April Fools Day Archives

Entire UK Fintech Community Moves to Iceland

April 1, 2019 By Peter Renton Leave a Comment

Shocking news from across the pond today. Citing continued frustration over the uncertainty surrounding Brexit the entire UK fintech community has announced today they are moving to Iceland.

This surprising move is a huge boost for the Iceland economy, not typically known as a hotbed of fintech. Speaking with reporters today Iceland’s prime minister, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, said that today’s historic announcement is the result of months of negotiation wooing the likes of Revolut, Funding Circle, Zopa, Monzo, LendInvest, Nutmeg, Starling Bank and many more UK fintech leaders.

One fintech CEO, who preferred to remain anonymous, had this is say when questioned about this historic move, “Any financial business struggles with uncertainty and after almost three years of uncertainty with Brexit we have had enough. Our employees and customers fully support this move and are looking forward to settling in to life in Reykjavik”.

This is unprecedented and a huge loss for the UK government who have long touted their support of fintech companies. London has often been considered the fintech capital of the world and now that title will likely move to Reykjavik. Up until this point there has not been much of a fintech presence in Iceland and that is all about to change with this announcement. UK fintech companies will begin moving staff as soon as tomorrow.

One minor hiccup emerged as this story was going to press. Iceland is not actually a member of the European Union, it is part of the European Economic Area and a member of the European Free Trade Association. Fintech leaders shrugged off this minor detail arguing that the most important factor right now is to bring certainty to the future of UK fintech.

UK Decides to Exit the United Nations, London Fintech Community Unfazed

Amazing news today that could have a significant impact on the London fintech community.

April 1, 2017 By Peter Renton 2 Comments

Absolutely shocking news out of London today. With the ink barely dry on the letter sent to the European Union a few days ago triggering Brexit, the U.K. parliament did something no one expected. They passed a resolution to exit the United Nations.

While we all thought Brexit was shocking this announcement today is truly stunning. Particularly when you consider that the U.K. is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council. Prime Minister Theresa May said that her government felt this was in the best interests of the United Kingdom and will help the country find its real identity in the world.

While the London Fintech community has taken Brexit in its stride this news will likely prove more challenging. But when I contacted industry leaders there early this morning they said the U.K. Fintech industry would be fine. The CEOs of Zopa, Funding Circle and Ratesetter all echoed similar thoughts, that the U.K. is a big market and that their businesses will continue to thrive with or without the rest of the world.

Many have argued that London is the Fintech capital of the world with more startups and more financial innovation happening in London than just about any other city in the world. It will be very interesting to see if this remains the case now in coming years.

One final note that came to light as we were about to publish this article. North Korea has sent an urgent request to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres to be considered for the now vacant permanent membership on the U.N. Security Council. No word on a response yet.

Donald Trump Takes Out a Prosper Loan to Fund Campaign

The billionaire presidential candidate receives a $35,000 personal loan from one of the leading marketplace lending platforms.

April 1, 2016 By Peter Renton 5 Comments

There was a surprising announcement from the presidential campaign of Donald Trump this morning. Sources inside the campaign revealed that Mr. Trump has successfully applied for and received a $35,000 personal loan from Prosper. He has committed those funds to his campaign.

I was astonished to hear this news given Mr. Trump’s large personal fortune so I contacted the campaign myself this morning. Here is Mr. Trump’s statement released just a short time ago:

It is very important to me to have a well-funded campaign. I decided to take out this loan on Prosper, not because I needed the money, I don’t, but it was a good business decision. I negotiated an incredible interest rate of 5.99% and decided to jump on this opportunity.

I immediately reached out to Aaron Vermut, the CEO of Prosper, for comment on such a high profile borrower and the huge boost in PR this must be for Prosper. But unfortunately he would neither confirm nor deny the existence of a loan from Mr. Trump citing Prosper’s privacy policy.

But Aaron did have a general comment about loaning money to wealthy individuals:

Billionaires have funding needs just like the rest of us. If they need a loan to put a down payment on an Aston Martin, repairs on their private jet, a new Rolex , a diamond encrusted toilet or even a presidential campaign we are here to help provide financing up to $35,000.

While the Trump campaign did not release the terms of his loan we can deduce from Mr. Trump’s statement that his loan is likely a 3-year AA-rated loan. The 5.99% APR is the lowest interest rate Prosper offers to first time borrowers which would be for those loan terms. Regardless, I expect this loan will be paid back early given the campaign has less than eight months to go.

I am very interested to see how this plays out in the media but as of this writing I have seen virtually no press coverage of this news, which is also surprising. Still, I expect we will see some articles written about this as the day goes on and this will indeed provide an expected PR boost for Prosper.

Regardless of your political views I am interested to hear what Lend Academy readers think of this interesting development. Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Lending Club Testing Loan Drones for Faster Cash Disbursement

April 1, 2015 By Peter Renton 10 Comments

I had heard the rumor a few weeks back but did not immediately believe it until a reader sent me these pictures showing a Lending Club drone prototype during a test flight in the Presidio in San Francisco. If confirmed, the program could have a major impact on this industry, following in the footsteps of Amazon’s drone program for delivering packages that was announced last year.

The sighting above was not the only one and we heard that the prototype has successfully flown around San Francisco making test deliveries.

When I first heard of this new program I wasn’t sure it was real so I reached out to Renaud Laplanche, the CEO of Lending Club, to get confirmation. While Renaud declined to comment, we were able to independently confirm the existence of the program and gather more information about how the program will work. When a borrower applies for a loan they will be able to choose whether they want a transfer to be made into their bank account or delivery of cash via the Lending Club Loan Drone. If a borrower chooses the Loan Drone option then once the loan is approved and funded the cash will be counted and loaded on to the Loan Drone for delivery.

Unfortunately, you will not likely see a Lending Club Loan Drone flying in your neighborhood any time soon because they have to apply to the Federal Aviation Administration for permission. That process could take years but sources told me that Lending Club is committed to making this an option for borrowers as soon as possible.

A Compelling Move by Lending Club

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Lending Club Partners With Tesla And Introduces Auto Loans

April 1, 2014 By Peter Renton 16 Comments

[Update: The article below is not true. There is no Lending Club partnership with Tesla. So, if you have just stumbled upon this story you should know that it was published on April 1st as an April Fools joke.]

In a joint press release today, Lending Club and Tesla have announced a brand new loan program. In an industry first Lending Club will be providing auto loans to buyers of new Tesla vehicles in this brand new program.

“Tesla has been a leading force for innovation and disruption in the auto industry,” said Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche in a statement today. “Lending Club is having a similar impact on financial services so it made sense for us to partner with Tesla in this new service.”

Details of this new partnership have yet to be revealed but sources tell me that these will be five year loans of up to $50,000. Interest rates will depend on the creditworthiness of the borrower but given that a Tesla Model S starts at a retail price of $69,900 these will be very much prime borrowers. So, I expect these loans will be rated A-grade and have interest rates in the mid to high single digits.

Sources have also told me that these loans will actually be secured with a lien on the vehicle. This is very significant news. Not only will this be Lending Club’s first foray into auto loans it will also mark Lending Club’s first offering of asset backed loans.

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Warren Buffett Makes A Huge Investment in Lending Club

April 1, 2013 By Peter Renton 17 Comments

[Update: The following story is not true. Warren Buffett has not made an investment in Lending Club. So if you are just stumbling across this article you should keep in mind that it was published on April 1st.]

Big news out of Lending Club this morning. The world’s leading investor, Warren Buffett, has invested $150 million in to Lending Club for a 10% ownership stake that values the company at a whopping $1.5 billion.

This is a coup for Lending Club in so many ways. Buffett is simply the biggest name in investing today and brings with him unparalleled knowledge and experience. There is no one with more finance credibility and this will certainly help raise the profile of both Lending Club and p2p lending worldwide.

This is not Buffett’s first foray into financial services. His company, Berkshire Hathaway has a large stake in American Express, MasterCard, US Bank as well as his new stake in Goldman Sachs that was announced just last week. Clearly, with his latest investment he is aligning himself with a company that could well be at the heart of financial services in the future.

The last cash infusion that Lending Club received was back in June of last year and that valued the company at $540 million. Buffett’s investment means that the value of Lending Club has tripled in less than a year. Given that he is known as the consummate value investor Buffett must believe that at a $1.5 billion valuation Lending Club is still a bargain.

Lending Club has agreed to expand their board from their current eight members to nine to allow Buffett a seat. That is a no-brainer; you want this guy in your board meetings.

I have reached out to the office of the Oracle of Omaha for comment but have not heard back as of this writing. If I ever hear back I will update this post.

photo credit: Fortune Live Media via photopin cc