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.
Launch of TransUnion’s Startup Credit Kit; 48-year Low Unemployment Rate from PeerIQ – This week’s PeerIQ newsletter brings us the latest industry news, provides insight on LendingClub 36-month loans and gives us a preview of their Q3 securitization tracker coming out this week.
JPMorgan’s requirement for new staff: coding lessons from Financial Times – Really interesting that JP Morgan is making all new investment bankers take coding classes.
Toward a more inclusive fintech industry from American Banker – Great piece by Kathryn Petralia in American Banker on what is needed to bring about a more inclusive fintech industry.
Deloitte & Innovate Finance Publish Report on UK FCA Fintech Sandbox from Crowdfund Insider – The fintech sandbox created by the FCA in the UK is held up as the gold standard globally. But there is always room for improvement.
Mike Cagney’s Figure Launches Blockchain-Powered Online Home Equity Loans from PYMNTS – Figure, the new company of Mike Cagney, have officially launched their new home equity loan product. They claim to be the fastest home equity loan on the planet with approvals in 5 minutes and funding in 5 days.
The way to Amazon- and Apple-style loyalty? Reinvent the branch from American Banker – I don’t agree with much of this article but clearly the bank branch needs a complete overhaul if it is to remain even moderately relevant in the future.
Fellow Finance goes public from AltFi – Another European online lending platform has gone public. This time it is Fellow Finance in Finland.
Goldman Sachs’ new retail bank Marcus has signed up 50,000 UK customers in under 2 weeks from Business Insider – In the UK Marcus is off to a solid start with 50,000 deposit customers signing up in the first two weeks. This was “far in excess of what the bank expected”.
Jack Dorsey’s Square Loses Its CFO from The Wall Street Journal – The CFO and number two executive at Square, Sarah Friar, is leaving the company and the fintech space to become CEO of Nextdoor.
Walmart will now allow shoppers to access PayPal cash in stores from TechCrunch – This is an interesting partnership. Walmart and PayPal are teaming up to help customers withdraw and deposit cash to their PayPal account in store.
Fintech Startup PayActiv Secure $20 Million Through Series B Financing Round Led By Generation Partners from Crowdfund Insider – Financial wellness fintech company PayActiv has raised $20 million in a Series B led by Generation Partners.
Gary Cohn Has Joined a Blockchain Startup as an Adviser from Bloomberg – Spun out of Avant, blockchain startup Spring Labs already had an all star advisory board. Now, they have added former White House advisor and Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn.
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.
Is LC no longer interested in retail investors? – Some forum members question whether LendingClub is still focused on the retail investor.
How could a note with pending payment be listed on FolioFn? – Investment orders in notes on the secondary market that have pending payments will eventually be cancelled.
Why not buy notes with a premium? – A LendingClub investor asks about a secondary market investment strategy.
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.