LendIt Fintech USA Archives

LendIt Fintech USA 2020 Call for Speakers

Submit your speaker idea for LendIt Fintech USA 2020 by December 31st

November 26, 2019 By Peter Renton Leave a Comment

We are now less than six months away from LendIt Fintech USA 2020 to be held at the Javits Center in New York City on May 13-14 next year. We are just starting to fill out our speaker roster so if you would like to be considered as a speaker now is the time to act. I recorded the short video below with my fellow co-founder, Bo Brustkern, CEO of LendIt Fintech, to give you an idea of what we are looking for when it comes to a speaking role.

To be part of LendIt Fintech’s exclusive speaker faculty please send us your most provocative and innovative ideas. This should (obviously) not be a sales pitch for your company, it should be an original idea that will help drive the industry forward. As I said in the video to have the best chance of being included as a speaker next year you should submit your idea by December 31st. I look forward to reading your submissions.

Planning for LendIt Fintech USA 2020 is Underway

The biggest show in lending and digital banking returns to New York City next year, launch pricing ends Friday

August 21, 2019 By Peter Renton Leave a Comment

Even though we are still nine months away the LendIt Fintech team is already hard at work producing our biggest event of the year. LendIt Fintech USA will be held in New York City on May 13-14 next year at the Javits Center. After two years in San Francisco we will be back in the finance capital of the world where we are expecting our biggest audience ever.

Registration for LendIt Fintech USA opened earlier this month and we have already had a flurry of activity with many people taking advantage of the special launch price of $1,695. That is a savings of $1,300 off the full price of a ticket. But to take advantage of this steep discount, you need to act soon. The launch pricing will end at midnight on Friday, so register now.

What will we be covering next year? Regular attendees will know that we have the broadest and deepest content in both lending and digital banking and we will continue that next year. Here is an initial look at the themes we will be building our agenda around:

New Themes

The Small Business Fintech Ecosystem
Revolution at the Point of Sale
New Approaches to Capital for Growth Businesses
Digital Banking Goes Mainstream
New Systems for Identity and Trust
Applying Fintech to Financial Wellness

Back by Popular Demand

Credit & Underwriting Innovation
The Latest in Consumer Lending
How Small Business Lending is Evolving
Digital Real Estate Offerings
The Evolution of Fintech Partnerships
How Regulation Can Keep Up With Fintech

We are just starting outreach to potential speakers so if you want to be part of our exclusive speaker roster please submit your idea here. We are pleased to have already secured our first three keynote speakers: the Chairman of the FDIC, Jelena McWilliams, Jo Ann Barefoot of Barefoot Innovations Group and Rishi Khosla of UK fintech unicorn OakNorth.

Lend Academy Readers Always Receive a 15% Discount

As always, as a Lend Academy reader you can save an additional 15% off the already discounted launch price. When you register just enter the code LENDACADEMYVIP at checkout.

We look forward to seeing everyone when the industry gathers for the 8th annual LendIt event next year in New York City.

All LendIt Fintech USA 2019 Sessions Now Available Online

April 25, 2019 By Peter Renton Leave a Comment

If you attended LendIt Fintech USA 2019 in San Francisco earlier this month there was likely many sessions you missed out on. I know that was the case for me. Not to worry you can now listen to or watch any and all of the sessions from this groundbreaking event.

While we have had videos of all the keynote sessions available online for a couple of weeks now, today we completed uploading all the track sessions as well. These are audio files that you can listen to via our website or they are also on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher (just search for LendIt Rewind or the title of your favorite session).

I have already started going through the audio files and last night I listened to The New Payday Lending Alternative: Employer Based Lending, a fascinating session featuring four companies that are trying to change the financial health of workers across America. There are dozens of other great session to listen to and I hope you add some LendIt content in your audio playlist.

LendIt Fintech USA 2019 Event Highlights

April 18, 2019 By Peter Renton 3 Comments

Roger Hochschild, CEO of Discover and Douglas Merrill, CEO of Zest Finance chat with Selina Wang of Bloomberg in LendIt Fintech USA 2019 opening keynote session

Last week the fintech world gathered in San Francisco for the 7th annual LendIt Fintech USA conference. As I do every year at this time I will share many of the highlights from the keynote presentations and other parts of the event.

We kicked off the event with a fascinating discussion that encapsulated so much of what is important in finance right now. We had the CEO of Discover, Roger Hochschild and the CEO of ZestFinance, Douglas Merrill on stage talking about bank-fintech partnerships and how machine learning is helping both banks and fintech companies expand their credit box to the previously underserved. Hochschild said that partnerships are so important for banks because they can get access to talent that they might otherwise not. My favorite quote from the session was from Merrill, “There is a moral beauty in finding people who have been mistreated by the [financial] system and fixing that”.

The CEO and Co-founder of Affirm, Max Levchin, had some harsh words to say about credit cards in his session. He basically compared them to pay day loans in that in both instances borrowers are allowed to refinance their own debt in perpetuity. Their business model is based to some extent on deceiving the customer. Far better to have an installment loan where you know exactly how much you are paying with a fixed payment every month. He also talked about Affirm’s groundbreaking partnership with Walmart and how both companies, while very different when it comes to scale, have a very similar customer-centric approach. He appreciated Walmart no longer offers a deferred interest payment option, something that Levchin dislikes intensely. He said that 2019 will be the year of big partnerships for Affirm both within finance and outside.

Sallie Krawcheck is the CEO of Ellevest and previously ran the wealth management operations for some of the largest Wall Street firms. She talked about an amazingly underserved investor segment: women. Investment management is such a male dominated industry with 90% of mutual fund managers and 95% of hedge fund managers being male. She made the interesting point that we have been socialized to think that something “for women” means it is inferior and likely just a marketing ploy. Women have not made the progress either in finance or other industries that we all expected a couple of decades ago. The gender pay gap is decades away from closing and one of the ways to help close this gap is to help women invest in a smarter way.

Sallie Krawcheck of Ellevest talks with Kat Utecht of Core Innovation Capital at LendIt Fintech USA 2019 — Sallie Krawcheck of Ellevest talks about empowering women investors with Kat Utecht of Core Innovation Capital

[Read more…]

Women in Fintech Demolish Glass Ceiling

LendIt Fintech Woman of the Year 2019 award finalists target diversity, equality, education

April 2, 2019 By admin Leave a Comment

[Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Mark Lusky of Mark Lusky Communications, a writing and marketing communications firm, operating since 1982. He specializes in ghostwriting expert advice articles, blogposts and other bylined content for clients, along with writing e-books, whitepapers, case studies, websites, opinion pieces and other communiques—incorporating marketing skills and perspectives acquired as a regional marketing director for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He will be attending LendIt in San Francisco this April.]

LendIt Fintech’s Fintech Women of the Year 2019 award finalists champion the causes of diversity, equality and education—and shout it from the rooftops. In the process, they’re demolishing glass ceilings for women and other diversity-challenged groups.

They are dedicated to achieving gender, ethnic and racial equality. And they are educating a variety of audiences— including borrowers, investors and the Fintech industry—about ways to grow and thrive by becoming savvier and open to all people.

These finalists are changing not just their world—but the whole world.

Promote diversity, respect, collaboration
Valerie Kay, Chief Capital Officer at LendingClub, is responsible for overseeing LendingClub’s Investor Group. She addresses the need for diversity, inclusion, mutual respect and collaboration. She emphasizes the vital importance of diversity to drive better workplaces, happier customers and more profits.

[Read more…]

New Lending as a Service White Paper Released

March 14, 2019 By Peter Renton Leave a Comment

One of the themes of the upcoming LendIt Fintech USA 2019 event will be the growing role partnerships are playing in lending operations at both banks and non-banks. We have gone from one or two projects that have moved beyond the pilot stage to several dozen lending as a service (Laas) implementations.

The latest LendIt Fintech white paper highlights industry growth, key trends, feature requirements and implementation considerations for financial institutions considering LaaS. It also profiles the leading fintech companies providing Laas, shows their capabilities as well as examples of customers who have implement their solution.

You can download the white paper here.

LendIt Fintech Industry Awards: Nomination Deadline Extended

Due to popular demand we are extending the deadline for awards submissions until Friday, February 15th.

January 31, 2019 By Todd Anderson Leave a Comment

LendIt Fintech USA 2018 Awards Dinner

One of the highlights of the year is the LendIt Fintech Industry Awards Dinner which will take place on the evening of April 9th at the conclusion of LendIt Fintech USA 2019. In its third year, the dinner highlights the great accomplishments of the people and companies that are driving the fintech industry forward. The event includes a pre-dinner networking reception, a three-course dinner, live entertainment and the awards ceremony.

First and foremost, this is an event for the industry. It will be an evening of celebration where the industry recognizes the outstanding achievements of the past year. While LendIt will organize the event, it will be the industry judging its own and deciding who exactly are the standout people and companies. A large selection of judges will be chosen that will contain no LendIt staff and will decide on the winners in different categories. The large team of judges will be carefully selected to ensure no conflicts of interest with different judges being responsible for different categories.

Scott Sanborn of Lending Club, Yihan Fang of Yirendai and Brendan Ross of Direct Lending Investments at the 2018 Awards

There has been over 450 applications submitted so far in the more than 20 categories listed below:

Best Journalist Coverage
Blockchain Innovator of the Year
Customer Alignment
Emerging Lending Platform of the Year
Excellence in Financial Inclusion
Executive of the Year
Fintech Innovator of the Year
Fintech Woman of the Year
International Innovator of the Year
Most Innovative Bank
Most Innovative Mobile Technology
Most Promising Partnership
Most Successful Cross-Border Partnership
Top Accounting Firm
Top Consumer Lending Platform
Top Emerging Technology Company
Top Enterprise Technology Company
Top Fintech Equity Investor
Top Law Firm
Top Real Estate Platform
Top Service Provider
Top Small Business Lending Platform

LendIt Industry Awards at the LendIt USA 2018 conference in San Francisco, CA on April 10, 2018. (photo by Gabe Palacio)

Don’t miss your chance to be recognized by your peers. If you have any questions about the awards please let us know.

LendIt Fintech USA 2019 Returns to San Francisco, Awards Nominations Open

In April the financial services sector will gather in San Francisco for our 7th installment of LendIt Fintech USA.

December 12, 2018 By Ryan Lichtenwald Leave a Comment

LendIt USA 2018 conference in San Francisco, CA on April 9, 2018. (photo by Evans Vestal Ward)

As we round out 2018 LendIt Fintech is completely focused on our 2019 events. Coming up first is LendIt Fintech USA 2019, our flagship event which will be held on April 8-9 in San Francisco at Moscone West. We expect 5,000+ attendees and will have some exciting names to announce as speakers in the coming weeks. If you or someone you know is interested in speaking at our event we recommend submitting a speaker application in the next few weeks.

The LendIt Fintech team has always taken pride in our content, but we also have invested heavily in facilitating networking opportunities both during the event and after hours. For 2019 we have added two new networking opportunities, the inaugural LendIt Fintech charity golf tournament and also a Sonoma wine tour and lunch. Both can be booked when you signup for LendIt Fintech USA. We will, of course, have numerous networking opportunities at the event itself including a return of Brella, the popular 1-to-1 networking app.

LendIt Fintech Industry Awards Nominations Now Open

One of the highlights of the event is our LendIt Fintech Industry Awards Dinner which will take place on the evening of April 9th. In its third year, the dinner highlights the great accomplishments of the people and companies that are driving the fintech infistry forward. It is a celebration of the industry, by the industry.

We are currently accepting award applications on the LendIt website. Keep in mind that you are supposed to nominate yourself and/or your company. So don’t be shy, let us hear from you. You have until January 31 to get your entries in and the more complete your entry the better your chances are of winning. The LendIt team will be selecting the finalists for each category and then a team of independent industry experts will select the winners. Good luck!

Lend Academy Readers Receive a 15% Discount

As always, you can save by purchasing your ticket to LendIt Fintech early. Early bird pricing is in effect until January 11th. And don’t forget Lend Academy readers can save an additional 15% by using the code LENDACADEMYVIP at checkout. We hope to see you there!

Purchase your ticket to LendIt Fintech USA 2019

Audio Recordings Now Available for LendIt Fintech USA 2018

LendIt Rewind has audio of all the sessions from the most recent event conveniently published in a podcast feed

May 16, 2018 By Peter Renton Leave a Comment

If you are like me when you were at LendIt Fintech USA 2018 in San Francisco last month you missed out on attending a lot of sessions. With so much great content going on simultaneously I know I wanted to be in multiple places at the same time. Fear not, the solution is LendIt Rewind.

We recorded every session and they are now uploaded for your listening pleasure in what we call LendIt Rewind. This is our audio archive where we keep recordings of all the previous conferences. There are a number of ways to listen:

Apple Podcasts – for Apple enthusiasts
Stitcher Podcasts – multi-platform app
LendIt Podcasts web page – dedicated page broken down by track

As you are listening you might also want to check out the slide presentations from LendIt Fintech here and the BlockFin Summit here.

I have already listened to a few of my favorite sessions and will be working through every session over the coming weeks. Enjoy.

Publicly Listed Fintech Companies – a Tale of Two Sectors

Deepak Lalit, Managing Director of LendIt Advisors reviews the public companies attending LendIt and their recent track record.

April 4, 2018 By admin Leave a Comment

[Editor’s note: Deepak Lalit is the Managing Director of LendIt Advisors, which is a new business line within LendIt Fintech that launched in 2017. LendIt Advisors has access to deep relationships across the entire Marketplace Lending ecosystem, and its objective is to connect Loan Originators with sources of Capital. Deepak has over 10 years of experience in Financial Services, with a specialty in Alternative Lending. Deepak has previously qualified as a Chartered Accountant (CA) and a CFA Charter holder.]

It is no doubt that Fintech has been THE buzzword of the last five years. While it may be hard to agree on the exact definition – there is a strong consensus that we are living in a time where technology is accelerating the pace at which traditional financial norms are being disrupted. The companies which master how to leverage their technology are creating huge opportunities for revenue growth in seemingly shorter and shorter periods of time. This makes the fintech sector very interesting from the point of view of an Equity Investor.

In this article, we briefly look at the broad performance of the publicly listed Fintech Companies, and discuss the investment opportunities that are available to US investors, and why we should all be paying attention.

How have the stock prices fared?

To understand the broad performance of the sector – the KBW Nasdaq Financial Technology Index (KFTX) is a good place to start. It is an equal weighted index of 50 companies ranging from the more recent IPO’s such as Square (SQ) and LendingClub (LC) to some of the more established players like VISA (V) and PayPal (PYPL). The criteria for inclusion into the index is where the distribution of a company’s financial products and services is exclusively through electronic means and their revenue mix is predominantly fee-based.

Since inception in June 2016, the index has returned 46%, outperforming the broad market S&P 500 by a whopping 24%, and even the tech-heavy NASDAQ by a meaningful 9%. [Read more…]