Topic: [2017-4-14]WeiyangX Fintech World News Roundup (Read 327 times)

The OCC Fintech Charter is a Key First Step, Not the Last Word

The recent charter proposal from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) strives to strike the balance of promoting greater innovation but doing so within the constructs of existing national bank laws and regulations. As it has done with previous generations of innovative products, like credit cards, the OCC recognizes that the business of banking is not static, and the agency is working within its existing authority to create a single national regulatory option for financial technology firms.

The OCC applies the bank standards in a manner that imposes inflexible and undue costs on new entrants, Fintech firms will not bother to apply and the whole exercise will have been for naught. (Source: Crowdfund Insider)

Report: Crowdfunding in the Netherlands Grows by 33%

In 2016 a total of €170 million was raised through crowdfunding in the Netherlands. This sets a new all-time high for the size of the crowdfunding market in the country. However, for the first time since its rise, crowdfunding in the Netherlands has not grown exponentially: crowdfunding grew by 33% compared to 2015.

The rise of crowdfunding is in a vulnerable period. And the most sensitive question is whether people can handle an economy in which they not only determine the appropriate project or company they want to invest in but also what risk they take in investing in it. The fundamental question in the rise of crowdfunding is not whether the risks can be eliminated, but whether we dare to continue to explore through crowdfunding how we create an economy in which people can play such a decisive role. (Source: Crowdfund Insider)

U.S. payments startup backed by Amazon founder expands to UK

U.S. payments startup Remitly has launched services in Britain, expanding its international footprint to a third country from which users can send money abroad, the Seattle-based firm told Reuters on Tuesday.

The digital money transfer service, backed by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, sends more than $2 billion in remittances annually to India, the Phillipines, Mexico and other Latin American countries for users based in the United States and Canada.

Customers in Britain will be able to use Remitly's desktop and mobile app, and will initially be able to send money to India and the Philippines. (Source: Business Insider)

Lending Startup Elevate Credit May Go Public

Fort Worth, Texas-based Elevate Credit focuses on providing technology-driven, progressive online credit solutions to non-prime consumers. Non-prime consumers normally have credit scores of less than 700 and find it difficult to get loans from banks. Elevate uses advanced technology and proprietary risk analytics to provide more convenient and responsible financial options to these customers. It currently offers online installment loans and lines of credit in the US and UK.

Elevate has seen rapid growth since launching its product offerings. Together, Rise, Elastic, and Sunny, have provided nearly $2.2 billion in credit to approximately 714,000 customers. (Source: INC.)

The impact of Brexit: Fintech firms begin to speak out

With Article 50 being enacted this week, the fintech industry is considering what the new landscape created by the UK formally announcing its intentions to leave the EU will mean for themselves, their clients, both financial services and SMEs, and the economy.

Theresa May triggering Article 50 is the start of a serious trial for UK enterprise. With uncertainty comes a decline in investment and the threat of growth halting altogether. Without strong investment, businesses will be unable to keep their heads above water in an unpredictable post-Brexit market. SMEs will find this an especially daunting period. If investment and lending levels drop following Article 50, tomorrow's entrepreneurs will remain in the shadows, lacking the cash to drive their businesses and our economy forward. (Source: BOBS GUIDE)

Euroclear Bankchain Tests Blockchain-Based Gold Settlement Service

Paxos, a global securities depository and blockchain technology provider, has completed a pilot test for Euroclear Bankchain, a settlement service for London bullion.

The service combines Euroclear's settlement activities with Paxos' blankchain platform. The service is designed to reduce risk, improve efficiency, and minimize balance sheet constraints for gold market participants.

More than 600 OTC bullion trades settled in a two-week period for banks including Citigroup, Scotiabank, MKS PAMP, Societe Generale and INTL FCStone. All are part of the Euroclear Bankchain Market Advisory Group that now 17 participants, according to Paxos. (Source: cryptocoinsnews)

How AI will Power the Future of Life Insurance

AI is most commonly seen through the lens of natural language processing (NLP) - NLP takes over when someone asks Alexa for insurance quotes, interacts with social media chatbots, or even files an insurance claim.

In the pre-purchase education phase, AI bots could be used to help people understand their insurance needs, answer questions about their financial situation, and help customers continue with confidence down the path to purchase. There's another significant opportunity for AI that takes an adaptive approach to the insurance-buying experience: tailoring the tone and purchasing journey based on specific customer profiles and inputs, which would ultimately remove the need for irrelevant questions and steps. (Source: VENTURE BEAT)

Deloitte Publishes Report on Global Fintech Hubs: A Tale of 44 Cities

Deloitte has published a report on emerging Fintech Hubs around the world that analyses 44 different cities. Entitled "Connecting Global FinTech: Interim Hub Review 2017,"

The report updates 20 of the hubs profiled in September 2016 and introduces an additional 24 hubs. As one may expect, London and Singapore remain the top hubs to establish and grow a Fintech startup, based on their index performance scores. The UK was the first hub to establish itself as a center for financial innovation but Singapore has rapidly built a reputation for embracing disruptive finance as the government has publicly announced the importance of Fintech to its economy. (Source: Crowdfund Insider)

Innovate Finance Shares Findings from UK Fintech Sandbox

Innovate Finance has published a "Sandbox Consultation Finding Preview in concert with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Highlights from the brief report include:

Fintech Sandboxes can accelerate solution development by providing the whole of the Fintech ecosystem, including entrepreneurs, with access to resources such as data, APIs, or reference architectures;
Complex problem solving can be improved by facilitating industry collaboration on identifying and addressing complex shared consumer, technological and regulatory challenges;
Regulatory efficiency can be enhanced by encouraging regulators to engage as observers where industry can share knowledge early in the life cycle of solution development;
(Source: Crowdfund Insider)

P2P and Marketplace Lending Options for Non-Accredited Retail Investors

Since many firms are just a few years old it's much easier to target accredited individual and institutional investors due to the capital those investors have to deploy.

While the number of options for retail investors pales in comparison to the opportunities for accredited investors, it's been great to watch companies create new offerings over the last few years. These companies realize the important role that retail investors play as an additional source of capital. Even within the same Regulation A+ structure they have created unique models and it will be interesting to watch the traction over the coming years. (Source: LEND ACADEMY)

Experian turns to biometrics startup to combat fraud

Credit bureau Experian has joined forces with technology firm BioCatch to use behavioral biometrics to help its client's spot fraudsters applying for credit cards and other lending products online, the companies said on Friday.

BioCatch's software, which was integrated in Experian's fraud prevention platform, analyzes the way users interact with devices and websites by tracking a wide range of factors including how fast they type or the way they move their mouse across a web page.

The companies said behavioral biometrics is especially useful in spotting when automated programs, or bots, are being used by fraudsters to apply for credit products online by using stolen identity information they acquire on the "dark net," an area of the internet only accessible with special browsers that can ensure anonymity. (Source: VENTURE BEAT)

PwC FinTech Survey: Fintech is to shape a new financial service model in China

According to the PwC Global FinTech Survey China Summary 2017 released on April 6, the three main areas to be disrupted by FinTech in China over the next five years will be consumer banking, investment & wealth management, and fund transfers & payments.

Fintech will provide financial service providers with more productive ways to obtain customers;
Products & services of Fintech companies will move to tailored and contextualized offerings;
Mobile will become the main service channel in financial industry;
Meanwhile, FinTech also brings new challenges to financial industry.

The 'Winners-take-all' model in the current Fintech industry can't adapt to the requirement of the development;
Regulation, which can act as a double-edge sword, also needs to be appropriately evaluated;
Cultivating inter-disciplinary talent pool is becoming increasingly significant;
(Source: PwC)

Kim Dotcom announces Bitcontent, a new Bitcoin venture for content uploaders to earn money

Controversial New Zealand-based internet mogul Kim Dotcom plans to launch a Bitcoin payments system for users to sell files and video streaming as he fights extradition to the United States for criminal copyright charges.

The German-born entrepreneur, who is wanted by U.S. law enforcement on copyright and money laundering allegations related to his now-defunct streaming site Megaupload, announced his new venture called 'Bitcontent' in a video posted on Youtube this week. (Source: VENTURE BEAT)

CBA accused of blocking fintech growth

CBA has been accused by Acorns Australia of deliberately blocking its customers from engaging with the fintech app as a way to stifle competition.

In a submission to the Senate economics committee, Acorns said CBA recently told customers that using the Acorns app increased the risk of fraud on their accounts.

CBA, however, has since responded by saying it "totally refutes" the allegation it is abusing market power. (Source: IFA)

On-demand insurance platform Trov raises $45 million ahead of U.S. and global expansion

Insurance tech startup Trov has closed a $45 million Series D funding round led by HSB Ventures, with participation from Oak HC/FT, Suncorp Group, Guidewire, Anthemis, and Japanese insurance giant Sompo Holdings.

Founded in 2012, California-based Trov sells itself as an on-demand insurance platform "for the things you love." So rather than insuring the entirety of your possessions, you can choose just a single item or the items that you value most. Prior to pivoting to become an insurance company, Trov was actually a personal inventory app that allowed users to value and track their various possessions.