General News

February 21, 2021 @ 9:22 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

  FormFree, a U.S.-based fintech, announced on Friday it has expanded its AccountChek 3n1 (3n1) asset, employment and income verification service, to now cover 85% of U.S. workers whose employers utilize a payroll processing service, representing over 100 million wage earners. Founded in 2008, FormFree describes… Read More

February 21, 2021 @ 9:02 pm By André Jasch  |  

The European crowdfunding industry is merging into a harmonized market – with major implications for how companies raise capital and investors access investment opportunities. The opportunities and challenges arising from this were also at the center of the ECN Crowdfunding Convention 2020 (ECN CrowdCon). This… Read More

February 21, 2021 @ 8:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

LendingClub (NYSE:LC) notes that married couples who manage their finances together are (usually) more likely to say they’re in “a happy, stable partnership,” according to a research study carried out by the University of Arizona. However, a LendingClub member survey has revealed that almost 70%… Read More

February 21, 2021 @ 7:33 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) confirmed that consumer credit activity keeps rising from the COVID-19 pandemic lows, but some areas like automobile loans (subprime) performance have lagged. As noted in an update published on February 18, 2021, by TransUnion, the company’s Q4 2020 Industry Insights report looks… Read More

February 21, 2021 @ 6:32 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

OnDeck notes that the Small Business Administration (SBA) and US Treasury Department have resumed the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for First Draw Loans (on the week of January 11, 2021, and on January 13, 2021). OnDeck, which was acquired by Enova (NYSE:ENVA) last year, has… Read More

February 21, 2021 @ 4:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Piplsay research reveals that 27% of US consumers are planning to make investments in cryptocurrency during 2021. Around 50% of Americans think that it’s now “safe” to invest in decentralized digital currencies, the survey revealed. About 57% of US-based consumers said they think major brands… Read More

February 20, 2021 @ 11:10 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital banking challenger 86 400 reveals that almost three-quarters (74%) of Aussies “admit to having disagreements” regarding money matters with their partner. This, according to a recent survey from 86 400, which claims to be Australia’s first “smartbank.” The survey, which had been released in… Read More

February 20, 2021 @ 10:46 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM), the first Fintech firm of 2021 to complete a traditional (non-SPAC) initial public offering, notes that its research team frequently looks at why shoppers pay over a period time with Affirm. Recently, their surveys revealed important reasons that should be of interest to… Read More

February 19, 2021 @ 10:27 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

  Online lending exchange LendingTree (NASDAQ: TREE) announced on Friday it is launching an indirect auto lending platform. LendingTree revealed that the platform, which is created with Westlake Financial, will enable consumers to shop and compare pre-qualified indirect auto loan rates on the LendingTree website…. Read More

February 19, 2021 @ 5:18 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

A recent SWNS research study has revealed that 40% of US-based consumers under the age of 40 are not optimistic that they’ll be able to succeed in achieving their financial goals. The study of 2,000 Americans (between the ages of 18–40) found that around 58%… Read More

February 19, 2021 @ 12:40 pm By JD Alois  |  

Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Pat Toomey has issued a request for proposals to help foster economic growth and capital formation. The proposal may end up as legislation that is designed to increase economic growth and job creation. Senator Toomey stated: “I am announcing this… Read More

February 18, 2021 @ 11:21 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Stock trading volumes in Hong Kong have reportedly increased by as much as 4x compared to those on London’s main stock exchange, as large tech stocks continue to attract investors from other jurisdictions. Some have referred to Hong Kong’s stock trading as the “Nasdaq of… Read More

February 18, 2021 @ 8:09 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Blockchain platforms Qtum and Blockpass have teamed up in order to deliver on-chain (or blockchain-based) Know-Your-Customer (KYC) services. As part of the agreement, Qtum will be providing subsidies to “specific” members looking to achieve regulatory compliance through Blockpass’s On-chain KYC solutions. Adam Vaziri, CEO at… Read More

February 18, 2021 @ 5:41 pm By JD Alois  |  

The attack of the retail investor targeting highly shorted stocks is causing institutional money to exit short positions, according to a report by S&P Global Market Intelligence. As has been widely reported, certain subreddits helped fuel trading in shorted shares where retail investors purchased stakes… Read More

February 18, 2021 @ 11:58 am By JD Alois  |  

The confluence of an ongoing pandemic, social strife, high taxes, and governments that are anti-business, has compelled a good amount of people to depart San Francisco and New York for South Florida and other locales. A recent report looks to provide additional insight into the… Read More

February 18, 2021 @ 8:10 am By Omar Faridi  |  

After disrupting the world of finance, particularly how cross-border transactions are settled, TransferWise Co-founder Taavet Hinrikus says he wants to develop solutions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Hinrikus confirmed that he’s launching a new startup called Certific, which will be focused on improving the overall… Read More

February 17, 2021 @ 9:03 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

TrueNorth, a global fintech software development company, recently announced it has formed a new partnership with Codat, a technology company that connects the internal systems of small businesses to financial institutions, including fintechs. According to TrueNorth,  the collaboration provides Codat’s FI clients with direct access… Read More

February 17, 2021 @ 8:35 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Israel-based Mirato, a company that has developed an AI-enhanced third-party risk management platform (TPRM) for financial services providers, has secured $9 million in capital. Mirato’s investment round was led by Grove Ventures along with contributions from Janvest Capital Partners (co-leader), American Express Ventures, iAngels and… Read More

February 16, 2021 @ 7:41 pm By Lee A. Schneider  |  

Fellow DeFi adherents, let’s slow down on the outrage about GameStop (NYSE:GME) and the traditional finance system (TradFi).   Blockchain and DeFi offer lots of advantages over TradFi, but TradFi is not completely broken and DeFi is not necessarily vastly superior.  Two core characteristics make… Read More

February 16, 2021 @ 12:31 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Fireblocks, an enterprise-grade platform providing the infrastructure for moving, storing, and issuing digital assets, announced on Tuesday it has joined forces with payments platform First to create a secure wallet and infrastructure for financial institutions to connect to the Diem network to facilitate transactions, enabling clients to utilize… Read More