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.

How peer-to-peer lending turned middle-class Chinese dreamers into angry protesters from Quartz – Interesting piece from the weekend on the problems in the Chinese p2p lending industry right now and the impact it is having on many investors.

China proposes 10 measures to fight against rising P2P risks – Xinhua from Reuters – Another piece on China and 10 measures being rolled out by Chinese authorities to combat the risks of p2p lending.

Highest CPI since 2008, Strong FinTech Earnings, PeerIQ’s Valuation Methodology from PeerIQ – This week’s PeerIQ newsletter brings us the latest industry news and takes a deep dive into loan valuation with the top 5 questions to ask.

How 80-year-old UOB uses AI to anticipate customer behavior from Tearsheet – A look inside the expansion strategies of one of the largest banks in Asia. Great piece by Zack Miller on Singapore’s UOB.

Fintech Crowd Dives Into Subprime Credit-Card Lending from The Wall Street Journal – I think there is more innovation happening in the subprime credit space than many other areas of fintech. There are more responsible options today for these consumers than ever before.

‘Fintechs’ Sound Cautious Note on Offer of U.S. Bank Charter from The New York Times – No companies have applied for the OCC fintech charter yet as most people are taking a wait and see approach.

Overhaul Boosts Credit Scores of Millions of U.S. Consumers from The Wall Street Journal – Many consumers have seen their credit scores rise as delinquencies from things like gym memberships, library fines and traffic tickets are removed from credit histories. [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.

How this woman went from a Pizza Hut employee to a founder of a $4 billion startup from Business Insider – Fascinating piece in Business Insider on the early days of Credit Karma and the role co-founder Nichole Mustard played.

Debut of the OCC’s FinTech Charter + Supervisory Standards from PeerIQ – This week’s PeerIQ newsletter covers the latest industry news including the release of the US Treasury report from last week and does a deep dive on the new OCC fintech charter.

Facebook taps banks, but for chatbots not purchase data like Google from TechCrunch – Facebook and big banks are in the news today as the WSJ has claimed that Facebook asked banks for transaction data. According to TechCrunch that is not what happened.

China millennials’ love of credit cards raises debt fears from Financial Times – Consumer lending in China has risen steadily over the last several years as people there take on more debt in all categories.

SoFi Is Said to Report Second-Quarter Loss of $200 Million from Bloomberg – Meanwhile, Bloomberg shared this week that SoFi reported a $200m loss in Q2 on loan volume of “more than $3 billion”.

Regulators club together to form global ‘fintech sandbox’ from Financial Times – Despite the reluctance of some to embrace the regulatory sandbox concept it is gaining momentum around the world. Now, an alliance of regulatory authorities from 11 countries has been formed to take the concept global.

What’s missing from the OCC’s fintech charter from American Banker – Interesting perspective in American Banker on the OCC fintech charter and the challenges of comparing banks with fintech companies. [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.

Jack Ma’s Giant Financial Startup Is Shaking the Chinese Banking System from The Wall Street Journal – Fascinating piece on Ant Financial and the incredible financial power they have amassed in a short time. Chinese banks and even the government are starting to push back.

Human Bankers Are Losing to Robots as Nordea Sets a New Standard from Bloomberg – Interesting that a large European bank is already reducing its workforce in response to more automation.

The Adventurous Investor: ‘the FCA has made a major category error’ from AltFi – Not everyone thinks the recent proposals by the FCA are a good thing for the p2p lending industry in the UK. David Stevenson shares his thoughts on why he thinks the FCA has made a blunder here.

After years of debate, OCC to offer fintech charter from American Banker – More on the announcement by the OCC on their new fintech charter.

UK fintech scores the global top spot for investment in the first half of 2018 from City A.M. – A new report from KPMG has the UK as the country that received the most fintech investment in the first half of this year.

INSIKT Completes $25 Million Social Bond Securitization; Drives Social Impact, CRA and Economic Returns for Investors from Business Wire – Short term lender Insikt closed its 7th micro-securitization in June, a $25 million deal, bringing their total to $145m in less than two years (press release).

Will Europe’s fintech banks conquer North America? from AltFi – Two European fintech leaders, Revolut and n26, are launching in the US soon. It will be fascinating to see how they do. [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.

A Conversation with Figure’s Mike Cagney from The Financial Revolutionist – Interesting Q&A with Mike Cagney on Figure, his new startup, and Provenance, his new blockchain protocol.

Lowest Jobless Claims since 1969, Strong Bank and Card Issuer Earnings from PeerIQ – This week’s PeerIQ newsletter does a deep dive on the Deloitte/LendIt cost of funding survey.

Collapse of Chinese peer-to-peer lenders sparks investor flight from Financial Times – The Chinese p2p lending industry is having serious issues right now with hundreds of platforms failing in 2018.

Home loans turned us into a hot property, says Christian Faes, founder of LendInvest from The Times – Great interview with Christian Faes on the early days of LendInvest in The Times of London.

Poorer Americans buckling as U.S. economy booms from Reuters – Interesting piece from Reuters today on the increasing challenges facing lower income Americans today.

Americans are splurging on personal loans thanks to fintech startups from Quartz – More on the TransUnion personal loan data that has been making the rounds. One new interesting fact, 6% of Americans have a personal loan, 60% carry a credit card balance. Lots of room for growth.

Code names and flowers: Rabobank’s novel approach to protecting customer data from American Banker – This is an interesting response to the increased need for data security. Rabobank is replacing real customer names with Latin flower names and addresses with Latin animals. [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.

Rising Inflation, Bank Earnings, Deep-Dive on Inflation Trends from PeerIQ – The latest PeerIQ newsletter takes a look at inflation, growth in consumer credit, bank earnings and more.

Investors left to rue losses as fraudulent Chinese P2P lenders collapse in tighter regulatory environment from South China Morning Post – In China the p2p lending fallout continues as more platforms fail and investors are left with losses.

Banks’ approach to risk data is deeply inadequate from Financial Times – Only three of the top 30 global banks are doing an adequate job of managing their risk data.

Average Credit Card Debt in the U.S. in 2018 from MagnifyMoney – In the past year Americans have paid $104 billion in credit card interest and fees up 11% over the previous year and 35% over the past five years.

As CRE Lending Landscape Shifts, Nonbank Lenders Step Up from Forbes – Could the US commercial property market be headed for a downturn? The CEO of Money360 digs into this question and the shifting role of direct lending platforms.

Under new CEO, full speed ahead for Goldman’s consumer push from American Banker – The American Banker take on the new Goldman Sachs CEO and what this might mean for the company’s fintech efforts.

LendingClub turns to outsider to oversee credit operations from American Banker – In hiring news LendingClub has created a new position at the firm, Chief Lending Officer and have recruited an executive from GreenSky. [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.

Business-Loan Drought Ends for Banks from The Wall Street Journal – According to data from the Federal Reserve business borrowing is up 5.5% year over year reflecting increased confidence in the economy.

China Report: More P2P Lenders Collapse as Regulatory Environment Tightens from Crowdfund Insider – China has tightened the rules for p2p lending platforms resulting in failures on a regular basis in 2018.

JPMorgan Chase launched an online bank for millennials called Finn, and I prefer it to the real thing from Business Insider – An in depth look at the new mobile only bank offering from Chase called Finn.

US Yield Curve Update, Fed Studies FinTech Lending, GreenSky Deep-Dive from PeerIQ – This week’s PeerIQ newsletter has a deep dive on Greensky as well as all the latest industry news.

‘Get Shit Done’: the Revolut way from AltFi – Great piece by Ryan Weeks on the culture at Revolut, one of the UK’s leading fintech companies that has global ambitions.

The Past, Present and Future of the ILC Bank from deBanked – Banks with an Industrial Loan Charter (aka ILC Banks) are controversial with some saying no new licenses should be approved. Here is the lowdown from deBanked.

Unicorn Founder, English Buff: Kathryn Petralia, Kabbage President, Is Shaking Things Up In FinTech from Forbes – Great profile of Kathryn Petralia, the co-founder of Kabbage and one of my favorite people in fintech. [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.

Under Noto, SoFi Trying to Raise Money for Deals from The Wall Street Journal – Interesting piece about SoFi. They have a new head of M&A and so appear to be on the lookout for acquisitions. And it looks like late 2019 is the earliest date for a possible IPO.

Three Is A Magic Number from The FinTech Junkie – The latest from Frank Rotman introduces us to the perfect business model and the business trinity of product, pricing and channel.

Zopa Announces £1.5 Million Profit; Revenues Raise By 40% to £46.5 Million from Crowdfund Insider – The original p2p lending platform Zopa has announced a return to profitability even as it grows its lending business by 43% and readies for a banking license.

LendInvest notches another year of profit from AltFi – Meanwhile LendInvest has also reported a profit last year, while growing their lending business by 91%. Well done Christian Faes and team.

Personal Loans Surge to a Record High from Bloomberg – Interesting piece on Bloomberg about the personal loan market. It is booming and online lending platforms made 36% of all loans in 2017 as compared to less than 1% in 2010.

Open Banking – a complete failure? from Chris Skinner’s Blog – When it comes to open banking Chris Skinner takes a look at why, after six months, no consumer facing service using publicly available APIs has been implemented.

SoFi Elects Peggy Alford & Magdalena Ye?il to Board of Directors from Crowdfund Insider – On Tuesday SoFi announced the appointment of two new board members. [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.

Continued Yield Curve Flattening, FREED 2018-1 Deep Dive from PeerIQ – This week PeerIQ looks at the top stories from the past week and does a deep dive into the inaugural securitization from Freedom Financial.

KeyBank Acquires SMB Lending Tool Bolstr, Plans to Originate $2.5 Billion in Loans in 5 Years from Bank Innovation – Another bank is getting serious about fintech. KeyBank has acquired small business lending platform Bolstr to help them automate and mobile-enable their lending operation.

Why Borrow Against Your Cryptoasset Holdings? from Crowdfund Insider – Interesting guest post on Crowdfund Insider by Zac Prince about why borrowing money against your crypto holdings is a good idea.

‘Done is better than perfect’: How Chase built a digital banking brand in-house from Tearsheet – Interesting piece on the new mobile-only offering from Chase called Finn by Chase and how they were able to build it in house in just 16 weeks.

House passes bill allowing telecom, utility payments in credit scores from American Banker – In Washington today the House passed a bill allowing the sharing of payment information from utilities and telcos to credit reporting agencies.

Banks are losing the data war from Chris Skinner’s Blog – Interesting insights from Chris Skinner on the real competition happening today in fintech and why the digital banks are already winning.

Banks can’t partner themselves into digital relevancy from American Banker – Banks need to do more than just partner with fintech companies, they need a completely new mindset to compete in the future argues Louise Beaumont in American Banker. [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.

Inside SoFi’s World Cup strategy from Tearsheet – SoFi is no stranger to TV ads during big sporting events but this is an interesting look inside the company’s ad campaign for the World Cup.

Fed Raises Rates, Rising Inflation & the Yield Curve, PeerIQ Webinar from PeerIQ – The PeerIQ newsletter this week takes a deep dive into interest rates and what the Fed might do next as well as analysis of the yield curve for US Treasuries.

Peer-to-peer lender Ratesetter in talks about £30m fundraising from Sky News – In the UK RateSetter is looking to raise £30M at a reported £280M valuation as the company starts to gear up for an IPO.

New Credit Card Startup Lands $50 Million From PayPal Mafia And Other Investors from Forbes – Interesting startup has taken a different approach to the staid corporate credit card.

Are you ready to ditch your bank? SoFi is betting its future on it from Fast Company – The new SoFi banking app, called SoFi Money, launches in beta today. Ainsley Harris has the scoop.

5 Questions with Nat Hoopes from VantageScore – Five questions with Nat Hoopes talking about the great work being done by the Marketplace Lending Association.

SoftBank Finally Finds A Bargain from Forbes – NYSE-listed Chinese internet company Renren about to be taken private and with it investors will no longer have exposure to equity investments in the likes of SoFi, LendingHome, Fundrise and more. [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.

Ranger Direct shares end higher after bowing to activist pressure to wind up from Financial Times – Struggling UK listed fund Ranger Direct Lending looks to be closing its doors.

‘Open banking on steroids’: Monzo launches task automation with IFTTT from Tearsheet – This kind of innovation from Monzo is what is going to make digital banking really useful.

Lending through Funding Circle unlocked 75,000 jobs in 2017 from PR Newswire – New report out shows that Funding Circle loans have helped create 75,000 new jobs in the US and UK in 2017.

Fintech threatens to eclipse banks that do not adapt digitally from Financial Times – Interesting opinion piece in the FT by the Chairman of BBVA about the potential transition of banks into marketplaces as they continue to innovate.

Amazon launches lending platform for sellers from The Economic Times – Interesting news out of India where Amazon India becomes the first country to launch their “seller lending network”, it is like a loan marketplace for Amazon sellers.

PayPal rival Adyen surges 90 percent in IPO with valuation topping $15 billion from CNBC – Fantastic start for fintech platform Adyen as they went public in Amsterdam yesterday and soared almost 90% on their first day of trading.

Platforms shift to auto-lending as demand for diversification rises from Peer2Peer Finance News – In the UK there has been a shift among p2p lending investors to choosing automated investing options at the platforms. [Read more…]