• What Do The Hiccups Of 2016 Mean For Alternative Lending In The New Year?

    “Alternative lending is dead,” said Rob Frohwein, co-founder and CEO of Kabbage, “but not because of the hiccups that have occurred in the industry.” LendingClub was the first of those hiccups this year. These hiccups have left some investors wondering whether the promise of alternative lending – wider access to capital, less burdensome application processes, […]

  • Treasurers Watching FinTech Innovation To Get An Upgrade

    Capital One’s Treasury Management Group is already looking ahead to how corporate treasurers will face the most modern of challenges in 2017. A new survey from the group published earlier this month found that 83 percent of treasurers are gearing up to upgrade existing technologies, or implement entirely new ones, in the coming year. In […]

  • Alternative SME Finance Just Might Survive In 2017

    Earlier this month, marketplace lending site Biz2Credit released the findings of its most recent small business lending index . The data revealed that SME loan approval rates at big banks were at an all-time high, hitting 23.7 percent in November. Small banks saw their loan approval rates tick up, too, to 48.8 percent. Meanwhile, approval […]

  • While scandals dominated 2016 banking headlines, innovation may do so in 2017

    John Stumpf, CEO of Wells Fargo & Co., waits to testifies before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in Washington DC, on Tuesday, September 20, 2016. BLOOMBERG Trends to watch Fintechs multiply: The year ahead promises a fresh wave of startups chasing innovation in such areas as banking and investing apps targeting […]

  • Chinese billionaire with ambitions to reshape investment models

    Shanda founder Chen Tianqiao sets sights on pioneering role in finance Chinese retail investors may be able to dream of Picasso while hanging share certificates on their walls. A Singapore-based Chinese billionaire investor, who this year acquired stakes in peer-to-peer group Lending Club, the fund manager Legg Mason and Sotheby’s, has proposed “securitising” the artist’s […]

  • Peer-to-peer lenders morph into traditional banking

    Online sites such as Zopa move closer to the market they set out to disrupt The arrival of peer-to-peer companies in the UK a decade ago was supposed to start a lending revolution. As online sites that channel investors’ cash directly to borrowers, P2P groups trumpeted their ability to cut out the banks as middlemen. […]

  • Banking on change: Tech startups target financial services

    Vlad Tenev (left) and Baiju Bhatt co-founded Robinhood, a stock brokerage that does not charge any commissions for its customers to buy and sell shares. Their goal is “to create an international company that will be like nothing the financial services industry has ever seen.” THE ASSOCIATED PRESS It may not be much longer before […]

  • Online lender files for bankruptcy protection, just in time for Christmas

    A Chicago-based online lender filed for bankruptcy protection last week, which would be interesting enough on its own, but the ripples from this particular situation could rock boats elsewhere in the sector, including the Ranger Direct Lending Fund, which is listed in London. Let’s go to SNL Financial’s Tim Zawacki first for the basic facts: […]

  • 5 Surefire Ways To Inspire Others More Deeply And Powerfully Next Year

    This time of year, many of us are reflecting on the past 12 months, thinking about what we’ve done well and what we’d like to learn from, as well as where we’d like next year to take us. Whether you’re a leader, manager, solopreneur, small business owner, parent, or anyone who wants more impact and […]

  • IPO Dreams: Fintech Turmoil Is Disrupting SoFi (LC, ONDK)

    Financial technology, known as fintech, has been regarded as one of the most exciting growth areas when it comes to technology startups, attracting significant venture capital. Delayed IPO Dreams That level of interest may be over. One startup that went public, LendingClub Corp. ( LC ), described as an industry pioneer, saw the ouster of […]