Last week we kicked off LendIt Fintech Digital, a new ongoing initiative from LendIt Fintech to bring the fintech community together. We’ve already hosted a handful of sessions and the recordings are available to LendIt Fintech Digital subscribers. In the coming weeks you will see more sessions added to the schedule. Those new to LendIt Fintech Digital are able to receive one free pass to attend a live session.
Tomorrow we are hosting a talk titled “Using technology to stay nimble in a rapidly changing real estate market” with Tim Mayopoulos, President of Blend and Nate Longfellow, Wells Fargo EVP of Home Lending Product Strategy and Delivery. Over time we will be adding new formats to LendIt Fintech Digital along with networking opportunities. Below is a brief summary of the sessions you may have missed and a highlight reel from last week. If you’re interesting in joining the LendIt Fintech Digital community you can use code onboard35 for 35% off.
Raising Money and Fintech M&A in a COVID-19 World
Steve McLaughlin (FT Partners) Peter Renton (LendIt Fintech)
We covered this session in a standalone piece last week so I won’t go into detail here. Suffice to say that if you want to know what is going on with fintech fundraising and M&A you should pay close attention to Steve McLaughlin and the rest of the team at FT Partners.
Deep Dive into Consumer Loan Book Data
David Aidi (Atalaya Capital Management), Nicole Byrns (CPPIB) & Perry Rahbar (dv01)
One of the great things about online lending platforms is that many of them provide their data to firms like dv01. Having access to real-time data is invaluable, especially in times of crisis like we find ourselves in today. This session delved into data from dv01 with Perry Rahbar sharing his perspective on market trends. We learned about how the current unemployment situation is impacting loan modifications. On the platform side no main originators have gone out of business but this could very well change in the coming months as this all plays out. To get additional perspectives we heard from two large investors who are active in investing in consumer credit. Getting their insights into how they are tactfully managing the current environment was invaluable and perhaps the most interesting point is that both are still investing today.
The Digital Banking Moment Arrives
Will Beeson (Rebank), Dee Choubey (MoneyLion), Elliott Limb (Mambu) & Amanda Swoverland (Sunrise Banks)
Digital banking is estimated to be up 35% and now more than ever consumers are looking into digital banking, many for the first time. This session explored how digital banking is now the default, whether the current infrastructure of financial institutions can handle the influx of customers and what the change in consumer behavior means for companies over the long term. The wide variety of panelists made for a very interesting discussion.
How to Solve the $16 Trillion Small Business Liquidity Trap
Jane Atherton (Temasek) & Sandy Kemper (C2FO)
C2FO is a company that operates in the working capital space by allowing suppliers to get paid early. It is a global platform, with 1.1 million businesses from around the world, that allows for faster payments to help solve the many liquidity problems that exist in the market today. C2FO is entrenched in many verticals, including retail and technology, giving them unique insight and power into how accounts receivables are performing. Kemper also discusses his idea for a big public fund which would essentially break open the cash that is frozen in A/R and A/P right now.
Making Sense of Unstructured Data at Scale
Scott Penberthy Director, Applied AI, Google
If you’ve every been interested in how data and AI can help financial institutions make better decisions, look no further than this talk from Scott Penberthy who is the director of Applied AI at Google. Penberthy does a great job of explaining to non technical folks just how this technology works and some of benefits downstream. It all centers around making sense of unstructured data or data that doesn’t fit well into a spreadsheet or database. What they are doing today has been influenced by looking into how the brain works and makes associations – it is truly fascinating.
Creating More Stable Sources of Capital in Uncertain Times
Mike Cagney (Figure) & Gregg Schoenberg (Wescott Capital Inc.)
Hearing from Mike Cagney is always a treat and his session with Gregg Schoenberg was no exception. Figure was essentially created to be a proof of concept for the Provenance blockchain. Cagney shared some of the inner workings of Provenance and the token called hash which Figure owns a significant amount of alongside about 100 other investors. Hash is the fourth largest token by market cap according to Cagney though it is not yet tradable. While Provenance is being used for Figure’s HELOC business, Cagney teased how it could also help funds raise money for banking and payments. He also spoke about the current risks in the market and how their credits are performing extremely well amid the current crisis.
After the PPP: Where Do Small Business Lenders Go From Here?
Brock Blake (Lendio), Eyal Lifshitz (BlueVine), Peter Renton (LendIt Fintech), Mark Ruddock (BFS Capital) & Luke Voiles (Intuit)
The Paycheck Protection Program has been one of the hottest topics as of late. Many familiar names in fintech have stepped up to help small businesses access this program and together they are having a significant impact. The panelists shared how they first got up and running as well as the traction they are getting as of late. It is impressive how fast these fintechs that serve small businesses were able to ramp up operations even as there was uncertainty around the government program. To add a different perspective, Mark Ruddock of BFS Capital discussed why they decided not to get very involved in the PPP.
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