MarketInvoice secures £45m from Banco BNI Europa
UK-based MarketInvoice has signed an agreement with Banco BNI Europa (BNI), which will now provide £45 million annually to fund working capital for SMEs on the platform. MarketInvoice is now the world’s largest peer-to-peer online invoice finance marketplace, having funded over 70,000 invoices worth more than £1.2 billion since its launch in 2011. Today, the UK business has signed an agreement with Banco BNI Europa (BNI), which will now provide £45 million in funding annually on the marketplace to fund working capital for MarketInvoice customers. BNI trialled an investment last year of £28.3 million, which went into funding SMEs on the platform seeking invoice finance. After the success of that […]
Fintech lender RateSetter lands FTSE 100 heavyweight as new chairman
The chairman of global insurance giant Prudential is joining to board of online lender RateSetter as non-executive chairman. Paul Manduca will join the board of the peer-to-peer lender in June and will become chair on July 17 when current chairman Alan Hughes’ three-year term expires. The appointment represents a coup for RateSetter. Manduca is a well-established figure in the City, as the founding CEO of Threadneedle Asset Management, and the former CEO of Rothschild Asset Management and Deutsche Asset Management. As well as chairing Prudential, he currently chairs the Advisory Council of influential lobby group TheCityUK. The appointment of a veteran of public markets will likely fuel speculation that RateSetter […]
Bitbond secures £4.2m to fund SME loans
Global bitcoin peer-to-peer lending platform Bitbond has received a €5m (£4.2m) commitment from Obotritia Capital to fund small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) loans. The Potsdam-based investment firm, which usually channels its funds into German commercial real estate, has also bought an equity stake in Bitbond, although the terms of that deal were not disclosed. With the new debt facility, SME loans will be funded instantly on Bitbond’s platform, reducing the time it takes business owners to apply and receive a loan to 30 minutes. The equity investment will be used for further product development and marketing, to grow Bitbond’s user base. “The debt commitment by Obotritia brings Bitbond to the […]
Assetz Capital attracts £10m of new investment in three weeks
Assetz Capital has seen more than £10m of new investment in peer-to-peer loans following a rise in the interest rate on its 30-Day Access Account. The platform announced last month that it would be increasing interest rates for investors on its 30-Day Access Account by 0.5% to 4.75% for a limited time. Investors still have until midday on 11th May to take advantage of the new rate. “Due to strong borrower demand, we decided to temporarily raise the target rate on our 30-Day Access Account,” said Stuart Law, CEO of Assetz Capital. “This has gone against the grain in a period where many P2P platforms have been dropping rates. “It’s […]
Robo Advice: Better Than No Advice?
The proliferation of Robo-Advisors bringing low priced financial services out into the market has received significant buzz over the past few years. As is customary with all new things, one must ask questions before buying into it. As a Certified Financial Planner, my question is: Does Robo Advice have true value to the average consumer? My answer: A definitive “maybe.” The road to good advice lies in a tangle of issues that can easily sway the answer from a strong “avoid at all costs” to “yes, there’s value there.” According to Wikipedia, “Robo-advisors are a class of financial advisers that provide financial advice or portfolio management online with minimal human […]
Humaniq to use blockchain for social good
A London/Luxembourg start-up is planning to use the blockchain to create a new kind of bank that will help tackle global poverty. It will enable people to use its cryptocurrency to donate or lend money, and bring banking services and income generation opportunities to “the last billion”. Humaniq has been developed by a group of people, many with experience in cryptocurrencies, who have seen the potential of biometrics, blockchain and mobile to help solve a number of social and economic problems. The challenge they aim to tackle is considerable. “Over 2 billion people in the world don’t have bank accounts. About 1.5 billion people don’t have any identification documents. They […]
P2P platform hits £50m lending milestone
Peer-to-peer (P2P) platform Lending Works has celebrated providing more than £50m worth of loans since its launch in January 2014. The achievement follows a record-breaking first quarter of 2017, with nearly £5m lent via the platform in March alone. Nick Harding, CEO of Lending Works, said: “It’s incredibly rewarding to have come as far as we have since launching just over three years ago. “It is at times like this that I want to thank our extraordinary team for their hard work and determination. “That said, we prefer to look forward rather than back, and with many exciting and ambitious new initiatives in the pipeline, we expect to breach the […]
Total Market Cap of Digital Currencies nears $30 Billion
Digital currencies reached a new high today, surpassing $28 billion, a more than doubling from their previous all-time high of around $12 billion back in 2013. Indicating an increasing interest in digital currencies and the wider blockchain space. The main driver is, of course, bitcoin, which is nearing $20 billion once more after rising for much of the week from around $1,000 to approximately $1,200. The currency, however, has lost market share, falling below 70%, as other coins gain attention. At first it was monero after being added to some drug markets, then dash suddenly and puzzlingly incredibly shoot up above $100, but now has nearly halved, standing around $60 […]
