Marketplace Lending News Roundup – October 6

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.

Delinquency/Loss Trends; Yield Curve One Hike from Inversion; Varo withdraws FDIC app from PeerIQ – This week the PeerIQ newsletter has the latest industry news and gives a preview of their MPL Loan Performance Monitor.

Blenheim Chalcot spearheads fintech push on Wall Street from Finextra – One of the UK’s leading VC firms, Blenheim Chalcot, has announced a significant expansion to take on the US market.

How HSBC’s Diane Reyes is staying a step ahead of fintechs from American Banker – One of the many challenges for big banks is to be as nimble and innovative as the fintech platforms snapping at their heels. Here is how one big global bank does it.

International P2P Lending Volumes September 2018 from P2P-Banking – The European p2p lending volumes are out for September with Latvian platform Mintos leading the way again.

Why there’s no need for the OCC’s fintech charter from American Banker – Interesting piece by Todd Baker on why the fintech charter is not necessary and the government agency that really needs to step up to the plate to encourage innovation.

Credit Karma expands into insurance with auto policy service from Reuters – Looks like Credit Karma is getting into auto insurance with CEO Ken Lin saying that Americans are overspending by $21 billion a year.

High-cost bank loans a step in the wrong direction from American Banker – Interesting perspective from the Center for Responsible Lending on the recent US Bank announcement to start a small dollar loan program.

Lending Club weighs in on Funding Circle’s float from AltFi – Now that Funding Circle is a public company there are comparisons being drawn with LendingClub particularly when it comes to valuation.

N26 is launching its bank in the UK from TechCrunch – German fintech startup N26 has finally launched in the UK, nearly a year after announcing its intention to do so. The UK digital banking landscape is starting to get crowded.

Investors Cool on Hotly Anticipated London FinTech IPO from The Wall Street Journal – It has not been a great start for Funding Circle in the UK public markets.

Meet the start-up you’ve never heard of that powers Venmo, Robinhood and other big consumer apps from CNBC – Those of us in fintech have certainly heard of Plaid and are aware of their success but this is a good profile of them by Kate R00ney on CNBC.

Square sellers can now offer their customers payment plans from Techcrunch – Square have been offering small business advances to their customers for some time but this is their first foray into consumer lending.

Zopa narrows losses despite banking arm investment from Peer2Peer Finance News – In the UK Zopa has shared their 2017 numbers with a loss of £4.2m (down from a £6.6m loss in 2016) on revenue of £50m, up 32% from the previous year.

Smartphone brand can reflect creditworthiness: FDIC study from American Banker – Many in fintech have known this for some time but now it is official. An FDIC report shows that a borrower’s digital footprint is useful in predicating defaults.

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.

Prosper not in Missouri anymore? – It looks like Missouri residents are no longer able to invest with Prosper.

Are there any good tools to evaluate notes on secondary market? – An investor is looking to invest in more notes on LendingClub’s secondary market.

IRA Notes sold- what next? – Investors need to consider the implications of future recoveries when closing down an IRA account with LendingClub.

  • 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.