Banking
Fintech is Bringing Data to Banking, and It’s Going to Change Everything
March 9, 2022As the rush to innovate legacy finance and its surrounding institutions continues, companies across the fintech space are rushing to build tech-infused brands while designing and marketing innovative financial products. Paul Walker, Senior Vice President of Revenue and Partnerships at Helix, spoke with deBanked about how tech’s impact in finance will not only impact how money moves in a B2B space, but how it will impact the lives of everyone who works to earn and spend money.
Walker spoke about how many banks are sitting on stockpiles of potential revenue, but just don’t have the infrastructure to leverage it. “[Fintechs] are data driven companies, and banks have not been data driven,” said Walker. “They’re sitting on some of the most valuable data you can ever imagine, but it’s the fintechs that are able to apply and anticipate areas of a consumer’s need [with this data] that not even the consumer knew they needed.”
According to Walker, fintech’s incoming impact on banking will hit both consumer and commercial banking pretty quickly. He spoke about how things like payroll information can be leveraged by banks as a harnessing tool for data on particular individuals who might be ripe for certain financial products.
“Imagine something like [banks] tracking the fact that your payroll or direct deposit changed by 20%, that might indicate that you got promoted,” said Walker.
“If you got promoted, is that a good time to go and engage you in a [financial] service that might be appropriate?”
Walker continued to speak on how smaller fintechs are bringing new ideas to traditional financial products and services on a widespread basis through approach via a problem solving lens.
“Using context is where these fintechs have done a change in things, some of the things are fundamentals like paychecks two days early,” Walker said. “I think fintechs have really tried to think about these points and new services.”
Walker spoke about how fintech has impacted every facet of the financial system and how the industry’s vast array of companies makes up a pretty large basis of his company’s clientele. With a history of banks and credit unions being their primary customers, Q2’s branch into Helix appears to be an effort to meet a rising demand of tech’s desire to incorporate themselves into legacy banking.
“From a tech perspective, more-so than anything, one of the interesting things we’ve done which what appeals to a lot of folks is our long history of working with a long line of banks and credit unions,” said Walker. “Over the last few years, we have been on the forefront of working with fintechs, and I think we’ve brought some really unique partnership models to market.”
“We’ve combined the things that fintechs do really well, and the things that banks and credit unions do really well, especially in regards to oversight and understanding the regulatory environment that will keep someone out of hot water in a highly regulated space.”
When asked whether innovation is truly exponential, Walker was hesitant to identify a point in which innovation reaches limits. According to him, innovation has no limits. In Walker’s world, finance seems to be just a subset of societies’ immersion with technology.
“I don’t think innovation ever stops, and I think that’s the basis of technology,” he said. “I don’t think its specific to just finance, but when tech and finance converge, there’s an opportunity to say ‘how do we do this better’”.
Walker expanded on how innovation has changed legacy products over and over again in a short period of time, and how examples of this are just the starting point for what is to come. “Now we’re going from same-day to real-time payments. At some point, you’re not going to have a physical card, you will have a digital card.”
“I think data will continue to create innovation,” said Walker. “Ultimately, I’m confident that innovation is not a destination—it’s a journey.”
Cashback-Crazed Enzo Launches Deposit Accounts
January 4, 2022
Enzo Wealth, the fintech launching a neobank-esque software through Blue Ridge Bank finally came out with their initial account offerings to a select group among the 35,000 people on the account holder’s waitlist. Since the announcement, the company has marketed themselves by offering attractive cashback and equity-based incentives to account holders. According to an email sent out to the selected invitees by CEO Jeremy Shoykhet, the company is still working out the kinks to their offerings.
“We launched the Enzo Early Access Beta a few weeks ago, and are thrilled with the progress so far,” said Shoykhet. “We’ve seen over one-thousand customers join the early access beta. We’ve also been excited to see the uptake in our Rent Payment Cashback Program, with a current run-rate of $1mm of rent payments we will be processing annually.”
Invited waitlist members who sign up for the trial will not only receive a $50 bonus, but any money they spend that may qualify for cashback in the future will be retroactively funded to accounts, should money spent now be qualified for cashback at a later date.
The trial period includes the originally offered 1.5% cashback on rent payments, but with a stipulation during the trial period. Enzo customers seeking cashback on rent must pay rent via ACH from the landlord’s payment portal. According to an email sent by Shoyket to invitees, Enzo account holders will be able to receive the cashback on rent regardless of their payment method as launch progresses.
Enzo caught eyes when it offered wild cashback offerings like 10% on Ubers, 5% on DoorDash, and 1.25% on pretty much everything else. Enzo accounts also pay out a 0.50% APY, which the company claims will be increased as their capabilities allow.
Shoykhet hinted at Enzo continuing to grow as the trial period takes stride. “We are excited to continue growing the platform, adding more features, and inviting more folks to use the product.”
Citi Uses Branding and Fintech to Bring Merchants Directly to Funders
December 3, 2021
Citi’s release of Bridge, a virtual loan broker offering merchants a three step process to apply for capital through over a dozen banks, has branched out across seven states and is continuing to grow four months in— according to recent LinkedIn posts from Citi employees.
“I am excited to announce I have been working on a new and innovative platform along with the Citi team for the past few months!” wrote Caitlyn Boyle, Assistant Vice President and member of the team who designed Bridge. “I am extremely proud to be part of such an amazing team, and to assist in building out a great platform to connect small and medium sized businesses with local, regional, and community banks.”
“If you are looking for a loan, do not hesitate to visit our platform!” Boyle wrote.
Richard Banziger, Head of Citi’s U.S. Commercial Bank, commented during the launch of the program about Bridge’s potential to not only improve the application process for merchants, but how the program gives access to capital that will be given to minority business owners who may have never been able to get access to that capital in the past.
“Citi believes in the power of local, small businesses and continues to find ways to support businesses that are the foundation of communities across the U.S. Citi funded loans totaling more than $5 billion as part of the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program during 2020 and 2021.”
“As both a lender and a community stakeholder, we have a deep understanding of the problems businesses face when trying to navigate the borrowing process” said Banziger. “We are committed to finding digital solutions that can make the process easier, more seamless and more equitable.”
According to Citi, Bridge’s goals are broken down into five points. They hope to create liquidity and access to capital, modernize and automate prospecting, add digitization, transparency, and standardization to the loan process, continue to digitize small and medium sized business lending, and democratize the loan process for lenders and brokers.
“Citi prides itself on encouraging a spirit of entrepreneurship among its employees to solve financial access issues and improve digital offerings for our clients and community partners,” said Vanessa Colella, Citi’s Chief Innovation Officer.
Loan options range from as little as $100,000 to as high as $10,000,000.
Marcus By Goldman Sachs Will Become Goldman Sachs Marcus
November 12, 2021
Brace yourself for the craziest rebrand in fintech history.
Just kidding.
Marcus by Goldman Sachs is changing its name to Goldman Sachs Marcus.
:::Mind Blown:::
The news, publicized by Forbes, said that the bank now feels more confident in leading the division with its own name first after initially applying caution.
Goldman found that their customers had a strong brand affinity with the name ‘Goldman Sachs’ and wanted to “be closer to the brand,” said Stephanie Cohen, Goldman’s Global Co-Head of Consumer and Wealth Management.
The full scoop can be read at Forbes.
LendingClub Finding It Pays to be a Bank
November 1, 2021
At $48.75, LendingClub stock recently surpassed the highest valuation it has had since January 2016.
Successfully becoming a bank earlier this year and dropping its peer-to-peer lending business for good, the company is showing the benefit of that by recording a net income of $27.2M in Q3.
And its loan business is still strong. LendingClub originated $3.1B in loans last quarter, up from the $2.7B in Q2.
“When we launched back in 2007, LendingClub’s vision was to leverage technology, data and our marketplace model to transform the banking industry,” said company CEO Scott Sanborn on the earnings call. “We began by bringing a traditional credit product, the installment loan into the digital age by moving it online, broadening access, lowering costs and delivering a fast and frictionless experience for borrowers, all while delivering attractive risk-adjusted returns for loan investors.”
In 2014, however, it was their designation as a “tech company” rather than as a financial company that saw their valuation surge to nearly 3x higher than what it is now. (Note: The company did a reverse 1:5 stock split in 2019). But now as a bank, that valuation is surging back.
“Now with the added funding benefit of our bank, we’re able to generate positive unit economics,” Sanborn said.
Canada is Looking Forward to Open Banking
October 4, 2021
“It’s a fairly big deal,” said Tal Schwartz, Senior Advisor to the Canadian Lenders Association, when discussing the Canadian government’s renewed interest in alternative lenders after the recent Canadian election. As potential government officials from both parties discussed ideas about open banking in their election campaigns, such a conversation had been quelled by the “Big Five” Canadian banks— until now.
“The closer we get to some kind of entrenched regulatory framework, the better positions fintechs will be in to actually compete, get access to financial data, and raise money in an environment where there is regulatory certainty,” said Schwartz.
In August, the Canadian department of Finance welcomed a Final Report from the Advisory Committee on Open Banking that showcased a plan to modernize the Canadian financial regulatory system, with open banking and fintech in mind.
“Consumer-driven finance, or open banking, is already part of Canadians’ lives,” said Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, in the report.
“Many use digital services every day to manage their money, to budget for expenses, and to make investments. Working towards a regulated, made-in-Canada system will make sure that we continue to enjoy a strong, stable, and innovative financial sector that is globally competitive, promotes consumer choice, prioritizes data privacy, and contributes to economic growth,” Freeland continued.
Schwartz said that the traditional oligopolistic structure of Canadian banking can offer advantages in times of financial crisis, but not when the government is shelling out money to help businesses during pandemic-related shutdowns.
“The reality was, if you’re a small business, you don’t have a credit relationship with a big bank, the only credit relationship you have is with an alternate lender,” said Schwartz. “By distributing money through big banks, in one sense, you’re not servicing customers the way they want to be served, and you’re cutting oxygen to a flourishing part of the innovation economy in Canada.”
Unlike in the United States, the Canadian government gave exclusive access of allocation to pandemic-induced federal assistance loans to the Big Five banks, leaving small business lenders relatively out to dry during that time. When asked about what issues he would like to see the new administration tackle first when it comes to alternative lenders, Schwartz mentioned the allocation of this type of money moving forward.
Other institutions outside of big banking in Canada are making strides in their effort to compete. Fintech giant Stripe announced hiring sprees for their new Toronto office last Thursday. Then there’s Nuula, a startup that aims to build a user-centric financial super app, announcing $120M in funding in early September.
To reach its full potential, Canadian fintech companies need the access to more data. The report recognizes the acknowledgement of the necessity this data is to fintech companies. “The scope of Canada’s open banking system in its initial phase should include data that is currently available to consumers and small business through their online banking applications,” it says. “Financial institutions should be allowed to exclude derived data – described as data enhanced by financial institutions to provide additional value to their consumers, such as internal credit risk assessments” the report reads.
“Historically, there hasn’t been very tech friendly or [Big Bank] challenger friendly regulations,” Schwartz said. “This is really the first time we’ve seen the political parties even mention issues of open banking and saying this will be a priority for our next government.”
“This has given the industry a lot of hope,” said Schwartz.
Marcus Has Reached $100 Billion in Deposits
September 24, 2021
Marcus by Goldman Sachs, the prestigious investment firm’s attempt at being a conventional bank, announced that they have over $100 billion in deposits after just five years in operation. The online platform that began as an invite-only savings platform has transformed into a full-blown consumer bank, operating on the futuristic model of operating savings and CD accounts digitally.
“If you told me we would accomplish so much in just five years from launch, I would have said you were crazy,” wrote Harit Talwar in a LinkedIn post on Thursday that announced his retirement from Marcus. “It shows that nothing is impossible when you have the best people.”
In his post, Talwar praised Marcus’ desire to take risks, acting as a separate entity while having to operate within the confines and upkeep of the Goldman Sachs reputation.
“We had the audacity to think big, and it’s safe to say we proved the skeptics wrong – eight million customers, $100 billion in deposits, nearly $10 billion in card and loan balances, $1.5 billion in run rate revenue, two J.D. Power wins and partnerships with the top brands in the world including Apple, Amazon, Walmart, JetBlue, AARP, General Motors and more,” Talwar wrote.
Marcus launched in 2016 with some of the best interest rates in the banking industry. It introduced the Goldman Sachs brand to an entire new group of customers by offering up high interest rates on accounts with no fees, which was nearly unheard of at the time. Two years after launch, Marcus had over $35 billion in deposits.
Marcus’ path was almost completely different prior to its launch. The original idea prior to Marcus was a platform called Mosaic, a banking concept meant for borrowers with good credit that were looking to refinance other debt.
In his retirement post, Talwar credited the camaraderie that developed between employees as a major factor resulting in the success of Marcus. “The team has given more than perhaps in prior jobs, but maybe that is the price of building something this extraordinary at an unprecedented pace,” Talwar wrote. “Yet by sharing those experiences in the trenches, we’ve made lasting friendships and redefined what a consumer business looks like.”
The outlook for Marcus is seemingly endless. Online banking is trendier than ever, and the outlook for banking is losing the brick-and-mortar mentality.
Experts also believe that Marcus has helped Goldman Sachs’ progress into new markets. “Marcus has taken advantage of a core strategic advantage—[Goldman Sachs’] lack of a preexisting deposit customer base— to prove that digital deposit gathering at scale is possible for a large institution,” Todd Baker, Managing Principal of Broodmoar Consulting and Senior Fellow at Columbia University told deBanked.
When the company first came about, deBanked reported that Marcus may be poaching customers from a peer-to-peer lender named LendingClub. The two companies are now more alike than ever given that LendingClub is also now a bank. LendingClub, still new to the banking scene however, had only amassed $2.5B in deposits as of June 30, 2021.
It seems that Marcus may have been ahead of the curve when it comes to fintech’s place in traditional banking, racking up staggering figures across the board and showing young upstart competitors just how strong it is.
Cannabis Boom Exposes Difficulties in Lending
September 15, 2021
The legalization of cannabis across the U.S. has exposed an interesting opportunity for banks and small business lenders. With tons of capital, insane amounts of cash flow, and an industry outlook that couldn’t be better, banks and lenders should be swarming in droves to get their hands on a piece of the legal marijuana action. Seemingly a match made in heaven, lenders and cannabis cultivators are running into some serious trouble when it comes to how the cash crop operators manage their businesses’ finances.
“We had too much cash to keep in one place,” said Charles Ball, the owner of Ball Family Farms, a wholesale grow operation based in Los Angeles. By stashing cash in different safe-houses around LA, Ball had to operate his completely legitimate and legal business like an illegal operation. “Traditional banking wasn’t an option for us,” Ball said.
“We used to drive the cash around,” said Ball. For recent renovations of lighting fixtures, Ball had to pay $125,000 in cash to the company who did the service for him. Ball also paid taxes in cash, a process in which he had to walk into a Los Angeles government building with $40,000 cash on his person. At the time, there was no bank that was willing to hold the cash for him — even for tax purposes.
Prior to going fully cash, Ball did do business with some big banks, but he realized quickly that they weren’t interested in servicing his cash upon learning what his business was doing.
“They closed my account for wearing a shirt with my business name on it, they put two and two together,” said Ball, when referencing the closing of two accounts with Bank of America and Chase after representatives of the banks saw him wearing his company shirt to make deposits. One of the biggest difficulties of running a cannabis distributor isn’t the growing or the distribution of the product, it’s what to do with the money, according to Ball.
“We had no way of banking,” he said, up until February of this year, when he was able to secure his first type of deposit account with a local bank in the Los Angeles area that was fully aware of what his business was doing. “I have to pay more fees, and I don’t get the same type of customer service, everything is different,” Ball said.
With service fees on his deposit account between $2,000-$3,000 per month, the security of doing business with a bank must be worth the price. When pursuing a loan with that bank to expand his operation however, the lending process was halted at the last second after federal regulators told the bank they wouldn’t allow the deal to go through.
“We were denied on the approval date [of the loan],” said Ball. According to him, the bank told him the FDIC stepped in and killed the deal. Once again, Ball Family Farms was forced to explore other options outside of banking, such as exploring renovation options through landlords or simply waiting until the cash is on hand to make the move. “The banking system in this industry is very flawed,” said Ball.
“We’ve never taken private investor money,” Ball said when asked about whether he had explored any other avenues of receiving a loan. “We took [the start] slowly and it works, we are a ground up operation.”
This problem is not unique to Ball Family Farms. Legal cannabis cash flow has been a major issue since legalization first took place in the states. It seems like local governments want the tax revenue, but the bank’s regulators want to make it difficult for lenders to get their hit off the cash pipe until the federal government changes the law on their end.
The opportunity for funding in the industry isn’t going unnoticed however, as cannabis-exclusive funders and brokers are beginning to pop up across the U.S.
Judy Rinkus, for example, CEO of Seed to Sale Funding, is a Michigan based broker who works exclusively with cannabis businesses.
“[The industry’s] biggest problem is simply finding a lender who isn’t prohibited from lending to cannabis-related concerns,” said Rinkus. According to her, one of the biggest issues is the infancy of the industry, as many cannabis wholesalers and retailers just haven’t been around long enough to be reliable borrowers.
“Most businesses have been established for 3 years or less, they haven’t kept good financial records, and accept a lot of cash payments, and they lack sufficient collateral,” Rinkus said.
Rinkus stressed the importance that real estate plays in giving cannabis businesses borrowing power. “Having real estate to pledge as collateral is key,” she said. “There are ways to get other types of loans, but they are often enormously expensive and are limited to no more than 10% of an entity’s historic revenues.”
Rinkus’ outlook on the industry remains positive, and she remains a supporter despite the difficulties associated with cannabis lending. “Businesses in this space are the true American entrepreneurs,” said Rinkus. “In many areas of the country, they are creating jobs and wealth for folks that would otherwise not have the same chances.”
The outlook on the industry is bright. More states are pushing for legalization, social taboo of marijuana is relatively nil, and the potential of an untapped industry in the eyes of both government and banking are becoming too good to pass up. As the industry begins to cultivate its presence, look for the money surrounding cannabis to creep its way into fintech sooner than later.
