Articles by deBanked Staff
LoanDepot Adds Performance Data to Orchard Lending Index
February 29, 2016Marketplace lender loanDepot tied up with analytics firm Orchard to integrate its data into its U.S. Consumer Marketplace Lending Index which measures the overall performance of U.S. consumer marketplace loans.
The index allows investors to calculate returns based on charge-off and industry growth rates and is distributed through the Bloomberg Professional Service. In May last year, California-based loanDepot entered the marketplace lending market, moving beyond mortgages and launching its first unsecured personal loan product. Through its lending platform, it offers personal loans, purchase and refinance, and home equity loan products.
“As online lending continues to grow in size and importance, access to transparent and unbiased, benchmarked data will become more important to investors as they evaluate opportunities,” said Brian Biglin, chief risk officer at loanDepot. “We’re excited to showcase our portfolio on the Orchard platform as an attractive option to investors interested in specific loan types, borrower profiles and risk and return potential.”
Former Deutsche Bank Exec Anshu Jain Joins SoFi Board
February 29, 2016SoFi has made news again — and this time garnering some serious industry cred.
After its controversial SuperBowl ad and the proposed dating app, the student loan lender has hired former head of Deutsche Bank, Anshu Jain as a board member.
Anshu Jain, who resigned from the German bank as its co-chief exeutive officer will join SoFi as an adviser initially and help the company secure long-term capital. In December last year, the company hired Barbara Lambotte, a twelve year veteran of Moody’s Investors Service, to the capital markets team. These high-profile hires mark a significant step in bringing attention to the fast-growing online lending market.
San Francisco-based SoFi, valued at $4 billion, funded over $6 billion in loans across various products including mortgages, personal loans and student loan refinancing and this year launched the sale of a $551 million securitization offering.
Venture Capital Firm 500 Startups Launches $25M Fintech Fund
February 25, 2016Early stage venture fund, 500 Startups announced a $25 million fintech fund which will invest in nearly 100 startups focused on lending, investment advisory, personal finance management, blockchain, money movement, and insurance.
The accelerator’s other fintech investments include credit management platform, CreditKarma, online bank, Simple, payments startup Flywire and financial comparison site iMoney.
Through a fintech-focused accelerator and a partner program, 500 Startups will coach these companies on regulation, customer relations, marketing and distribution. Spearheaded by Sheel Mahnot, a partner at the firm with fintech expertise, the fund will accelerate 20+ companies per year in the Silicon Valley.
The Reason Behind Lendio’s 1175% Growth
February 25, 2016
Lendio, the small business loans marketplace closed 2015 with $128 million in financing for 5100 businesses. That number swiftly becomes impressive compared to the 400 businesses funded with $12.4 million the previous year.
Lendio CEO Brock Blake attributes this 1175 percent growth to the partnerships the company forged, the most noteworthy one with Staples where Lendio finances the small businesses that Staples often interacts with. “We had a great year with our partnership,” he said. “Staples has been a fantastic partner — they have the merchants and we have the finance.”
The Salt Lake City-based company prides itself on its partnership strategy. In 2014, the company struck a deal with UPS to offer their marketplace for free to The UPS Store business customers.
Blake is also excited about expanding the marketing channels and growing the firm’s online marketing strategy.
Lendio’s average loan size is $25,000 and their clients have typically been in business for 26 months in industries like construction, retail, restaurants and real estate.
P2P Insurance Startup Lemonade Hires Behavioral Economist, Dan Ariely
February 24, 2016
“If you tried to create a system to bring out the worst in humans, it would look a lot like today’s insurance. @Lemonade_Inc changes that!”
That was a tweet by Dan Ariely, professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University known for his bestseller ‘Predictably Irrational.’ Ariely, a leading behavioral economist is the latest hire at Lemonade Inc, a P2P insurance personal insurance.
Ariely will serve as the startup’s chief behavioral officer where he will design systems using his research to mitigate risks and ensure to align the interests of both the insurers and the insured.
“Dishonesty is influenced a lot by our ability to justify it. If we are dealing with a party that we think is immoral itself than we [are immoral] and justify it. We think that everybody else cheats… it feels like a victimless crime,” TechCrunch quoted him saying.
Ariely’s research has found that people tend to be more honest while filling out forms if they sign at the top of the page. Lemonade’s approach to disrupting the insurance industry will definitely have such applications.
The startup secured a $13 million funding round from Sequoia Capital and Israeli investor Aleph in December last year and has since made many significant hires from leading insurance firms like AIG and has lined up the likes of Berkshire Hathaway’s National Indemnity and Lloyd’s of London as reinsurers.
Lending Platform Orion First Appoints CTO
February 24, 2016
Lending platform Orion First hired Paul Marcoe as its Chief Technology Officer.
Marcoe joins Orion from Financial Pacific Leasing where he was the vice president of information systems and security where he spent 20 years spearheading the direction and development of several campaigns to update and improve internal systems.
“Paul is a talented Information Technology executive with proven industry experience.” said David T. Schaefer, CEO of Orion First. “His robust skillset, numerous successful projects managed and overall IT vision make him a perfect fit to lead technology initiatives here at Orion.”
Orion is a third-party servicer in small business commercial finance marketplace. In 2014, they secured a relationship with Raisworks, an online direct lending platform that connects small businesses with institutional lenders looking to lend directly to private businesses.
During a 2015 conference panel, Orion First CEO David Schaefer had said that humans should still play a role in underwriting.
Goldman Sachs Ramps Up Online Lending Unit, Makes Key Hires
February 24, 2016
Goldman Sachs is ramping up its online lending business and has hired a former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau attorney.
Mitch Hochberg who was a senior counsel of the agency from 2011 to 2013 has been roped in to head compliance for the investment bank’s new online consumer lending business, Buzzfeed reported following Hochberg’s LinkedIn profile.
Goldman Sachs has hired a bunch of executives for this endeavor. Over the past year, it has hired executives from Discover, Lending Club and American Express. It’s not surprising that big banks like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase want a slice of the online lending market valued at trillion dollars. JP Morgan Chase partnered with online lender OnDeck last year to build a new lending product for small business merchants to be launched this year.
Google To Shut Down Financial Products Comparison Site
February 23, 2016
Another Google product bites the dust.
The tech giant plans to shut down Google Compare on March 23rd 2016, a tool which let users compare financial products like credit cards, mortgages and insurance.
The service which has been active in the UK since 2012, was launched in the US as Google Advisor last year and allowed customers to get quotes on financial products. Despite having launched with partners like Zillow and Lending Tree for mortgage products, the service didn’t do much for the company in terms of revenue.
In its letter to partners, the company noted, “Despite people turning to Google for financial services information, the Google Compare service itself hasn’t driven the success we hoped for.”
