Articles by deBanked Staff
Here’s How Much the American Credit Card Addiction is Worth
February 9, 2016
Of all the addictions Americans could have, credit card debt is one which is measurable monetarily. And as of December 2015, it was $936 billion.
A recent study by the Federal Reserve of Boston revealed that a majority of Americans roll over their debt paying high amounts of interest. Americans racked up $103 billion in debt since April 2011, still less than the $1.02 trillion owed in 2008, Bloomberg reported.
The credit card frenzy that hits people in their 20s is hard to get rid of and as they get older, the reliance on debt only increases. ‘While 20-year-olds use more than half their available credit on average, 50-year-olds use almost 40 percent,’ the article noted.
The study revealed that credit card usage on an individual level doesn’t change much during the course of their life but banks constantly adjust the credit available. ‘The average credit-card limit rose about 40 percent from 2000 to 2008, then plunged about 40 percent during 2009.’ The study also found that when offered a 10 percent increase in credit limits, people who take on revolving debt subsequently increase their debt by 9.99 percent.
Did BFS Capital Trade Going Public for a Bigger Credit Line?
February 4, 2016
BFS Capital secured a $165 million credit line through Wells Fargo Capital Finance with an additional increase of up to $250 million. This agreement extends the former line of $135 million and will help the Florida based small business lender to service merchants in North America.
The company had an eventful 2015 — In July last year, it funded $1 billion worth of deals and acquired New York-based financial services firm Entrust Merchant Solutions in August. It also rebranded itself from Business Financial Services Inc.
Interestingly enough, as deBanked reported in September last year, the company filed for an IPO and submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) relating to the proposed initial public offering of its common stock.
The Bitcoin Mining IPO Didn’t Go So Well
February 3, 2016
Much ado about nothing?
Despite the long drawn endeavor, the world’s first bitcoin mining IPO was lackluster. Australia’s The Bitcoin Group, a bitcoin mining company raised $4.2 million (5.9 million Australian dollars) falling short of the targeted $14 million (20 million Australian dollars)
The Melbourne-based company was founded in September 2014 with plans to pursue an IPO a month later. The founders Sam Lee, Allan Guo and Ryan Xu started Bitcoin Group as a cryptocurrency arbitrage service, but soon turned their attention to mining bitcoins as the main business.
However, the IPO plans did not pan out as expected after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission banned the company for trying to garner investor interest on social media before filing the prospectus and placing two more stop orders on the IPO in July.
The Bitcoin Group was finally cleared to list on the Australian Securities Exchange in January this year after a third unsuccessful attempt of listing in November last year. The stock ‘BCG’ was scheduled to begin trading on February 2nd and received an underwhelming response from the market. As of now, it still hasn’t actually been listed.
All the setbacks however did not dampen the founders’ spirit — CEO Sam Lee called the IPO a “solid result” and told CNBC that it was sufficient for the company to focus on expansion by acquiring new mining equipment.
