During the week I share the latest marketplace lending news on Twitter as it happens. Then every Saturday I take the most interesting news items and blog posts from the past week and share them here.
Debit cards, a trillion in debt, and millennials: What could go wrong? from American Banker – Leading bank Fifth Third has an interesting new fintech initiative to help students pay off debt.
Weekly Industry Update: US GDP Growth Revised Upwards, FinTech ILC Debate; OneMain Deal Analysis from PeerIQ – The PeerIQ newsletter compares last week’s OneMain securitization to other recent deals.
AutoGravity CEO Andy Hinrichs on CNBC On the Money with Becky Quick from YouTube – I like what AutoGravity is doing to disrupt car buying. Great interview with Becky Quick on CNBC.
Ousted Lending Club chief boosts volumes at new venture from Financial Times – Comments from Renaud Laplanche of Upgrade on their progress so far.
Square’s bid to be industrial bank inflames ILC debate from American Banker – Big news from Square. Like SoFi they are applying for an industrial banking license.
CEO resigns from branch-based P2P firm from AltFi – The CEO of UK small business lender Folk2Folk has resigned suddenly.
Equifax Reports Data Breach Possibly Affecting 143 Million U.S. Consumers from The Wall Street Journal – Well this is not good. Equifax is reporting that hackers gained access to some of its systems.
Digital Assets Predicted to Rise to $1 Trillion in Less than 2 Years from Crowdfund Insider – Interesting interview with the founder of one of the first ICO and blockchain focused hedge funds.
HMRC’s IFISA numbers come under scrutiny from Peer2Peer Finance News – Looks like the UK government’s official IFISA statistics may not be accurate.
New Online Lender Upgrade Hires Former Western Union Exec as General Counsel from Crowdfund Insider – Renaud Laplanche’s Upgrade has lured away a senior exec from Western Union as General Counsel.
Peer-to-peer lender placed loans via its rivals from The Times – More on the transparency and disclosure issues at RateSetter arising from their wholesale lending program.
‘I couldn’t count the number of times I was the only woman in the room’: Fintech has a gender problem from Business Insider – The lack of gender diversity in fintech is a real problem and one we need to continue to work on.
Is AI a threat to fair lending? from American Banker – AI is becoming entrenched in fintech lending. Penny Crosman explores the possible impacts.
Low rates, longer – understanding how alternative finance will be impacted from AltFi – David Stevenson of AltFi says that interest rates will remain below historical norms for decades.
Seven aftershocks of the Equifax breach: What bankers need to know from American Banker – The aftershocks of the Equifax breach will be felt for a long time. Great coverage from American Banker.
How states could end the student-debt collections trap from The Washington Post – Some good points by Felix Salmon on how to address a major consequence of the student debt crisis.
AI For The Little Guy: MoneyLion Uses Machine Learning To Build Consumer Financial Products from Nasdaq – Great interview with the CEO of MoneyLion, Diwakar Choubey, on how they are using AI.
Chinese online insurer ZhongAn wins HK approval for $1 billion IPO: sources from Reuters – ZhongAn is the leading online insurance company in the world and they have been approved for their Hong Kong IPO.
From the Lend Academy Forum
The Lend Academy forum is where investors go to discuss p2p lending. Below are some topics that were being discussed this week.
Note selling experiences – An investor asks advice for selling Lending Club notes on the secondary market.
Where is the sweet spot for loans? C,D,E? B,C,D? – There are many factors in determining what loan grades to invest in.
Worst Month Yet – A popular thread where an investor continues to update forum members on their performance.
