SocietyOne’s Yetton: loans soar as banks struggle
New SocietyOne chief Jason Yetton says its loan book is healthy despite mixed economic conditions and record loan growth that pushed the nation’s biggest marketplace lender through the $100 million barrier. Mirroring similar trends by other new “fintech” companies, SocietyOne yesterday revealed $30m of new personal loans and agribusiness finance had been written in the first quarter, pushing total lending since August 2012 past $100m. Rival online “peer-to-peer” or “marketplace” lenders, which directly match borrowers with investors, include RateSetter and DirectMoney, which have also been posting record growth. Meanwhile, the banks’ bad debt charges have risen because of the mining slowdown and lending to sectors facing structural challenges, such as […]
Aggregator announces fintech partnership
Liberty Network Services (LNS), the branded distribution arm of non-bank lender Liberty, has partnered with online lender Moula to better service small business clients. Through the partnership with Moula, in which Liberty acquired a part stake in last year, LNS brokers will be able to refer any small business customer directly to the fintech lender through an online portal. LNS managing director, Brendan O’Donnell, said the partnership was formed to meet the growing needs of small businesses that struggle to secure short term finance with the major banks – while also helping brokers to diversify their business. Liberty supplied Moula with $30 million in funding last year to finance its […]
Fintech company unveils major rebrand
Peer-to-peer invoice financer, The Invoice Market (tim), has unveiled its new branding, new website and a significant upgrade to its online client and funder platform. The chief executive of tim, Angus Sedgwick, said he believes alternative finance and fintech companies will invariably disrupt the financial services market, however, more work needs to be done in awareness – which drove his decision to rebrand tim. “The simple availability of a platform will not create business flow. Much work needs to be done at the coal face to educate businesses about this source of funding,” he said. “Since establishing tim, we’ve invested considerable time in ensuring clients and potential clients appreciate the […]
Online payday lenders under scrutiny following Nimble investigation
Online lenders using algorithms to assess consumer creditworthiness are in the spotlight following action by the corporate watchdog against payday lender Nimble. Nimble has been forced to refund $1.6 million to more than 7000 customers after it was found to engage in irresponsible lending. The corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, said it was continuing its surveillance of the payday industry “as well as other credit licensees and their representatives”. This included any companies providing consumer or business loans, as well as interest-only home loans using online processing. “ASIC has raised concerns in relation to compliance with responsible lending obligations across the spectrum of credit providers generally,” a […]
Alternative finance booming in Australia
Australia’s alternative finance lending market is the third largest in Asia Pacific after experiencing growth of 320% in 2015. According to a new survey, Harnessing Potential, Asia Pacific Alternative Finance Benchmarking Report, Australia’s alternative finance lending market ballooned to US$348 million in 2015. Australia was trailing China, which reported US$101.69 billion over the same period, and Japan, which reported US$360 million. The largest share of Australia’s alternative finance market volume was balance sheet business lending, which accounted for over US$120 million in 2015. This was followed by invoice trading (US$105 million) and marketplace/P2P consumer lending (US$43m) in 2015. Marketplace or P2P business lending volume reached $7.05 million in 2015. Source: […]
Fintech startup HashChing is an online marketplace for borrowers and mortgage brokers
Fintech startup HashChing is an online marketplace for borrowers to access pre-negotiated home loan deals from verified mortgage brokers. The Sydney startup connects consumers instantly to their local mortgage broker based on their postcode and deal preference. The platform then sends the borrower a profile of each local mortgage broker with ratings and reviews collected by HashChing. “While 54 percent of Australians now trust mortgage brokers for home loans, finding a recommended local mortgage broker with ratings is a challenge as there is no other platform doing this currently,” said Mandeep Sodhi, cofounder of HashChing. “In this on-demand economy, consumers are used to services delivered in minutes and expect a […]
Invoice trading is the new darling of Australia’s fintech loan market
Invoice trading, where companies put up their unpaid invoices to get cash for their businesses, is booming in Australia. It’s grown from almost nothing two years ago to $US105 million ($A140 million) in 2015, according to the first comprehensive research of the fintech loan market in Asia-Pacific. This alternative way for small businesses to raise cash has been made possible by the rise of digital networks and tools, making it easier for startup fintech players to connect with borrowers to grab a slice of a loan market which has traditionally belonged to banks. Australia’s alternative finance market — including peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding — grew 320% to $US348 million ($A466 […]
Global SME lender picks fight with P2P lenders
Global small business lender Capify claims peer-to-peer lenders will suffer more than most during a downturn because they lend to risky borrowers for too long, but P2P lenders say the evidence doesn’t stack up. New York-based Capify lends to small business in the US, Canada, Britain and Australia. It introduced so-called merchant cash advances to Australia in 2008 under the name AusVance, which involves a business giving up future credit card takings in return for credit. Founder David Goldin claims most marketplace or P2P lenders that have sprung up during a period of rock bottom interest rates and low funding costs will not survive a downturn, whereas Capify made it […]
