United States

FDIC Embraces FinTech (PeerIQ), Rated: AAA

Formation of new banks post-crisis is historically low. More banks have failed since 2009 than have new banks opened.This trend could leave some communities severely underbanked.

The FDIC wants to encourage new banks to startup and wants innovative FinTech firms to be part of that process. The agency wants to streamline its application process and is seeking comments on how that can be done.

The OCC’s Special Purpose National Bank (SPNB) charter allows FinTechs to operate as banks.

Fintech startup Plaid raises $ 250M at a $ 2.65B valuation (TechCrunch), Rated: AAA

The company is today announcing a $250 million Series C investment led by famed venture capitalist and the author of the Internet Trends reportMary Meeker, who will join its board of directors as part of the deal. The funds were raised at a valuation of $2.65 billion, according to sources close to the company. Capital from Meeker’s investment came from Kleiner Perkins’ growth fund — where Meeker has been a partner since 2010 — not from the reported billion-dollar-plus solo fund she’s in the process of raising.

New investors Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners and Coatue Management also participated, as did existing investors Goldman Sachs, NEA and Spark Capital.

U.S. Consumer Credit Market Poised for More Growth in 2019 (TransUnion), Rated: AAA

Low unemployment rates and continued positive growth in both GDP and real disposable income are among the key drivers that will propel the U.S. consumer credit market in 2019. Partly due to the strong performance of these economic indicators, TransUnion’s (NYSE: TRU) 2019 consumer credit forecast found that originations and consumer balances are expected to increase for most credit products, while serious delinquency rates will likely decline or remain steady.

A few outliers in the forecast come by way of serious credit card delinquency rates and originations as well as mortgage originations. Credit card delinquency rates are expected to rise from 1.94% in Q4 2018 to 2.04% in Q4 2019 as a shift toward more non-prime consumers with access to credit cards will likely negatively impact originations and consequently the serious delinquency rate.

TransUnion Forecast: Top Consumer Credit Trends for ‘19

Trend #1: There’s Room for Growth in Personal Loans

Personal loans continue to display signs of strength, and total balances are expected to climb 20% to an all-time high of 156.3 billion by the end of 2019.

Trend #2: Affordability May Impact the Auto Industry

It’s also worth noting that the number of auto loan originations is expected to end 2018 at 28.5 million and grow to 29.4 million in 2019. This is a significant increase from recent years (27.5 million in 2017, 28.3 million in 2016, 28.0 million in 2015). This growth is expected to be driven from both ends of the risk spectrum. Yet as the growth continues, the serious delinquency rate is anticipated to remain muted, ticking up to 1.44% in Q4 2019, an increase from the expected 1.43% in Q4 2018 and the 1.43% mark observed in Q4 2017.

Trend #3: Homes Becoming More Expensive, but Home Equity Increases Could Be a Boon to Consumers

Mortgage originations have declined the past several quarters, a trend that is expected to continue into 2019.  Rising interest rates, increasing home prices, and supply constraints are driving lower origination numbers.  Average balances will continue to trend upward in 2019, growing from an anticipated $208,831 at the end of Q4 of this year to $218,490 by the end of Q4 2019, a 4.6% increase.

Trend #4: More Near Prime Consumers will Carry a Credit Card

Near prime consumers are expected to increase their origination share to 19.1% in 2019, up from 18.3% in 2018.

Credit Card Debt Study: Trends & Insights (Wallet Hub), Rated: AAA

Americans repaid $40.8 billion in credit card debt during Q1 2018 – the second-largest quarterly payoff ever. But we added almost $38 billion back to our tab in Q3 and Q2 2018. We also began the year owing more than $1 trillion in credit card debt for the first time ever, after adding $87.3 billion to our tab in 2017.

The $38 billion in credit card debt added during Q2 and Q3 2018 has nearly wiped out consumers’ large first quarter pay-down.

We ended 2017 with $87.3 billion in new credit card debt, and WalletHub projects a $70 billion increase in 2018 by the end of the year.

A Different Kind of Gender Gap: Homeownership Is More Common Among Single Women Than Single Men (LendingTree), Rated: AAA

• Single women own considerably more homes than single men do. On average, single women own around 22% of homes, while single men own less than 13% of homes.
• Oklahoma City was the metropolitan area where single men own the largest share of owner-occupied homes, at 16%. Even though single men own a greater proportion of homes in Oklahoma City than they do elsewhere in the country, they still own fewer homes than single women, who own 24% of residential properties in the area.
• New Orleans was the metropolitan area where single women own the largest share of owner-occupied homes. In this area, single women own nearly twice as many homes than single men do: 27% compared with 15%.

United Kingdom

P2PFA member lending exceeds £10bn (P2P Finance News), Rated: AAA

PEER-TO-PEER Finance Association (P2PFA) platforms have cumulatively lent out more than £10bn, according to the trade body’s latest data.

Peer-to-peer platform ThinCats secures £200m funding deal (AltFi), Rated: AAA

The money comes from BAE Systems Pensions and is the second significant loan funding deal struck by ThinCats in the last few months.

Iwoca adds Barclays and HSBC to Open Banking connections (Finextra), Rated: A

iwoca, the UK’s fastest growing small business lender, today announces it has connected to Barclays and HSBC banks under Open Banking.

Tide accounts for 1 per cent of UK’s SME banking market (AltFi), Rated: A

Digital business bank Tide has reached 56,000 SME customers, accounting for one per cent the UK’s 5.6m SMEs. The bank has more than doubled the number of customers using its services in the last 12 months.

UK recruiters say challenger banks and fintech businesses are now more appealing to candidates than traditional banks (Onrec), Rated: A

• 55% of recruiters and HR managers have seen an increase in hiring rates over the last five years
• Half of UK recruiters and HR managers have seen an increase in demand for AI, cryptocurrency and blockchain skills
• 55% say the number of roles requiring these emerging tech skills has outstripped the number of available candidates
• 32% of recruiters say traditional banks are the least appealing FS organisations to candidates, whilst cryptocurrency businesses are top

Sancus tightens credit processes amid no-deal Brexit fears (P2P Finance News), Rated: A

SANCUS BMS has prepared itself for a no-deal Brexit and tightened its credit processes to protect itself from a market slowdown, its chief executive has said.

Sancus BMS, which comprises the peer-to-peer lenders Sancus Finance and Sancus Funding, sent out an email to its community on Wednesday.

Starling Bank Adds Onedox to Its Marketplace (coverageR), Rated: B

Founded in 2015 with £1m in funding, Onedox helps people manage household bills and expenses by allowing them to connect their different accounts including gas, electric, internet, mobile, and insurance. The service – which is free of charge – allows users to stay on top of their bills while receiving personalized recommendations for saving money by switching to new providers.

China

China Lending Expands B2B Offerings With Supply Chain Service (PYMNTS), Rated: AAA

China Lending Corporation has announced the launch of its new supply chain financing services, which include a business factoring program.

In addition, China Lending has acquired 98.04 percent equity interest in Hangzhou Zeshi Investment Partners, which will enable China Lending to launch its new supply chain financing services in the near future, including financing products design, related corporate financing solutions, investments and asset management, and more.

Best/Worst Bets In Chinese Fintech (Seeking Alpha), Rated: A

China’s financial technology, or fintech, sector, has suffered this year due to a slowing economy and stricter financial regulation. In the peer to peer lending sector, hundreds of firms have shut down due to inability to comply with regulations or insolvency. So, what can we expect from this industry in the near future?

European Union

P2P Lender Bondora Reports Almost €8 Million in Originations for November (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: AAA

Peer to peer lending platform Bondora says loan originations almost hit €8 million during the month of November. This follows a record-breaking month of October

LendIt Fintech Europe 2018 Slide Presentations Now Live (LendIt.com), Rated: A

Thanks to everyone who joined us at LendIt Fintech Europe 2018. Below you will find all of the presentations from the event. You can also view the photos from LendIt Fintech Europe 2018.

Keynotes

• Joel Perlman, OakNorth Holdings – The OakNorth Growth Story – from Startup to Profitable Unicorn
  • Presentation
• June Ou, Figure – Blockchain: Creating the Future of Financial Services
  • Presentation
• John Goodall, Landbay – Misconceptions of the UK Buy-to-Let Market Today
  • Presentation

Get the full schedule here.

Spotcap increases credit lines to EUR 300M (Spotcap email), Rated: A

It’s been a busy and rewarding 12 months for us here at 

YouHodler – Top Crypto Lending Platform on the Market (NewsBTC), Rated: A

YouHodler is a crypto-backed loan service provider. This established blockchain platform allows users to acquire loans instantly, by leveraging their cryptocurrencies for EUR or USD.

The company offers the highest loan-to-value ratio in the entire industry – up to 80%. And, unlike its competitors, it accepts five of the top cryptocurrencies as collateral, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ripple. Short-term loans are available at a low interest rate of just 2.5%.

Alternative finance ‘becoming vital’ for SMEs in north (The Irish News), Rated: A

THE ability for small businesses in Northern Ireland to access alternative forms of finance has become a vital factor in their successful growth, the head of a Belfast accountancy firm insists.

Since the financial crash and credit crunch, the funding void left by traditional lenders has been filled by boutique funders and alternative finance, which can allow SMEs to access finance for a variety of different needs, from long term investment through to funding for short term working capital.

International

Klarna Joins Shopify Plus Partner Program To Power High-Growth Merchants (PR Newswire), Rated: AAA

Klarna announced today that they are among the first payment service providers to join the Shopify Plus Technology Partner Program, focusing on high-growth and high-volume merchants. This integration will allow merchants in Germany, the UK and the US to easily implement Klarna’s smoooth payment suite and offer a superior customer experience and thereby unlock additional growth potential.

Cred Opens Crypto Corporate Lending Platform To Developers (PYMNTS), Rated: A

In a press release on Tuesday (Dec. 11), Cred revealed the rollout of its developer platform CredX (not to be confused with the new credit card accounts payable solution recently launched by Finexio). The Crypto-Lending-as-a-Service (CLaaS) solution enables other crypto companies — including exchanges, crypto wallets or mining services — to integrate Cred’s lending functionality into their own solutions. Its set of application program interfaces (APIs) enable businesses to use crypto as collateral to access corporate financing products.

Australia

Payday loan applicants asked to hand over bank passwords, inquiry hears (The Guardian), Rated: AAA

A new parliamentary inquiry has begun scrutinising the behaviour of payday lenders, buy-now-pay-later firms, and credit repair agencies.

Vulnerable Australians are agreeing to share their internet banking passwords so payday lenders can see their transaction history before lending them money, an inquiry has heard.

Asia

400 Online Lending Sites, Fintech Platforms Being Shut Down (Tempo.co), Rated: AAA

Communication and Informatics (Kominfo) Minister Rudiantara said the ministry had shut down 400 financial technologies (fintech), consisted of sites and applications, related to fraud cases on online loan services that are recently rampant in Indonesia.

LBH Urged to Expose Identities of Violating Online Loan Services (Tempo.co), Rated: B

The Indonesian Fintech Joint Funding Association (AFPI) asked the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) to open the identities of 25 peer to peer (P2P) lending organizers or registered online loan services that are said to have made violation.

Latin America

Authors:

The post Thursday December 13 2018, Daily News Digest appeared first on Lending Times.