Thursday August 1 2019, Weekly News Digest

United States

OnDeck Pursuing Bank Charter, Loses Chase (Lend Academy), Rated: AAA

OnDeck had some pretty interesting updates in their earnings release which took place earlier today (Editor: July 29).

Probably the biggest shock was that Chase is concluding their partnership with OnDeck.

Chase will stop originating loans through OnDeck and OnDeck will continue to service the loans for two years.

You can view OnDeck’s Q2 earnings press release here.

What’s next for OnDeck after breakup with JPMorgan? (American Banker), Rated: A

In retrospect, Jamie Dimon’s comment that his bank could duplicate the capabilities of online lenders might have served as a warning.

“Can we do something like that? Of course we can,” the JPMorgan Chase Chairman CEO said in a 2016 interview, shortly after the nation’s largest bank had agreed to use the technology of online lender OnDeck Capital to speed up decision-making and funding of its small-business loans.

The partnership got off to a strong enough start that, in 2017, the two companies announced they were extending their relationship for up to four more years.

OnDeck shares slide 22% (Biz2Credit Email), Rated: B

Shares of OnDeck (ONDK) slid 22% after company announced that JPMorgan will stop originating loans on its platform next week.

According to industry expert Biz2Credit CEO Rohit Arora, OnDeck spent a lot of money marketing when they should have focused more on managing risk and developing technology – the two most important things in today’s small business lending environment.

“Their gross write-offs were 15%… and that is in an economy that is doing very well,” Arora said.

DBRS Assigns Provisional Ratings to Upstart Securitization Trust 2019-2 (DBRS Email), Rated: AAA

DBRS, Inc. (DBRS) assigned provisional ratings to the following classes of notes (collectively, the Notes) to be issued by Upstart Securitization Trust 2019-2 (UPST 2019-2):

— $230,208,000 Class A Notes at A (low) (sf)
— $61,558,000 Class B Notes at BBB (low) (sf)

Read the DBRS Presale Report here.

KBRA Assigns Preliminary Ratings to Upstart Securitization Trust 2019-2 (BusinessWire), Rated: A

Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) assigns preliminary ratings to three classes of notes issued by Upstart Securitization Trust 2019-2 (“UPST 2019-2”). This is a $358.4 million consumer loan ABS transaction that is expected to close on August 7, 2019.

Preliminary Ratings Assigned: Upstart Securitization Trust 2019-2

Europe’s startup banks are coming to America. Can they succeed? (CNN), Rated: AAA

The Story of Rocket Loans and the Rebirth of Detroit (Lend Academy), Rated: A

I was in Detroit recently at the invitation of Rocket Loans CEO, Bill Parker. I do visits to fintech companies quite regularly but usually in the big hubs of New York, San Francisco or London. This was my first visit to Detroit for a couple of decades so I was excited to see how the city had changed. And you can’t really tell the story of Rocket Loans without also talking about the city of Detroit.

Quicken Loans is the crown jewel of the financial component of Rock Ventures. It is now the largest mortgage lender in the country, bigger than even the largest banks. They seem to be slowly moving away from that brand, though, and moving to Rocket Mortgage which has a much more modern and innovative feel.

BofA terminates First Data partnership (Finextra), Rated: A

Bank of America is to terminate its merchant services partnership with First Data when the ten-year contract expires in June 2020.

Visa pitches a program offering fintechs faster market access through an ecosystem of partners (TechCrunch), Rated: A

Visa is pitching a new way for startups in the fintech space to get to market faster by using its rails and a group of pre-approved partners.

Chiefly, the process makes it easier to integrate with Visa. It’s an attempt to put the payment processor’s network, VisaNet, at the center of a vast array of services ranging from payroll to business to business payments and online banking, online lending and even digital wallets.

The Most Exciting Piece Of Opportunity Zone Investing Is Still Being Defined (Benzinga), Rated: A

Despite the enthusiasm they have received from the private equity world and the billionaire hedge fund set, a majority of investors have been mostly shut out of the conversation surrounding the Opportunity Zones initiative included in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Although there is already a flood of capital being funneled into qualified funds (upward of $40 billion according to the National Council of State Housing Agencies’ Opportunity Zone Fund Directory) Opportunity Zones remain an ongoing experiment in maximizing the benefit to both investors and the communities in which they invest.

According to Thomas McDonald, Investment Product and Portfolio Manager of the online real estate investing platform CrowdStreet, the new language is a critical move for the program.

Real estate lending platform Groundfloor raises $ 3 million through crowdfunding (Housingwire), Rated: A

Groundfloor, a real estate lending platform that raises its loan funds via crowdfunding from the public, announced Wednesday it raised $3 million from 1,580 investors, while also doubling its annual revenue in the second quarter of 2019.

Groundfloor is taking private real estate lending public (Groundfloor Email), Rated: B

As we close out the first half of the year, we’re excited to report accelerating growth and strong financial results for the quarter. Once again, GROUNDFLOOR more than doubled its year-over-year revenue for the quarter to $1.6 million, 1H revenue to $2.6 million and trailing 12-month revenue to $4.4 million.

OCC’s innovation pilot gets little love from banks (American Banker), Rated: A

The OCC received 19 comment letters on a pilot program announced in April meant to provide supervisory clarity as national banks pursue “novel activities” in which regulatory uncertainty is perceived to be a barrier to development.

Melissa Koide of FinRegLab (Lend Academy), Rated: A

Our next guest on the Lend Academy Podcast is Melissa Koide, the founder and CEO of FinRegLab. They have just published their first research report this week on the use of cash flow data in underwriting. It is the first independent research done on this topic and it is milestone for both FinRegLab and the fintech community.

Zerocard aims to reduce overspending with “debit-style” credit card and rewards (CNBC), Rated: A

Fin-tech company Zero announced on Tuesday, July 30, the public release of Zerocard, a credit card providing a “debit-style experience” issued by WebBank and backed by Mastercard.

Zerocard aims to be an alternative to credit cards from big banks that make money off cardholders who fall into debt.

Genesis Reports $ 746 in Crypto Lending/Borrowing Originations in Q2: Best Quarter Ever (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A

Genesis, a digital asset trading and lending platform that is also a broker-dealer registered with FINRA, and a BitLicense holder with the New York State Department of Financial Services, reports that its services are booming.

According to a release from last week, Genesis’ Q2 performance was the best over as it topped $746 million in loans/borrowing – a 48% quarter over quarter increase.

Genesis states that total active loans increased to $454 million – a 149% increase over Q1.

Northwest Community Credit Union Short-Term Loans, Powered by QCash Financial’s Platform  (Yahoo! Finance), Rated: A

Headquartered in Eugene, Oregon, Northwest Community Credit Union (NWCU) launched two new products earlier this year called Northwest Cash and Northwest Cash Plus, offering short-term loans from $150 to $700 and $701 to $4,000, respectively. Both products are designed to help their members deal with unexpected cash needs with an easy to use application process.

Using QCash Financial’s white-label, digital lending platform, NWCU automated the loan process using the member’s credit union relationship to make the lending decision rather than credit history.

Kony Secures $ 37 Million in Financing from BMO (Finovate), Rated: B

An infusion of $37 million in debt financing from BMO will help cloud-based digital banking and low-code platform company Kony “accelerate growth” in its two signature solutions: Kony DBX, the company’s digital banking technology, and Kony Quantum, its low-code development platform. The financing, courtesy of BMO’s Technology and Innovation Banking Group, adds to the more than $115 million in funding Kony has raised to date.

White Oak Commercial Finance Responds to Increasing ABL Demand with New Key Hires (GlobeNewswire), Rated: B

White Oak Commercial Finance (“White Oak”), an affiliate of White Oak Global Advisors, announced today the addition of two new professional underwriters, further increasing the company’s originations presence across the United States. Mr. Sudhir Chaudhry joins White Oak’s Los Angeles office bringing nearly 25 years of structured finance and underwriting experience. Mr. Kevin Maitland joins White Oak in Boca Raton with over 14 years of asset-based lending and commercial banking experience.

FINICITY INTEGRATION WITH ELLIE MAE ENCOMPASS DIGITAL LENDING PLATFORM NOW LIVE  (Finicity), Rated: B

Finicity, a provider of real-time financial data access and insights, and Ellie Mae, the leading cloud-based platform provider for the mortgage finance industry, today announced that Finicity’s digital Verification of Assets (VoA) solution is now available through Ellie Mae’s Encompass Digital Lending Platform.

United Kingdom

RateSetter ISA passes £250m in subscriptions (LoveMoney), Rated: AAA

But by investing within a large, diverse portfolio of loans (RateSetter’s portfolio is currently £875 million with 250,000+ loans) investors get the stability of scale and this makes for steady and predictable returns.

And putting this inside the ISA tax-free wrapper, it’s no wonder that in less than 18 months since launch, RateSetter’s Innovative Finance ISA has attracted more than £250 million of investments from people looking to put their money to work.

Platforms may be forced to favour high net worths due to incoming 10pc rule (P2P Finance News), Rated: AAA

RETAIL investors are at risk of being shut out of the peer-to-peer lending sector due to the so-called 10 per cent rule that will come into force this December.

However, a number of P2P lending platforms have a minimum investment of £1,000, which would mean that individuals must have at least £10,000 in total to invest across a variety of asset classes. Official statistics indicate that most UK adults do not have this amount of money to invest, which could effectively bar them from certain platforms.

P2P lenders such as Zopa, Funding Circle and ThinCats require a minimum investment of £1,000, but the FCA’s latest financial lives survey shows that 49 per cent of UK adults, equating to 25 million people, either have no such assets or have less than £10,000 in value.

Iwoca doubles lending, turns first annual profit (AltFi), Rated: AAA

Iwoca almost doubled its loans last year, leading to its first annual profit since the small business platform was founded eight years ago.

The London-based fintech, started by chief executive Christoph Rieche (pictured, centre) and James Dear in 2012, said loan originations jumped by 91 per cent to £325m, as its lending hit the equivalent of 12 per cent of the UK’s small business overdraft market over the last year.

Former RateSetter executive to launch new P2P platform (P2P Finance News), Rated: A

RATESETTER’S former chief technology officer John Gillespie is preparing to launch a “next generation” peer-to-peer consumer lending platform.

After raising money from family and friends, SquareDeal.Finance has opened pre-registration for a funding round on equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs.

Gillespie has described the platform as “the next generation P2P consumer lender”, although he said there would be scope to expand into other types of finance in the future.

Digital asset lending platform outlines new framework in a bid to resemble securities market (The Trade Crypto), Rated: A

A digital asset lending platform is looking to set new industry standards with the launch of a framework using master agreements typically seen from incumbent capital markets bodies.

The Global Digital Assets Lending Agreement (GDALA) was developed by Lendingblock, with legal counsel and support from Norton Rose Fulbright.

The platform, targeting institutional investors, will use master agreements framework similar to ISLA’s Global Master Securities Lending Agreements, ICMA/SIFMA’s Global Master Repurchase Agreements and ISDA’s Master Agreements.

What to Know About Alternative Lending (Nav), Rated: A

Alternative lending includes business lenders that exist outside of the traditional lending space. The different types of alternative lending these lenders provide include short-term business loans, medium-term business loans, lines of credit, invoice financing, equipment financing, merchant cash advances and more. They don’t typically include bank loans or SBA loans.

ARBUTHNOT SPECIALIST FINANCE STRENGTHENS TEAM WITH TWO NEW APPOINTMENTS (Arbuthnot Latham), Rated: B

Arbuthnot Specialist Finance (ASFL) announces the appointment of Chloe Skae and Molly Markey to the relationship management team.

OakNorth completes loan to Kexgill for latest student accommodation development at the University of Hull (Fintech Finance), Rated: B

OakNorth Bank – the UK bank powered by OakNorth – has provided a loan to Kexgill, one of the UKs leading student accommodation providers.

Fintechs invited to enter £2m affordable credit challenge (P2P Finance News), Rated: B

THE TREASURY and innovation foundation Nesta Challenges are offering £2m in prize money to encourage fintechs and community lenders to work together on affordable credit solutions.

Over 5.4 million high-cost short-term credit loans were made in the year to 30 June 2018, according to the Financial Conduct Authority’s consumer credit data.

China

China’s Generation Z Is Hooked on Credit (Bloomberg Businessweek), Rated: AAA

At one point in June last year, Zeng Jinpeng was more than 10,000 yuan ($1,500) in debt to a smartphone app.

Formal household borrowing rose to 54% of gross domestic product in the first quarter, up more than 4 percentage points in a year. China’s ratio is still lower than that of the U.S. (66%), Hong Kong (72%), or South Korea (100%), according to S&P Global.

Regulators last year launched a crackdown on peer-to-peer lending, which besides being a source of easy credit had also become a popular investment vehicle. The sector has shrunk to less than half its peak size as a result of forced shutdowns. Official data showed that almost 70% of China’s 50 million P2P investors were younger than 40.

New era of technological finance faces spectrum of challenges (Global Times), Rated: A

Online attacks against China’s peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms have been rising. An industry report released on Wednesday shows that more than 10 million malicious attacks were encountered by the online financial sector in the first half of 2019, and gambling-related attacks accounted for over 56 percent.

China Lending Arranges Partnership With Zhong Lian in Consumer Financing (CapitalWatch), Rated: A

China Lending Corp. (Nasdaq: CLDC) announced Monday its five-year strategic partnership with Zhong Lian Jin An Insurance Brokers Co. Ltd. in the development of consumer financing and litigation guarantee business, sending its shares up 4 percent intraday to 88 cents apiece.

European Union

Is ‘Hodling’ the Future of Cryptocurrency Lending? (150sec), Rated: AAA

The nascent cryptocurrency sector is renowned for its volatility.  It’s very early days in the development of the industry and with that, various niches are emerging within its overall purview.  DeFi or decentralised financing is one such area.  Over many years, the world of retail and business sector lending has seen little in the way of disruption.  However, that may be in the process of changing.

Firms like Ripio Credit Network (RCN), Salt Lending, EthLend, and WeTrust are emerging, providing their unique twists on financing with blockchain as a basis to their respective propositions.  Within Europe too, the market is innovating. Hodl Finance is one such entity – which is harnessing this newly emerging economy to provide its unique take on financing.

Engaging shoppers is hard. Keeping them is harder. (Candy Industry), Rated: A

New research from Klarna, a Swedish firm that offers interest-free installment payments among other payment solutions, suggests shoppers will only tolerate such aggravations for so long.

Through a survey of 2,065 shoppers conducted in May and June, Klarna found 55 percent of consumers say one bad retail experience would stop them from returning to a brand. Nearly 30 percent of consumers said they don’t find shopping as fun as it used to be.

Klarna also noted 39 percent of the 250 retailers surveyed realize shopper loyalty isn’t just driven by rewards programs. Nearly 70 percent understand they have to do more to retain customers, but just over a third of retailers are struggling to keep up with changing consumer expectations because of outdated technology and a short-term emphasis on sales.

International

The Fintech Revolution: Who Are The New Competitors In Banking? (Forbes), Rated: AAA

In Asia, Africa and Latin America, the percentage of unbanked people exceed 60% in all cases. However, people in this segment of the population do own a mobile device.

The massive use of mobile phones has allowed great successes, such as that of M-Pesa in Kenya and ten other African countries, which over the past decade has enabled more than 30 million users to transfer money, take out loans and make deposits using mobile phones, from the remotest rural areas.

The Pulse of Fintech H1 2019 (KPMG), Rated: A

Both the number of global fintech deals and the total global investment in fintech dropped in H1’19, raising $37.9 billion across 962 deals, driven by the lack of  mega deals seen in 2018.

Catching attention in marketing (Business Daily Africa), Rated: A

Australia

4 small business tips to kickstart the 2019/20 financial year (Mozo), Rated: A

And Australian businesses have access to a number business loan sources including traditional banks and online lenders, although according to online lender OnDeck, some small businesses can have trouble securing funding from traditional sources.

New research from the lender found that nearly 25% of small to medium enterprises (SME’s) that have applied for business finance with a bank have been rejected – a figure that rises to 37% of SMEs which have been operating for less than five years.

India

P2P Lender Rupeecircle launches Affordable Credit Products for Rural Tamil Nadu (IndianWeb2), Rated: AAA

Digital lending marketplace RupeeCircle has set up a segment-wise model of credit disbursement through its P2P platform. Deserving Individuals and families belonging to certain communities who were hitherto declined loans from banks and NBFCs due to lack of sufficient credit history or lack of a proper bank account can now avail loans on the P2P platform.

Asia

Vietnam tech company NextTech pledges US$ 10M fund for early-stage startups (e27), Rated: AAA

Vietnam-based tech company NextTech announces a total of US$10 million injected into Next100, a fund dedicated for backing early-stage startups.

Recently, Next100 invested in VayMuon.vn, a P2P lending platform based in Vietnam, Heyu.asia, a startup that provides order consolidation and shipper services, and Teky.edu.vn, a tech academy for kids.

Latin America

Fintech decacorn Nubank raises $ 400M led by TCV (TechCrunch), Rated: AAA

Brazil-based Nubank, which offers a suite of banking and financial services for Brazilian consumers, announced today that it has raised a $400 million Series F round of venture capital led by Woody Marshall of TCV. The growth-stage fund is best known for its investment in Netflix but has also made fintech a high priority, with over $1.5 billion in investments in the space. According to Nubank, the company has now raised $820 million across seven venture rounds.

Shares in Brazil’s Banco Inter surge as it lures SoftBank (Business Recorder), Rated: A

Shares in Banco Inter SA surged more than 20% on Tuesday as the Brazilian online lender raised 1.25 billion reais ($329.73 million) in an offering largely sold to Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp, boosting pressure on traditional banks.

Africa

Reaching the unbanked — MTN to shake up Nigeria’s fintech sector (the africa report), Rated: AAA

In the latest bullish development, OPay, founded by Norwegian browser company Opera and which includes lead investors such as Sequoia China, raised $50m to partly fund its expansion in Nigeria.

While sub-Saharan Africa’s number of adults with a bank or other financial account increased to 43% in 2017, up 9% from 2014, Nigeria’s banked population dropped to 40%, down 4% from 2014. Over half of Nigerian adults — 60 million people — lack access to financial services.

Under the new mobile-money framework, MTN will drive user acquisition with its large existing subscriber base and powerful agent network. With a 42% market share of Nigeria’s 163m active voice subscriber accounts, MTN has a huge pool of untapped demand as each voice subscriber represents a potential new mobile money account.

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