The Economist | May 2, 2019

OVER THE past two decades people across the world have seen digital services transform the economy and their lives. Taxis, films, novels, noodles, doctors and dog-walkers can all be summoned with a tap of a screen. Giant firms in retailing, carmaking and the media have been humbled by new competitors. Yet one industry has withstood the tumult: banking. In rich countries it is perfectly normal to queue in branches, correspond with your bank by post and deposit cheques stamped with the logo of firms founded in the 19th century.

See:  Why Open Banking Represents a Seismic Shift for Fintech

Yet, as our special report this week explains, technology is at last shaking up banking. In Asia payment apps are a way of life for over 1bn users. In the West mobile banking is reaching critical mass—49% of Americans bank on their phones—and tech giants are muscling in. Apple unveiled a credit card with Goldman Sachs on March 25th. Facebook is proposing a payments service to let users buy tickets and settle bills (see article).

The implications are profound because banks are not ordinary firms. It is one thing for Blockbuster Video to be wiped out by a technological shift, but quite another if the victim is Bank of America. It is not just that banks have over $100trn of assets globally. Using the difficult trick of “maturity transformation” (turning deposits that you can demand back at any time into long-term loans) they enable savers to defer consumption and investment and borrowers to bring them forward. Banks are so vital that the economy reels when they stumble, as the crisis of 2008-09 showed.

Bankers and politicians may thus be tempted to resist technological change. But that would be wrong because its benefits—a leaner, more user-friendly and more open financial system—easily outweigh the risks.

Banking is late to the smartphone age because entrepreneurs have been put off by regulations. And, since the financial crisis, Western banks have been preoccupied with repairing their balance-sheets and old-fashioned cost-cutting. Late is better than never, however. Several new business models are emerging. In Asia payment apps are bundled with e-commerce, chat and ride-hailing services offered by firms such as Alibaba and Tencent in China and Grab in South-East Asia. These networks link to banks but are vying to control the customer relationship. In America and Europe big banks are still more or less in control and are rushing to offer digital products—JPMorgan Chase can open a deposit account in five minutes. But threats loom. Mobile-only “neobanks” that do not bear the cost of branches are nibbling at customer bases. Payments firms like PayPal work with Western banks but are expected to capture a greater share of profits. Lucrative niches like foreign exchange and asset management are being harried by new entrants.

See:  Open banking data tapped to speed up laundering checks

The pace of change will accelerate. Younger people no longer stay with the same bank as their parents—15% of British 18- to 23-year-olds use a neobank. Tech firms that people trust, such as Apple and Amazon, are natural candidates to grow big financial arms. The biggest four American banks are spending a total of over $25bn a year on perfecting better customer applications and learning to mine data more cleverly. Venture-capital firms invested $37bn in upstart financial firms last year.

The benefits of technological change are likely to be vast. Costs should tumble as branches are shut, creaking mainframe systems retired and bureaucracy culled. If the world’s listed banks chopped expenses by a third, the saving would be worth $80 a year for every person on Earth. In 2000 the Netherlands had more bank branches per head than America; it now has just a third as many. Rotten service will improve—it is easier to get money to a friend using a chat app than it is to ask your bank to transfer cash. The system will get better at its vital job of allocating capital. Richer data will allow banks to take risks that currently baffle underwriters. Fraud should be easier to spot. Lower costs and the democratising effect of social media will give more people better access to finance. And more firms with good ideas should be able to get loans faster, boosting growth.

Yet change also poses risks. Because the financial system is embedded in the economy, innovation tends to create turbulence. The credit card’s arrival in 1950 revolutionised shopping but also sparked America’s consumer-debt culture. Securitisation lubricated capital markets in the 1980s but fuelled the subprime crisis. In addition, it is unclear who will win today’s battle. One dystopian scenario is that power becomes more concentrated, as a few big banks learn to exploit data as ruthlessly as social-media firms do. Imagine a crossbreed of Facebook and Wells Fargo that predicts and manipulates how customers behave and is able to use proprietary economic data to squeeze rivals.

See:  Fintech firms want to shake up banking, and that worries the Fed

Another dystopia involves fragmentation and destabilisation. Banks could lose depositors to untested neobanks, creating a mismatch between their assets and liabilities that could lead to a credit crunch. If bank customers transact via tech or payment platforms, banks could end up with huge balance-sheets but without a direct connection to their clients. If they thus became unprofitable, they could be broken up, with the job of financing mortgages and absorbing short-term savings left entirely to capital markets, which are volatile.

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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org

Fintech Fridays Episode 32: Rallying behind Bitcoin with Frederick T. Pye

May 24, 2019

NCFA Canada | May 24, 2019 JOIN US ON A STORYTELLING JOURNEY EVERY FRIDAY. Ep32-May 24:  Rallying behind Bitcoin with Frederick T. Pye HOST: Manseeb Khan, Fintech Friday's show host GUEST:  FREDERICK T. PYE, President & CEO, 3iQ Corp (Linkedin) BIO:  Fred kick-started his career as a precious metal and foreign exchange trader at Guardian Trust. In 1986, they were the first to list gold, silver, and platinum certificates on the Montreal Stock Exchange. Fred later joined Fidelity Investments, where he was part of a team that saw its assets rise from 85 million to over 7.5 billion. Through the launch of creative and exotic investment products, Fred started his own firm, which worked diligently with Canadian regulatory bodies to establish the first mutual fund in Canada that was allowed to take short positions. Finally, as founder and CEO of 3iQ, he and his team have worked cooperatively with the OSC for the last 2 and a half years to launch the first regulated Bitcoin fund in Canada. This fund will be the first major exchange-traded cryptocurrency fund in North America. About this episode:  On this week's episode of NCFA's Fintech Friday Podcast, our host sits down with Frederick T. Pye from 3iQ. The chat ...
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To Support Disruptive Technologies, Take Bigness Seriously

May 24, 2019

Denise Hearn | Myth of Capitalism | May 24, 2019 Shivaun Moeran and her husband Adam Raff founded one of the most promising startups you’ve never heard of.  Adam managed Europe’s supercomputers used for weather forecasting and Shivaun managed software products for General Motors. While having a cigarette outside his office one day in 2006, Adam was struck with a brilliant idea. What if you could create an online search platform to find the best price for any product? It would aggregate specific information about category verticals, and nothing like it existed at the time. They quit their jobs, hired a team, and began beta testing. Their site, Foundem.com ranked well on Google and they were receiving a steady flow of traffic. However, a few days after the official site launch, visitors to the site disappeared and never came back. Upon investigation, they discovered that Google had updated their search ranking algorithm and had demoted the site, so it appeared on page 4 or even 170 of search results. Foundem had effectively disappeared from the internet – blacklisted. They suspected that they had been intentionally knocked out of the market and, after speaking with other entrepreneurs who had similar experiences, ...
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Alberta Government Opportunity: Crowdfunding and Crowdlending platform RFI

May 23, 2019

ATB Financial (Government of Alberta) | May 23, 2019 Crowdfunding and Crowdlending platform Opportunity Notice and Information Organization: ATB Financial Organization Address: Reference Number: AB-2019-03314 Solicitation Number: 20.06 Solicitation Type: Request for Information Posting (MM/dd/yyyy): 05/15/2019 03:49:51 PM Alberta Time Closing (MM/dd/yyyy): 05/31/2019 02:00:59 PM Alberta Time Last Update (MM/dd/yyyy): 05/15/2019 03:49:51 PM Alberta Time Agreement Type: Non-Applicable Region of Opportunity: Open Region of Delivery: Alberta Opportunity Type: Open & Competitive Commodity Codes: T005A: Graphic Design Services - including website Preview the RFI --> here The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org ...
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The Roadblocks to European Fintech Expansion

May 21, 2019

The Next Web | Radek Zaleski | May 21, 2019 Are Europeans really coming? “The US market is vast. There are a lot of consumers in the US that use outdated technologies, and from that perspective we see huge potential here [in the US],” announced Nicolas Kopp, US CEO of N26, during a panel at Netguru’s Disruption Forum. Over the past few years, the fintech industry has started to prove that it can be a driving force to disrupt the financial services sector. Banks now have serious competition from tech-forward lending companies, transfer startups, personal finance and investment apps, and non-traditional banks. The majority of this activity has come from fintech companies in Europe. Why? See:  Canada’s financial upstarts are lining up behind open banking, but bigger players may need convincing Europe has led the charge in bridging the gap between older banking practices and rapidly advancing consumer technology. Some even estimate that these new challenger companies have taken up to one third (33%) of new revenue across the industry in Europe alone. When compared to the US, the difference is vast – the same report estimates that US fintechs have only captured just over 3% of the new revenue ...
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Bermuda Spotlights Fintech Innovation at Consensus 2019

May 16, 2019

Financial Post | Bermuda Development Agency Release | May 15, 2019 NEW YORK — Bermuda highlighted its world-respected regulatory and legal framework for fintech business, as a delegation of government and industry experts returned for a second year to “Blockchain Week” in New York for Consensus 2019. Bermuda promoted its pioneering legal & regulatory framework for fintech startups during New York’s Blockchain Week, attending Consensus and an interview with @bloombergradio Premier David Burt, accompanied by Finance Minister Curtis Dickinson and Bermuda Business Development Agency CEO Andy Burrows, led a group of regulatory and industry representatives to the annual three-day midtown conference which attracted 4,500 attendees, including major sponsoring companies such as IBM, Deloitte, Microsoft, Citi, RBC and eBay. Along with a business development team from the BDA were Assistant Financial Secretary Stephen Gift, Chief Fintech Advisor to the Premier Denis Pitcher, and fintech experts from the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA), Deloitte Bermuda, PwC Bermuda, and global law firms Appleby, Conyers, and Walkers. See:  The Future of Government… in a Digital Age “Events like this are important because they bring a lot of the major players from well-established companies that are going to be the largest companies of the future,” said ...
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Canadian fintech KOHO raises $42 million in Series B funding round

May 15, 2019

Koho Release | May 15, 2019 TORONTO, May 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KOHO announced today that it has closed a $42 million fundraising round led by Portag3 Ventures (“Portag3”), including Greyhound Capital and other strategic investors. The announcement comes as KOHO, a fintech company that offers Canadians an alternative to their traditional banking experience, continues to see rapid growth. In less than two years, KOHO has grown to over 120,000 accounts, moved their HQ to Toronto and released 43 new versions of the app. With over $500 million in annualized transactions and a KOHO card used every 4 seconds, KOHO has built a current account Canadians love (they boast a Net Promoter Score of 80 and App Store rating of 4.8/5 stars). “KOHO’s mission is to restore balance to Canadians by giving them control over their own finances. This new funding is both validation of what we’ve done and a vote of confidence for the work left to do,” said Daniel Eberhard, Founder and CEO of KOHO. Having raised $8 million from Portag3 in their Series-A funding round, KOHO is thrilled to continue the relationship with an investment from Portag3 Ventures LP II. See:  Banks’ Revenue Growth at Risk ...
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Fintech Fridays Episode 31: Blockchain Law with Jason Saltzman

May 14, 2019

NCFA Canada | May 14, 2019 JOIN US ON A STORYTELLING JOURNEY EVERY FRIDAY. Ep31-May 14:  Blockchain Law with Jason Saltzman About this episode: On this episode of the Fintech Friday's Podcast, our host Manseeb Khan sits down with Jason Saltzman partner at Gowlings WLG law firm. They chat about how to make your ICO compliant, Blockchain in law and how to create a business structure.  Enjoy! HOST: Manseeb Khan, Fintech Friday's show host GUEST:  JASON SALTZMAN, Partner, Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP (Linkedin) BIO:  Jason Saltzman is a partner in Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP’s Toronto office practising in corporate finance and securities law, with an emphasis on securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital transactions and regulatory compliance matters.  Jason assists issuers, investment dealers, investment portals and institutional and private investors on complex equity and debt financing transactions, ranging from start-up investments, venture capital and private equity investments, to larger public offerings and project finance.  Jason has taken numerous companies public on the TSX, TSX Venture Exchange and Canadian Securities Exchange by IPO, reverse takeover, capital pool transactions and direct listings. He also advises securities dealers, advisers, investment fund managers and other market participants in connection with their ...
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Is This Behind The Latest $25 Billion Bitcoin And Crypto Price Rally?

May 13, 2019

Forbes | Billy Bambrough | May 13, 2019 Bitcoin has been soaring over the weekend, boosting most major cryptocurrencies including ethereum, litecoin, Ripple's XRP, EOS, and bitcoin cash—and adding some $25 billion to the overall cryptocurrency market capitalization since Friday morning, taking it over $200 billion of the first time this year. The bitcoin price is now trading at a little over $7,000 per bitcoin, after beginning the year at under $4,000, taking the total value of all bitcoins over $124 billion and making up 58% of the broader cryptocurrency market cap. Over the weekend some major bitcoin holders, known as whales, moved a staggering number of the digital tokens, potentially pushing the market higher, with the single biggest whale moving 47,000 bitcoin worth an eye-watering $343 million, according to data from Whale Alert, which tracks big cryptocurrency moves. Bitcoin whales have traded around 100,000 bitcoin over the weekend, with a total value of some $670 million dollars. Most of the bitcoin whales have been moving their holdings out of major cryptocurrency exchanges, with just a few of the biggest transactions over the weekend involving cryptocurrency wallets moving bitcoin to an exchange. Large bitcoin and cryptocurrency transactions can prop up the market, with ...
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Ex-SoFI CEO’s Startup Closes $1 Billion Credit Line on a Blockchain

May 13, 2019

Coindesk | Yogita Khatri | May 10, 2019 Figure Technologies, a fintech startup founded by former SoFi CEO Mike Cagney, has closed a $1 billion “uncommitted” line of credit on a blockchain. Investment bank Jefferies and WSFS Financial Corporation, the parent of WSFS Bank, are the project’s participants, Figure announced Thursday. As part of the deal, Jefferies may periodically lend to Figure under a variable funding note, which is secured by Figure’s home equity lines. WSFS Financial is acting as trustee for Jefferies. Lines of credit have a maximum loan amount that can be borrowed as needed, paid back, and borrowed again. Figure’s financing facility is custodied on its own blockchain platform called Provenance, according to the announcement. See:  FaceCoin: Here’s What Facebook Could Build In Blockchain And Cryptocurrency The platform can support “the entire end-to-end financing of loans, from origination to funding to servicing to financing,” said Cagney, adding: “It paves the way for the first securitization on chain, which will demonstrate the massive cost savings, risk reduction and liquidity benefits blockchain delivers.” Brian McGrath, head of the securitized markets group at Jefferies, commented on using the blockchain: “We’ve gained full transparency into the underlying assets, real-time access to loan performance and ...
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FinTech Charter Hits Speed Bump

May 12, 2019

PYMNTS | May 6, 2019 The suit can proceed. The news came Thursday (May 2) that, per a ruling in federal court in New York, the State Department of Financial Services can move forward with a suit that looks to derail national bank charters for FinTech companies. Judge Victor Marrero, presiding over the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, said the case can proceed, a ruling that denied a dismissal of the suit requested by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The New York department had argued that the OCC had stepped beyond its regulatory authority (and is misinterpreting the National Bank Act) when it had offered the “special purpose” charter in the middle of last year. The judge ruled that “such dramatic disruption of federal state relationships in the banking industry occasioned by a federal regulatory agency lends weight to the argument that it represents exercise of authority that exceeds what Congress may have contemplated in passing the NBA . Indeed, if DFS’ characterization of the impact is accurate – which the Court assumes, given the posture of this order … the OCC’s reading is not so much an ‘interpretation’ as ‘a fundamental ...
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