Loans
Affirm Partners with Walmart for Payments
February 28, 2019
Walmart customers can now pay for items using credit from Affirm, the online consumer lender announced yesterday. Walmart customers can find out how much they qualify for online and then make online or in-store purchases with in three, six or twelve monthly installments. A credit decision is made in real time and does not affect the customer’s credit score, according to Affirm.
“Walmart serves millions and has become a leader in the retail landscape with its commitment to help shoppers ‘save money and live better,’ which closely mirrors our own mission to ‘improve lives’ with our products,” said Max Levchin, founder and CEO at Affirm, as well as a founder of PayPal. “I’m looking forward to introducing Walmart customers to a modern and innovative way to buy the things they need.”
Affirm is now available as a payment option on Walmart purchases ranging from $150 to $2,000. This is not Walmart’s first foray into financing. In fact, in July of last year, Walmart entered into an exclusive partnership with Capital One to issue a Walmart credit card. But Elizabeth Allin, Vice President of Communications at Affirm, said that this partnership is the first point-of-sale loan product partnership for Walmart.
“They’ve really embraced e-commerce and the evolution of digital and mobile,” Allin said of Walmart, which has been the biggest retailer in the world for years.
Now 57 years old, the retail giant is pursuing partnerships with financial organizations to facilitate access to customer credit. But back in 2006, Walmart set its sights on bringing these lending operations in house, by becoming bank. Using a controversial statute, it attempted to get a charter to become an ILC bank. Met with strong opposition from banks and other opponents, Walmart backed down.
Elevate Reflects on Success of Fintech in Personal Loans
February 21, 2019The unsecured personal loan market hit an all-time high in 2018, jumping 17 percent year-over-year to $138 billion, according to data from TransUnion released today and featured in a CNBC story.
“The rapid growth in consumer loans sits squarely on the shoulders of fintechs,” said Jason Laky, senior vice president and leader of TransUnion’s consumer lending line of business. “They continue to be the main driver.”
According to the data, fintech companies, like LendingClub, Prosper and Elevate, issued 38 percent of all U.S. personal loans last year, which is up from 35 percent in 2017 and just five percent in 2013. Conversely, banks’ market share for unsecured personal loans is shrinking. Traditional banks’ share of these loans is down to 28 percent from 40 percent five years ago.
Will this trend continue? The non-bank consumer lenders think so.
Credit unions are down to 21 percent from 31 percent in the time period. While their market share shrank, they still saw overall growth in total loan balances, according to Laky.
“Although regulations are starting to loosen, banks still cannot provide the kind of emergency funds that so many Americans need,” Chief Operating Officer of Elevate Credit Jason Harvison told deBanked via email.
He said that the rise of the gig economy has created near-constant income volatility for a large number of Americans and cited a recent JP Morgan Chase study that found that 41% of U.S. households experience income fluctuations of 30% or more month-to-month.
“Many consumers who need access to funds quickly in order to weather financial emergencies can’t access personal loans from banks,” Harvison said. “Online lenders can help fill this void.”
By lending to non-prime borrowers, do these lenders worry a lot about what might happen in an economic downturn?
“We’ve found in past downturns that non-prime consumers actually fare better than prime,” Harvison said. “Essentially, non-prime consumers are always living their lives in a state of “recession.” They experience income volatility, job insecurity, and a lack of access to necessary financial products. They live like this every day, and therefore know how to weather these challenges.”
New York Legislators Introduce Small Business Usury Bill
February 20, 2019Two members of the New York State legislature have introduced a bill to apply consumer usury protections to small businesses. Bill A03638, introduced by New York Assemblymembers Yuh-Line Niou and Crystal Peoples-Stokes define a small business as “one which is resident in this state, independently owned and operated, not dominant in its field and employs one hundred or less persons.”
The bill is separate from the one introduced to outlaw Confessions of Judgment in financial contracts.
Commonbond Receives Financing From Major Banks
February 14, 2019
Commonbond announced today that it has signed $750 million in lending capacity from Goldman Sachs, Citibank, Barclays, BMO, and ING.
“From the start, we have set out to build the highest levels of trust with our customers and our capital partners,” said CommonBond CEO and co-founder David Klein. “Access to this level of capital, and at a lower cost, is a testament to the platform we’ve built, the quality of our members, and the success of our capital markets program. We’re thrilled to have some of the world’s top banks recognize [this], and work with us in a way that ultimately benefits the consumer.”
This new financing will support growth for Commonbond, which provides student loans and student loan refinancing. According to a company statement today, in addition to growth, the new lending capacity reflects significantly lower cost of capital for CommonBond, improving the company’s borrowing spreads and advance rates.
This financing comes a little less than a month after Reuters reported that Commonbond laid off 18% of its staff, which affected 22 people. Based in New York and founded in 2013, Commonbond has originated over $2.5 billion in loans.
How Much Elevate Spends to Acquire Customers
February 11, 2019How much does a non-prime consumer lender spend to acquire a borrower? According to Elevate’s Q4 earnings report, the company spent less than $150 per borrower to originate $31 million in loans towards their partnership with FinWise Bank. Overall, however, their cost of acquisition has hovered below $245.
Elevate’s direct mail channels made up 42% of acquisitions in 2018. That’s down from 54% in 2017. In the company’s earnings call, Elevate CEO Ken Rees said of the decreasing reliance on direct mail, “we believe this sets us up for strong future growth through these expanded channels.”
Elevate offers three products to non-prime customers: RISE, a state-licensed online lender that offers up to $5,000 in unsecured installment loans and lines of credit, Elastic, a bank-issued line of credit, and Sunny, a short-term loan product for customers in the UK. RISE and Elastic serve the US market.
Separately, Elevate reported $787 million in revenue for 2018, an increase of $113 million, or 17%, compared to 2017’s full-year revenue of $673 million.
Home Improvement Loans on the Rise
February 6, 2019
A story this week in American Banker suggested that popular home improvement TV shows like HGTV’s “Fixer Upper,” “Love It or List It” and “Property Brothers” are creating a growing demand for home renovation, and hence, home renovation loans.
Nielsen rating data shows that the combined viewership of the three aforementioned shows on the HGTV (Home and Garden Television) channel rose from 5.4 million viewers in 2014 to 8.6 million viewers in 2018.
deBanked spoke to Michael Funderburk, Director of Personal Loans at LendingTree, which encompasses home improvement loans, and he said that he has seen an increase in home improvement loan volume at LendingTree. But he doesn’t necessarily think there is a correlation to the popularity of the HGTV shows.
Funderburk said people are likely to renovate their home as opposed to buy a new one for a few reasons. One is that new home supply hasn’t quite caught up with demand yet, which is causing home prices to increase. Secondly, mortgage rates are higher than they have been for the last several years.
“Despite the fact that the economy is doing well, people are in better financial positions, have better income, people are thinking ‘What do I do with this [money]? I don’t necessarily [have enough] to move homes, but maybe I can renovate my current home?”
Spending on home remodelling has steadily increased over the last two years from approximately $295 billion at the start of 2017 to nearly $340 billion at the end 2018, according to a study from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.
According to the American Banker story, Doug Duncan, Chief Economist at Fannie Mae, said that there are two reasons why home remodelling spending (and resulting borrowing) is increasing.
“Baby boomers [have] said they intend to age in place,” Duncan said. “As you get older, it requires some accommodations, things like door handles, potential wheelchair ramps, bars in the shower, that type of thing.”
The other reason for increased home improvement, he said, is that Generation X (those born between 1965 and 1979) will also be remodelling their homes.
“Gen Xers maybe have kids in junior high or high school and would like to move up,” Duncan said. “But there simply isn’t inventory, and it’s expensive if they’re in an urban center and in a school district they like.”
Whether it’s because someone saw a beautiful new den built on the “Property Brothers,” or they’re just too settled in to move, the market for the home improvement loans seems to be growing and is likely to continue. And it’s possible that small businesses may seek similar loans to freshen up their stores rather than find a new space.
PayPal Credit Commits $25 Million to Help Unpaid Government Workers
January 21, 2019
PayPal announced Friday that it was devoting $25 million to a program that offers interest-free cash advances of up to $500 to federal workers who have been impacted by the record long partial government shutdown.
“No matter where you stand on the issues, the fact is that 800,000 of our fellow Americans suddenly find themselves without a paycheck,” PayPal CEO Dan Schulman wrote in a blog post. “We think that the private sector and the public sector need to come together to think about creative solutions, to be able to help,” he said in a video.
Josh Criscoe, a PayPal spokesperson told deBanked that borrowers need only make the minimum monthly payment, generally equal to 3% of the outstanding balance. The APR is 0% until the cash advance is repaid.
Crisco said that any government worker who has gone without pay due to the shutdown qualifies for a $250 cash advance, while most of the others who meet certain credit criteria, are eligible for the full $500.
“We’ve seen strong interest since Friday and through the weekend,” said Criscoe.
PayPal is using public records to confirm that applicants seeking the interest-free cash advances are, indeed, unpaid government workers. And they are asking for certain forms of verification as well.
PayPal is not the only lending institution that is trying to help unpaid government workers. In California, nearly a dozen credit unions are providing financial assistance to their members affected by the shutdown.
“The uncertainty as to when the shutdown will end has created stress and hardship for many credit union members who are now struggling to pay their bills and provide for their families,” said Elizabeth Dooley, President and CEO of the Educational Employees Credit Union, in a statement.
“Credit Unions are offering options to federal employees affected by the partial shutdown – such as skipping a loan payment or zero percent loans – to help their members get through this challenging time.”
LendUp Gets a Shake-up
January 11, 2019
Among other company news, LendUp announced yesterday that it has formed a separate company called Mission Lane that will be devoted to scaling its credit card business. LendUp will continue to operate under its name and will focus on personal loans, education and savings opportunities, according to the announcement. Along with the division of LendUp, company co-founder and CEO Sasha Orloff is stepping down and is being replaced by Anu Shultes, the former General Manager of LendUp Loans.
“Both organizations are focused on helping get consumers on a path to better financial health,” Shultes said of LendUp and Mission Lane, “one will do this through offering loans, and the other through credit cards. I appreciate the Board’s confidence in me and am excited to lead this fantastic organization,” said Shultes.
According to the company announcement, Orloff, who co-founded the company with Jake Rosenberg, will remain involved in LendUp as a board member and in Mission Lane as an advisor. LendUp’s office is in Oakland, CA while the Mission Lane team is in San Francisco.
“Anu brings the perfect combination of background, skills and vision to her role as CEO,” said Orloff. “She’s an absolutely fearless leader, and she’s the right person to shepherd LendUp through its next stage.”
Shultes didn’t say if the company headcount has changed as a result of the creation of Mission Lane, but she said that they plan to grow both businesses. Former Chief Operating Officer of LendUp is interim CEO of Mission Lane, while the company looks for a permanent CEO.
Additionally, with the creation of the new company, LendUp announced that they had received an investment for an undisclosed amount that will be used to scale Mission Lane. The investment was led by LL Funds LLC and Invus Opportunities.
LendUp provides unsecured loans of up to $1,000 to subprime borrowers who might otherwise go to payday lenders. Last year, Orloff told deBanked that one’s credit score is based primarily on two factors: on-time repayment and access to credit that you don’t use.
“So we design our loans and our card products to help people make sure they’re paying on time and make sure that they’re only using the credit that they need.”
Orloff also said that LendUp places an emphasis on financial education and offers customers more money at lower rates if they take the company’s education courses.
