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.
PayPal, Intuit & Square approved to offer loans to small businesses through coronavirus relief program by TechCrunch – We are finally seeing some approvals for fintech lenders to help with PPP Loans. We now have three big lenders approved PayPal, QuickBooks and Square. Hopefully more to come soon.
Mark Cuban says banks are leaving small businesses ‘out in the cold’ by acting too slowly with emergency loans by Business Insider – One of the leading voices for small business advocacy during the past few weeks has been Mark Cuban. Here he is sounding off on slow moving banks.
Just 1.4% of firms enquiring about UK coronavirus business loans successful by The Guardian – I have been pretty outspoken on some of the failings of the PPP loan program here but the UK is also struggling with their CBILS program, maybe even more so.
Onfido, the AI-based ID verification platform, raises $100M led by TPG by TechCrunch – Great to see deals still being closed in this environment. I am a big fan of the work that Husayn Kassai and the his team at Onfido are doing. Congrats on the latest funding round of $100m.
Fintechs help banks manage deluge of emergency small-business loans by American Banker – Beyond applying to originate PPP loans many fintech companies are supporting the small business lending program in different ways.
The Impact of COVID-19 on Global FinTech Lenders by Viola Credit – Prominent private credit fund Viola Credit is conducting a global survey of fintech lenders. Please fill it out.
BankThink Dear Congress: Don’t let initial PPP be final word on small-business aid by American Banker – Great op-ed in American Banker by JoAnn Barefoot and David Ehrich on the PPP and what needs to happen next to support small business.
Scoop: Stripe raises $600 million at nearly $36 billion valuation by Axios – It seems like this week has been the biggest week for funding rounds for several weeks, so that is good news. Here is fintech behemoth Stripe cashing in on another $600m.
‘Leave room for the little guys’: Square’s advice for PPP 2.0 by American Banker – With a $240,000 average loan size the first round of the PPP loan program was primarily used by larger small businesses. The second round should be focused on the much smaller businesses. Another important piece by Penny Crosman.
Leaked pics reveal Google smart debit card to rival Apple’s by TechCrunch – TechCrunch has discovered leaked images that show Google is working on physical and virtual debit cards.
Peter Renton is the chairman and co-founder of LendIt Fintech, the world’s first and largest digital media and events company focused on fintech. Peter has been writing about fintech since 2010 and he is the author and creator of the Fintech One-on-One Podcast, the first and longest-running fintech interview series. Peter has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The New York Times, CNBC, CNN, Fortune, NPR, Fox Business News, the Financial Times, and dozens of other publications.