Indonesia study: P2P lenders create thousands of jobs, reduce poverty
Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms have provided jobs for more than 362,000 Indonesians and reduced the poverty rate by 0.7 per cent – equal to 177,000 individuals – as they provide access to financing in cities and remote areas alike, a study said last week. The study was conducted by local think tank Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) and the Indonesian Fintech Lenders Association (Asosiasi Fintech Pendanaan Bersama Indonesia, AFPI). Speaking during the study’s launch in Jakarta, Indef researcher Izzudin al-Farras said: “P2P lending enables MSMEs [micro, small and medium-sized enterprises] to boost production and thus can directly impact the country’s gross domestic product [GDP],” P2P platforms have […]
Glasgow in sights of fintech aiming to disrupt lending market
A fintech start-up founded by a Glaswegian entrepreneur is aiming to disrupt the lending market with a “totally new and fair approach” – and set to roll out low-cost loans for public sector workers in locations including Glasgow. Salad Money, founded by Debt Hacker campaigner Alan Campbell, is looking to “smash the monopoly” of credit reference agencies and tap into open banking and artificial intelligence. The company, which says it is the first open banking powered lender, said it is opening up affordable credit to 85 per cent of applicants who were previously excluded from credit or paying sky-high annual rates. Salad Money said its “revolutionary” new method of credit […]
P2P lender KoinWorks bags $1.4m from Japan’s Saison Capital
Indonesian peer-to-peer lending platform KoinWorks has received around US$1.4 million in additional funding from Saison Capital, the venture arm of Japanese financial services firm Credit Saison, as part of its series B round. The new funds bring KoinWorks’ total series B and B2 raise to about US$13.6 million. It raised US$12.2 million in June in a round led by fintech-focused venture capital firm Quona Capital and Singapore’s EV Growth. Founded in 2016, the company connects investors with borrowers through its platform, providing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with an alternative to traditional financial institutions. KoinWorks plans to use the fresh funds to develop new financial products to support digital SMEs, […]
Landbay says October was record month
Fast-growing Fintech Landbay says October was a great month for the real estate peer to peer lending platform. Without providing any details, Landbay tweeted out the news. Earlier this year, Landbay reported that a “leading financial institution” had committed to funding £1 billion in buy to let mortgages originated on the site. This may have something to do with its growth. Landbay offers investors the opportunity to invest in loans to buy-to-let landlords. All loans are secured by first‐ranking mortgages over tenanted residential properties across England and Wales. The P2P lender currently promotes up to a 3.45% return for investors. In a historically low interest rate environment, these returns are […]
Koyo FinTech raises $4.9M to assist underbanked UK borrowers
FinTech startup Koyo, which uses Open Banking to offer loans to underbanked UK borrowers, announced that it has raised $4.9 million in funding. The round, a mixture of debt and equity funding, was led by Forward Partners, with participation from Seedcamp, Christian Faes (founder and CEO of LendInvest) and Charles Delingpole (founder and CEO of ComplyAdvantage). Founded last year by Thomas Olszewski, the FinTech firm aims to secure loans for people with a limited credit history through the use of Open Banking data. “If someone is new to the country, or otherwise has a thin credit file, it can be difficult for that person to access credit,” said Olszewski. “For […]
Indonesia’s fintech lending boom exploits shortfall in bank loans
Fintech firms, offering loans of as little as a few hundred dollars, are seeing a spike in lending in Indonesia where tens of millions of people have little or no access to bank credit – helping alleviate a financing shortfall estimated at more than $73 billion. The emergence of these peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms has so far been welcomed by Indonesia’s financial regulators which see them as offering a much needed service to cash-strapped businesses and consumers at a time when Southeast Asia’s biggest economy has been hobbled by sluggish bank lending. Wimboh Santoso, head of Indonesia’s financial regulator (OJK), said while the trend was still a drop in the […]
The 10 Biggest Fintech Companies in America
Financial technology companies in the U.S. raised $3.5 billion in the first half of 2017, according to KPMG, as investors rushed to place bets in buzzy sectors like insurance and digital currencies. The U.S. is now home to 13 fintech unicorns who have scored valuations of at least $1 billion. This year alone, Robinhood (free trading), AvidXChange (automated invoicing for small businesses) and Symphony (Wall Street messaging platform) all joined the billion-dollar club. Here are the ten most valuable private venture-backed fintech players based in the U.S.: 1. Stripe Value: $9.2 billion* Founded: 2010 Founders: Patrick and John Collison CEO: Patrick Collison Allows merchants to accept online and mobile payments […]
Fintech the future
There are an estimated 600 fintech operators in Australia. The industry is burgeoning and continues to attract new players, so receiving less than double-digit complaints in 16 months isn’t a bad track record. “In addition to those 600 there’s probably another 20 to 30 overseas-based fintech companies that are operating here such as PayPal, Stripe and Square, for example,” says Cameron Dart, Australian FinTech chief executive and founder. “When we first started Australian FinTech back in 2015, we estimated there to be around 100 to 150 Australian fintech companies. We were very wrong. There were about 300 fintech companies back in 2015, which grew to around 450 in total during […]
