June 21, 2017 @ 2:58 pm By Barry James  |  

I was asked: How did the book come about? Why did you write it? It has my name on it, but in truth it’s something of a team effort. Fundamentally I wrote it because I need it, my team needs it and the world needs… Read More

June 20, 2017 @ 10:25 pm By JD Alois  |  

VentureCrowd is a multi-asset crowdfunding platform providing early stage, property and “crowd credit” funding in Australia. Currently, VentureCrowd only caters to sophisticated or high net worth individuals.  Each early stage investment listed on its platform has already secured a professional lead investor thus allowing a smaller… Read More

June 20, 2017 @ 3:37 pm By JD Alois  |  

The  Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), a lobbying group representing small banks, wants to put the Kibosh on SoFi offering banking services in the US. As was recently reported, SoFi has applied for a Charter as it seeks to broaden its services to a far wider audience…. Read More

June 20, 2017 @ 12:49 pm By JD Alois  |  

The US Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, met with the UK International Trade Secretary Dr. Liam Fox yesterday. This was the first visit between the two trade reps since the UK election. According to the UK government, discussions included the possibility of a new trade arrangement… Read More

June 19, 2017 @ 6:22 pm By Timothy Li  |  

During July 2016, I was part of a delegation of US Fintech executives visiting our counterparts in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Shanghai, China. We toured and visited some of the most exciting Fintech platforms in China such as LuFax, CreditEase, Tencent (the creator of WeChat),… Read More

June 19, 2017 @ 12:05 pm By JD Alois  |  

Chris Woolard, the Financial Conduct Authority’s competition Czar, has commented on the usage of cryptocurrencies. As reported by FN news, Woolard said; “We don’t prohibit regulated firms from engaging in digital currency trading, nor do we prohibit banks from offering banking services to deal with… Read More

June 17, 2017 @ 1:45 pm By JD Alois  |  

Zelle, the erstwhile Venmo killer, is the creation of a cabal of traditional banks. As of this month, 86 million mobile banking customers will be able to utilize the peer to peer payments platform to send money via mobil banking apps. The list of the… Read More

June 16, 2017 @ 4:47 pm By Therese Torris  |  

Yesterday the President of France, Emmanuel Macron received a standing ovation from an audience of tech startups and large businesses at Viva Technology. He spoke of France as a startup nation embracing hyper-innovation, of a revolution, a complete change of mindset. He shared his vision… Read More

June 16, 2017 @ 10:27 am By JD Alois  |  

A report from Bloomberg this week takes certain online lending platforms to task regarding the fact that some online lenders are not verifying income status.  The report also says that even if there are errors in loan applications the loan may still be approved. More… Read More

June 15, 2017 @ 6:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

Transferwise, a European Fintech Unicorn, has provided an update on progress in the United States. The company crossed the Atlantic about 2 years ago and management hasn’t looked back since. As of today, Transferwise has completed 2 million transfers totaling almost $11 billion. That’s a… Read More

June 15, 2017 @ 5:48 pm By Scott Purcell  |  

  At a lightly attended alternative finance conference last month, Dr. Richard Swart spoke about the anaemic growth of the US crowdfunding industry. He made the point that we (industry participants including portals, broker-dealers, escrow banks & trusts, transfer agents, investor accreditation services, accountants, lawyers,… Read More

June 13, 2017 @ 12:30 pm By Therese Torris  |  

This article highlights three takeaways for Fintech firms from Mary Meeker’s 355-page-long report: 1) The Internet’s center of gravity shifts to Asia; 2) The biggest get bigger; 3) Fintechs must use gamification to improve customer engagement. Since 2001, Mary Meeker, a Partner at venture capital… Read More

June 13, 2017 @ 8:10 am By JD Alois  |  

The US Department of Treasury is out with its first report in a series addressing regulatory reform regarding the financial services industry.  Due to the enormity of the task, Treasury will divide its review of the financial system into a series of reports. While Fintech… Read More

June 12, 2017 @ 2:45 pm By JD Alois  |  

Alibaba has been a trailblazer in many ways. One area that Alibaba wants to dominate is finance for both consumers and SMEs and they are well on their way.  Ant Financial, their financial services subsidiary, is executing on this vision and last week Eric Jing,… Read More

June 11, 2017 @ 10:08 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA) is out with a report on the evolving Fintech sector and the authors are prodding regulators to work more closely together in a regional approach. ASIFMA is based in Hong Kong and while Hong Kong is… Read More

June 10, 2017 @ 2:22 pm By JD Alois  |  

This past week the House Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection, part of the Energy and Commerce Committee, held a hearing on Fintech innovation as part of their disruptors series. During the hearing several witnesses delivered prepared statements to the Committee members and one clearly… Read More

June 9, 2017 @ 5:16 pm By Duncan Keene  |  

Traditional banking is facing tough times ahead. It’s easy to see why. The UK has lost 40% of its banks and building societies since 1989, considering usage of online banking has more doubled since 2007. After all, who wants to queue for an hour to see… Read More

June 8, 2017 @ 10:38 pm By JD Alois  |  

Dodd-Frank has proven to be a horrible act of legislation. A reactionary swipe directed towards the financial services industry following the calamity known as the Great Recession, many portions of the law have not yet been fully enacted. The new regulations are simply too convoluted… Read More

June 8, 2017 @ 9:42 pm By JD Alois  |  

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced today that it had originated over $3 billion in loans to more than 20,000 small businesses since 2011. One billion of those loans came in the past 12 months. Peyush Nahar, VP for Amazon Marketplace, released a statement on the milestone; “We… Read More

June 7, 2017 @ 3:23 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier this year, the European Commission published a consultation paper on Fintech. Entitled, “Fintech: A More Competitve and Innovative European Financial Sector,” comments are starting to be published as the deadline nears (June 15, 2017). The ESMA published their comments today. The consultation was predicated… Read More