Around the world
Forbes published an article examining what a possible Dodd-Frank rollback could mean for marketplace lenders. The author makes an interesting argument in favor of building a stronger regulatory framework around P2P lending. He believes such measures would actually strengthen the industry by legitimizing the relatively new practice of peer-to-peer lending.
Fortune posted an interesting article about consulting firm Accenture that developed a software to help secure blockchains for businesses. Accenture debuted a system that integrates the technology, also called distributed ledger tech, with hardware security modules (HSMs), that corporate IT teams use to keep data safe. The appliances handle digital key management, a fundamental aspect of cybersecurity that controls who has access to what information on a network. While the software is still patent pending, it would be a step forward for allowing businesses to start adopting blockchain technologies into their IT systems.
Business Insider discussed an interesting venture called MarketInvoice. The firm is similar to traditional marketplace lenders. However, the loans are issued to businesses which secure the agreements with unpaid invoices. The model appears to be sustainable for the time being with a projected 2 billion in lending by the end of 2017.
Crowdfund Insider released a piece titled, “The Potential of ‘Crowdlending.’” The author discusses the need for traditional banks to stay competitive as many analysts and experts agree that lending is continuing to move online. This migration away from brick and mortar businesses is unlikely to slow. Software providers are responding by creating software that retrofits older bank models into faster, ecommerce firms.
Fast Company wrote an article exploring the practice of ignoring FICO scores when issuing loans. Many marketplace lenders are using their own proprietary underwriting score in lieu of the more traditional FICO number. Many of these firms believe they can create a more accurate credit profile of a borrower with other analytics like 2 years of transaction information.