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.
LendIt Interviews: June Ou of Figure on Blockchain and the Home Equity Market from LendIt Fintech Blog – Interesting Q&A with June Ou, the co-founder of Figure (Mike Cagney’s new startup) talking home equity, blockchain adoption, AI, women in fintech and more.
LendingHome passes $3 billion in mortgage loans from HousingWire – In real estate LendingHome keeps growing and has now crossed $3 billion in loans.
Exclusive: Fintech lender wins FSCS coverage from AltFi – In the UK LendInvest now has the backing of the FSCS protecting investors not against loss of principal but against a potential platform failure.
Goldman teams up with a real estate start-up in push to make more home improvement loans from CNBC – Goldman Sachs continues to push the envelope in consumer finance. They have now partnered with HouseCanary on a tool for homeowners to help them decide if a home improvement project is worth it.
Renaud Laplanche’s journey from scandal to second act from American Banker – Great piece by Penny Crosman on the comeback of Renaud Laplanche with Upgrade and what they are doing differently.
Starling to help RBS develop digital bank from Finextra – Pretty interesting that one of the largest UK banks, RBS, is enlisting the help of digital challenger Starling Bank to develop their own digital bank.
UBS closes its UK robo-advice service to new customers from Financial Times – UBS has thrown in the towel on its robo-advice platform called SmartWealth as it sells to SigFig a leading US platform.
OCC goes it alone on first step toward CRA overhaul from American Banker – The 40-year-old Community Reinvestment Act is in need of an overhaul to reflect digital banking. The OCC is taking the lead in this and is seeking public comment.
Wonga collapses into administration from The Guardian – Not a huge surprise because they have been struggling for years but UK payday lender Wonga has stopped lending and has started bankruptcy proceedings.
SoFi’s had a rough year. Can it move on? from CNN – A look at the current state of play at SoFi and the importance of their SoFi Money product to the future success of the company.
Funding Circle set for September float from P2P Finance News – The long awaited Funding Circle IPO looks set to happen in the next two weeks in London at a £1.5 billion valuation.
The $4b ‘buy now, pay later’ startup built on a legal loophole from The Sydney Morning Herald – Interesting piece on Australian point of sale lender AfterPay as they expand to the US.
Paper: Two Bills in Congress May Fix the Profoundly Flawed Definition of Accredited Investor, but One Bill is Better from Crowdfund Insider – There may finally be movement in Washington to change antiquated accredited investor rules.
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.
Earth to Lending Academy Forum, Over? – Forum members share their thoughts on LendingClub’s stock price.
Lending Club automatically closing accounts – If you have a closed LendingClub account, they will send you any recoveries received via check.
Is Interest Radar still active – Interest Radar, one of the early tools for retail investors is working on a new site.
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.