China Rapid Finance to triple number of users on its consumer lending platform
China Rapid Finance (CRF), the mainland’s largest online consumer lending platform in terms of the number of loans transacted, is looking to triple the number of users this year as it looks to create a business on par with a major commercial bank’s credit-card division. Zane Wang Zhengyu, founder and chief executive of CRF, told the South China Morning Post that the company would be impervious to the challenges facing other peer-to-peer (P2P) operators on the mainland, and would continue to bolster its online consumer lending businesses in accordance with Beijing’s financial reforms. “We have been trying to nurture the growth of the online consumer lending business in China,” he […]
RateSetter poaches new man for risk team from PayPal after chief risk officer’s departure
Peer-to-peer lending platform RateSetter has appointed a new head of risk analytics and retail credit, just weeks after the surprise departure of the platform’s chief risk officer. Michael Hoare is joining RateSetter from PayPal UK where he was chief credit risk officer. In the absence of a chief risk officer at RateSetter, Hoare and the risk team will report to RateSetter’s risk committee, chaired by former HSBC executive Jim Gunner. Hoare’s appointment follows news earlier this month that chief risk officer Cyrille Salle de Chou has left the peer-to-peer lender after just six months. He joined RateSetter from Lloyds in June but left to become chief risk officer of HSBC’s […]
Peer-to-peer platform Folk2Folk gets authorised by the regulator
Folk2Folk has become the largest fully authorised peer-to-peer platform in Britain. The company announced on Wednesday that the regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has given it full operating permissions, allowing it to offer the Innovative Finance ISA and giving it a stamp of approval that it can market to customers. Cornwall-based Folk2Folk lets people lend money to local projects and business in their area and has lent over £125 million ($157.5 million) across its platform since launch in 2013. It is different to other crowdfunding platforms in that it has a network of shops around the countries where businesses and lenders can talk to staff about lending on the […]
Fintech firms get chance to grow up as US offers charters
Over the past decade, there’s been an explosion of Silicon Valley start-ups and technology companies that act like banks. Now, a key US regulator is inviting them to be regulated more like traditional lenders. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said on Friday it plans to start accepting applications from fintech companies for a special charter that would formally subject them to federal banking rules. Companies that become chartered will get the benefits of being an established company in the eyes of the government. But they will also face anti-money laundering controls and consumer protections that apply to other lenders, the OCC said. “Preferences and needs of consumers, […]
Can the internet revolutionise finance in China?
Internet finance in China has developed rapidly over the past several years. Internet finance embraces a huge range of activities, including third-party payment, online lending, direct sales of funds, crowd-funding, online insurance and banking and digital money. Public sentiment towards internet finance has moved the full gamut from fever pitch to fear. What is the future of internet finance? Optimists argue that internet finance represents a third type of financial intermediation, after direct and indirect financing, which could completely revamp traditional financial industries. Others point out that internet finance is mainly a Chinese phenomenon: a product of regulatory arbitrage, which could evaporate once financial regulations tighten to levels equivalent to […]
Prospa takes first place in Smart50 Awards
Prospa took out first place at the Smart50 Awards in Melbourne last night. The Awards recognise Australia’s top 50 fastest growing SMEs and were dominated by fintechs and retailers. Prospa was awarded first place with incredible growth of more than 1000% over the past three years. “We are thrilled to be named #1 in Australia,” said Beau Bertoli, Joint CEO of Prospa. “Winning demonstrates that we understand the finance needs of small businesses. However this is just the beginning of our journey. We’ll continue to innovate and create ground breaking finance experiences to help Australian small businesses succeed.” “We’re the leading online lender to small business […]
This Australian fintech startup uses new identification technology and wants to bust open the small business loan market
An Australian fintech startup is going all-in with a unique algorithm that it says will revolutionise the business lending market. Sail Funding’s big data application analysis, with inputs from third-party databases and applicant-provided information, allows the startup to make customers a loan offer that is tuned to the applicant’s risk profile. This means less chance of rejections and less chance of sub-optimal borrowing terms. “Being rejected for a loan can be catastrophic but having to put up your home or car as collateral also causes significant personal challenges,” said Sail founder and chief executive Yanir Yakutiel, who will launch the venture in Sydney on Tuesday. “By using our proprietary algorithm […]
Banks team up with their FinTech competitors
These are challenging times for the incumbent heavyweights of the financial services sector. Beset by regulatory, governance, technological, capital, and investment issues, they are increasingly facing competition for business from a whole host of new players, primarily from ‘FinTechs’. Growth of marketplace lending In the case of online lenders, this trend began in the UK in the mid-2000s when Zopa, the world’s first digital and now Europe’s largest peer-to-peer (now called marketplace) provider, launched, quickly followed by the likes of Prosper, Lending Club, and OnDeck in the US. Eleven years on, Zopa has lent around 1.8 billion pounds to more than 150,000 borrowers funded by 63,000 investors of whom 53,000 […]
