Marketplace Lending News Roundup – February 22nd, 2020

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.

Jelena McWilliams, Chairman of the FDIC by Barefoot Innovation Group – Probably my favorite episode yet of JoAnn Barefoot’s excellent podcast. Jelena McWilliams, Chairman of FDIC Gov, has a vision to transform not just how banks are supervised but how regulators like the FDIC can encourage innovation.

Exclusive: Starling Bank building loan book with Zopa deal by Altfi – In the UK Starling Bank is now investing in Zopa loans. Good to see innovative fintech companies working together.

Who Wants A Marcus Checking Account? A Lot Of People According To One Survey by Forbes – According to a recent survey by Cornerstone Advisors Goldman’s digital consumer bank Marcus would become the 5th largest bank in the U.S. once they start offering a checking account. Another great piece by Ron Shevlin in Forbes.

N26 customers feel ‘betrayed’ by the German digital bank’s decision to quit the UK by CNBC – The decision by digital bank N26 to exit the UK market has caused “disappointment” and “outrage” among its many users there, with some accusing the company of not being completely forthright about its decision to leave.

German Savers Transform the Baltics Into a Fintech Vanguard by Bloomberg – One of the under the radar success stories of European fintech is Mintos. The Latvian P2P Lending platform has become a phenomenon with 40% of the market in the European Union.

Capping interest rates on payday loans leads to more debt and defaults by The Economist – Interesting study on the impact of interest rate caps on consumer behavior. Sometimes there are unintended consequences to well intentioned initiatives.

Why LendingClub’s Acquisition Of Radius Bank Is A Smart Deal by Forbes – Ron Shevlin gives his perspective on the LendingClub deal and why the company decided to acquire not just any bank, but rather a digital banking leader.

What LendingClub and Radius saw in each other by American Banker – More analysis, this one by Penny Crosman, with comments from both LendingClub president Steve Allocca and Radius Bank CEO Mike Butler.

Fifth Third teams with online lender to offer small-business loans by American Banker – Fifth Third is teaming up with Fundation to use their white label small business lending service.

Fintech Top 100 Influencers by Onalytica – Onalytica analyzed more than 5 million social media posts to discover the top 100 most influential individuals leading the discussion about fintech. I am honored to be included on this list at #8.

  • 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.