While banks might have been a bit slow to react to online lenders they are certainly taking notice today and changing how they operate; fintech companies originated about 30 percent of unsecured consumer loans in 2016 according to TransUnion, up from 1 percent in 2010; banks have started to take notice and compete with fintech companies head on and in some cases partner with them as well; banks hold significant advantages over online lenders in cost of capital and customer acquisition costs which could erode that 30 percent market share that fintechs have built. Source.
P2PGI entered into an agreement to sell over $1bn worth of US consumer loans; the sale will reduce the funds net asset value (NAV) by less than 1 percent and effect their leverage & hedging requirement; the move is part of a broader strategy the fund laid out in September. Source.
UK based Lendable raised $400mn to continue lending to UK consumers amid concerns over growing household debt; the capital infusion comes from Castle Trust who is backed by the US private equity shop JC Flowers; this is the second big deal for Lendable in 2017 as they were able to secure over $130mn from Waterfall Asset management in March. Source.
American Banker shares a slideshow of the various moves banks have made in consumer lending this year; some banks featured include Barclays, PNC, Capital One and TCF. Source
Looking to make their consumer lending product more appealing Goldman Sach’s Marcus is now offering loans for home improvement; the bulk of their loans have thus far been originated for debt consolidation; with more banks entering the space and the non bank lenders who have come on the scene since the financial crisis Marcus is looking to differentiate their initial offering; this is a trend across the fintech market as competition has forced firms to try to make products unique. Source.
Last week I was at the Digital Lending + Investing conference in New York. One of the most interesting sessions...
The $5.8 billion in receivables sold to Synchrony according to a TechCrunch article, “also includes Synchrony’s acquisition of $1 billion in participation interests in PayPal receivables held by certain investors and a chartered financial institution.”; the two companies have partnered since 2004 to offer PayPal users branded credit cards; Synchrony will now be the exclusive issuer of the PayPal Credit online consumer financing program. Source
PNC Financial Services Group is looking to launch a national consumer lending product through their mobile app and new branches; they plan to launch into new markets with branches in Minneapolis, Dallas, Kansan City and more; “We're going there to be there with our full-service capabilities, patiently banking the clients that we ultimately want to bank,” Chairman and CEO William Demchak said this week; the new plans will take place in 2018. Source.
First proposed in June and recently signed by Governor Cuomo the 7 person task force will be focused on reviewing online lending activities in NY; the task force will be chosen by the governor, president of the senate and speaker of the assembly; they will report their findings on small business and consumer lending back to the governor. Source.
Early last year UK online lender Zopa closed the platform to new investors, they have now re-opened it; investors will be able to invest in both the Core and Plus products, with and without the IFISA; last week Zopa also announced for the first time since 2015 they were raising target investor rates to 4 percent for Core and 4.6 percent for Plus. Source.