Marketplace Lending News Roundup – February 2, 2019

News

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.

Is the OCC’s fintech charter really ‘perfect’ for mortgage lenders? from American Banker – One of the big questions in fintech right now is who will be first to apply for the OCC fintech charter.

Tencent-backed WeBank eyes Australian expansion from BankingTech – The Chinese are coming…to Australia. Tencent backed WeBank is looking to expand to Australia to start a digital bank there.

Mixed Credit Card Issuers’ Earnings; PeerIQ’s MPL Loan Performance Monitor from PeerIQ – This week PeerIQ looks at earnings and credit performance from four of the largest credit card issuers.

How online platforms shook small-business lending in America from Financial Times – Interesting piece in the Financial Times on the rise of small business online lending platforms in the US.

Bank regulators are getting serious about innovation from American Banker – In American Banker Jo Ann Barefoot makes the case that we really are seeing an embrace of regulatory innovation by bank regulators in Washington.

GreenSky launches new loan product for elective health care from American Banker – Interesting new development from GreenSky. They are now offering a revolving credit line of up to $25,000 for their healthcare clients.

Cross River and Railsbank Announce Partnership to Enable Global Market Access for Fintech Companies by Providing Seamless, Cross-Border Banking and Payment Solutions from Business Wire – Also announced this week was an interesting new international banking partnership between Cross River and Railsbank.

Petal raises $30M from Valar to bank the unbanked with credit cards from TechCrunch – Startup fintech credit card company Petal has closed on a $30 million Series B led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures.

Varo Money offers sky-high APY on savings account — but it comes with a catch from Bankrate – US digital bank startup Varo has announced they will now pay 2.8% on new savings accounts, one of the highest in the nation.

Student Loan Startup Climb Credit Raises $50 Million From Goldman Sachs from Forbes – Results oriented student lender Climb Credit has raised $50 million in debt financing from Goldman Sachs.

Small-business banking is about to get a whole lot better from American Banker – I love this op-ed from former SBA Administrator Karen Mills. The last few years have seen tremendous progress in helping small business owners manage their finances but it is about to get so much better.

Cross-border testing pilot for innovative firms open to applications from the FCA – The international group of regulators called the Global Financial Innovation Network (GFIN) has expanded to 29 countries and is inviting applications from fintech companies looking to test products across borders.

A George Soros-backed fintech has raised millions to analyze consumer loan trends just as recession worries pick up steam from Business Insider – The fintech data analytics firm dv01 has closed a $15 million Series B from George Soros. Congrats to Perry Rahbar and the team.

Brexit blamed for slowdown in consumer lending from Peer2Peer Finance News – A new Bank of England report shows that the UK is already seeing a slowdown in consumer lending likely caused by uncertainty given impending Brexit deadline.

Lighter Capital partners with Silicon Valley Bank to offer startups debt financing and banking services from Geekwire – Another interesting new fintech/bank partnership was announced yesterday. Small business lender Lighter Capital is partnering with Silicon Valley Bank in a deep and unique integration unlike other deals.

Online lender Marlette reports profit, then takes jabs at the competition from American Banker – Our guest in this week’s podcast, Jeffrey Meiler of Marlette Funding, also talked with American Banker about profitability, the competition, the entrance of banks into the personal loan space and more.

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.

Recoveries: More than usual? – It seems LendingClub has changed the way you can view account activity.

Six month review of my Lending Club account – A LendingClub investor provides an update on their portfolio.

I am a high frequency secondary market trader – ask me anything – A LendingClub investor shares how they’ve been investing through LendingClub’s secondary market.

  • Peter Renton

    Peter Renton is the chairman and co-founder of Fintech Nexus, the world’s largest digital media 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.