they now have more than one million users.

The 5 Keys To U.K. Digital Bank Monzo’s Success In The U.S. from Forbes – Interesting perspective from Ron Shevlin on what Monzo needs to do to be successful in the US. I think they could well struggle in part because, as Ron says, “It’s momentum and success in Europe isn’t relevant in the US”.

What The Launch Of Facebook’s Libra Means For Payments from PYMNTS.com – Details of Libra are now available and the best analysis I have read is by Karen Webster who suggests the real reason that Facebook is doing this. She also articulates a use case that I immediately thought of: micropayments. 

Led by a16z, Tally raises $50 million in Series C Funding from IBS Intelligence – Another day, another big fintech funding round. This time it is Tally out with a $50m Series C led by Andreessen Horowitz with heavy hitter Angela Strange joining the board of directors.

Dave, a fintech startup backed by Mark Cuban and Diplo, is launching a checking account that helps users build their credit score from Business Insider – With a new funding round, a new tagline and a new checking account Dave is poised to help millions more users maintain their financial health. [Read more…]

During the week I share the latest marketplace lending and fintech news on Twitter as it happens. Then every Saturday I take the most interesting news items and blog posts from the past week and share them here. 

Two Decades of Fintech Investing with Matt Harris from Rebank – Super interesting Rebank Podcast episode with Matt Harris discussing the state of fintech today. Money quote: “No one is going to succeed in consumer fintech without lending. There is just so much of the margin in banking that comes from credit”

LendInvest completes first £259m securitisation as it looks to further take market share from big banks from AltFi – In the UK LendInvest has completed its first securitization deal. The £259m transaction received a AAA rating (for the senior tranche) for the portfolio of buy-to-let loans.

London now has more fintech unicorns than San Francisco from Yahoo Finance – London is the undisputed fintech capital in Europe and it now boasts more fintech unicorns (18) than San Francisco (15).

JPMorgan spends $11 billion on technology. But a top exec at the giant bank says some clients don’t want it to be a tech company. from Business Insider – JPMorgan Chase spends billions every year on technology but their head of digital investment banking said their clients don’t want them to become a tech company.

Peer-to-peer groups battle to survive more hostile market from Financial Times – The UK p2p lending sector is going to go through some changes with many expecting a shift away from retail investors to institutions as has happened in the US.

Student-Debt Relief for Employees from The Wall Street Journal – There is legislation pending in Congress that will provide favorable tax treatment to companies offering student loan payment help to employees. If passed this will become a standard benefit for all Fortune 500 companies and more.

UK digital bank Monzo takes first steps into U.S. market from Reuters – The British are coming! One of the leading digital banks in the UK Monzo has announced they will be launching in the US soon. [Read more…]

During the week I share the latest marketplace lending and fintech news on Twitter as it happens. Then every Saturday I take the most interesting news items and blog posts from the past week and share them here.

Don’t sideline earned income access from American Banker – Great op-ed in American Banker on Monday by my good friend Dan Quan. I completely agree that earned income access is a game changer for struggling consumers and is destined to become a standard offering at many firms.

Santander and eBay to launch loans app in UK from Financial Times – Here is an interesting new partnership to help small business lending in the UK. Santander UK is partnering with eBay UK to offer loans to the 200,000+ small businesses that sell on eBay.

Alternative Lenders Continue to Steal Business From Banks from The Financial Brand – It is interesting that three of the largest small business lenders today are essentially tech companies: PayPal , Square and Amazon . Along with industry leaders OnDeck and Kabbage they are taking marketshare away from banks.

As £165m Lendy collapses, experts warn ‘a dozen more peer-to-peer firms will follow’ from The Telegraph – The collapse of UK p2p lending platform Lendy has caused concern for investors with some wondering if there are other platforms in danger of failing.

Fintech start-ups are vying for partnership deals with the likes of Apple and Facebook from CNBC – At Money2020 in Amsterdam today much of the talk was about big tech companies with some fintech leaders already discussing potential partnerships.

Biz2Credit Raises $52M In Funding To Expand from PYMNTS.com – The big funding rounds keep coming in 2019. Now, it is Biz2Credit ‘s turn. They have closed a $52M Series B led by WestBridge Capital to ramp up their new Biz2X banking as a service offering.

ING pushes for open banking with SME financing platform and Yolt expansion from Fintech Futures – One of the most digitally-focused big banks in Europe is ING. They are now expanding their Yolt personal finance app to France and Italy and bringing Funding Options to The Netherlands. [Read more…]