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.
Robinhood backs down after outcry over checking account from American Banker – It’s been an interesting few days for Robinhood. They announce a new “savings and checking account” with great fanfare. But they have been forced to backpedal now given the SIPC had not given them the go ahead. Makes fintech startups look amateurish.
US Yield Curve Inverts; Spreads Widening on New FinTech Deals from PeerIQ – In this week’s PeerIQ newsletter they look at the US yield curve, new fintech acquisitions and financings as well as the new securitizations from CommonBond and LendingClub.
Want a Better Credit Score? Soon, Your Cellphone Bill Could Help from The Wall Street Journal – Early next year Experian is going to incorporate cellphone and utility payments into consumers’ credit scores.
From innovation theatre to real innovation from Chris Skinner’s Blog – Interesting piece by Chris Skinner on the history of innovation in banking over the last couple of decades.
Investors Are Piling Into Loans That Banks Have Avoided Since the Crash from Bloomberg – Alternative lending to businesses is booming. According to Bloomberg “In the past 10 years, private funds that lend directly to companies have raised almost $500 billion”.
The Future Of FinTech According To Bain Capital Ventures’ Matt Harris from Forbes – One of the most experienced VCs in all of fintech is Matt Harris of Bain Capital Ventures. Interesting wide ranging interview with him in Forbes.
Lending Club: $1.15 Billion Market Cap, $800 Million In Cash from Seeking Alpha – Interesting piece on LendingClub and their stock price. The author makes the case that at current levels the stock looks to be undervalued.
Funding Circle Plunges as Citi’s Rapid Downgrade Adds to Worries from Bloomberg – Citi analysts downgrade Funding Circle to sell and the stock plunges 26%.
Square Revives Request to Start a Bank from The Wall Street Journal – After pulling their application earlier this year Square is back with an application to start a bank, it would be an ILC based in Utah.
CommonBond Completes Another AAA Securitization of $399.2 Million In Total Loans from Crowdfund Insider – Student loan refinancing leader CommonBond has closed a $399 million securitization that was rated AAA by Moody’s Investor Services and DBRS.
Robinhood’s stumble is a wake-up call from American Banker – Perspective on the Robinhood debacle from the Consumer Bankers Association.
Affirm’s Levchin On Changing The Consumer Credit Conversation from PYMNTS.com – The CEO of Affirm says that we need to change the conversation about credit in this country to focus on consumer choice.
From the Lend Academy Forum
The Lend Academy forum is where investors go to discuss p2p lending. Below are some topics that were being discussed this week.
Cash Parking – Forum members share their thoughts on Robinhood’s checking and savings accounts which will pay 3% interest.
Opinion on Wunder Solar Funds – A forum member shares a recent podcast that Wunder was featured on.
Worst Month Yet – LendingClub investors discuss recoveries on loans.
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.