IBM is probably not the name you expected to see in front of the latest’Pay,&8217; but Big Blue is indeed wading into #mobile #payments. The newest form of mobile payment was introduced yesterday at Money20/20 in Las Vegas, and its selling point does not seem to be convenience so muchRead More
Bank Innovation
The New #Payments #Platform (NPP) is the Australian equivalent of the UK’s Faster Payments Service – only on track to be implemented just under 10 years later. Real time payments are a no brainer. Daily #Fintech wrote #about the implications these payment systems have on consumer behaviour back in JuneRead More
Bank Innovation
Latest #FinTech to be launched, based in Geneva, SwissLending allows developers to complete their funding directly from individuals in search of attractive returns on unique and visible projects
SwissLending, a new player within the FinTech ecosystem and the first crowdfunding #platform in #Switzerland specializing in loans for #real #estate professionals, was officially launched in Geneva.
Activity began in early 2016 to test the procedures implemented by the company. Two transactions were completed successfully in Lancy, Switzerland and Villiers-sur-Marne, France, for a total amount of funds raised over CHF 1.1 million.
Globally, the crowdfunding industry had grown to approximately $ 34.4 Billion (yes, with a “B”) by the end of 2015, according to the study published by Massolution. Looking at those numbers by market segment, two stand out in terms of volume: lending to businesses and individuals, and real estate crowdfunding.
The latter, growing rapidly, is valued at $ 2.57 billion in 2015, but this sector is still in its infancy in Switzerland. As exposure and education increases, so will the size of the market.
In practice, the level of equity is the Achilles heel of a promoter seeking growth. Promoters currently face two major and recurring problems: longer product cycles (almost systematic recourses on building permits) and increasing capital requirements asked by their banking partners.
These two phenomena cause the slowdown of development of new real estate operations. #Crowdlending is the opportunity to address this downturn by offering developers additional funding in complement to that of the #banks.
In the property sector, the crowdlending revolution is even more active as real estate investing has always been reserved to institutional investors and UHNWI. The need to democratize the offering, generally considered rewarding (yield from 6% to 12%) and with controlled risk, is the purpose of SwissLending.
It will place the investor at the heart of projects’ financing of public utility – the construction of housing, offices &8211; with high added value. The funding lasts only a few months and is reimbursed at the completion of the construction and sale of the lots.
In summary, the historical funding model of real estate transactions is not as dynamic as it once was. Banks are more cautious and the cycles of real estate transactions are longer. Real estate crowdlending is an innovative financing alternative, and an interesting source of profitability for developers and investors.
The post A New Real Estate «Crowdlending» Platform in Switzerland appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
Like drunken sailors swinging fists at one another, we have been hurling around various terms to describe new ways of #banking, new ways to deliver banking services. This post attempts to sort out a #taxonomy and clarify the meaning behind the most salient terms.
I am using these terms within the context of the banking world in this post. Do note they apply equally to the insurance, asset management or payments worlds, indeed to the entire financial services industry.
API Banking: Also called “open banking,” API banking is the ability, for third parties, to access a bank’s software system thereby enabling a programmatic integration between an external third party application and a bank&8217;s internal application via bank-grade security, authentication and access management.
Within the context of PSD2 in the European Union, #banks are mandated to provide access to checking accounts, which will most probably be managed via APIs. In the US, several banks are working on developing various APIs to interact with a variety of #fintech startups to provide an enhanced service to their customers or end users.
For example, Capital One has launched its DevExchange for 3rd party developers to leverage APIs it has built for two-factor authentication, rewards, and offers.
In and of itself, API banking is a tactic, not a strategy, although there can be strategic components to an API tool such as key policies, access management, volume, pricing. API Banking can be either push or pull driven:
Certain banks have started to develop APIs and early indications are these APIs are part of a bigger strategic intent. In other words, a bank&8217;s API initiative could be part of a #platform strategy.
Platform Strategy: The deployment of a set of business capabilities to maximize value creation across a value chain and articulated around defining what capabilities are core and remain within the responsibility of the bank and what capabilities are given to platform partners when delivering services or products to customers or users.
#Technology companies such as Intel, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon have been very successful at prosecuting platform strategies where value is delivered to customers while the platform owner/sponsor and the platform partners share in the value creation.
Historically, banks have crafted what many believed to be platform strategies where they owned the entire value stack and did not share with partners, In effect, banks created single-brand financial supermarkets. In our view, these efforts did not (and do not) qualify as platform strategies, as the platforms did not truly enable value creation along a value chain.
Platform strategies come in multiple flavors. For example, the platform strategy of Intel was/is very different than the one followed by Amazon. It should be noted that based on size, technical sophistication, market dominance, certain banks will own a platform – in platform parlance, they will be the platform sponsor &8211; and its strategy, while other banks may, having strategically decided so, be partners of another bank&8217;s platform strategy.
Certain large banks have developed platform strategies not immediately apparent to the fintech community. One example is the proprietary software platforms owned by global banks in the trade finance and supply chain finance sector.
Marketplace Banking: A type of platform strategy where a bank creates a digital place where third parties can showcase and sell their products and services to the bank&8217;s customers. In a sense, a marketplace banking strategy is akin to the eBay or Amazon&8217;s marketplaces where buyers and sellers of products meet and transact. Certain banks have or are in the process of developing app marketplaces.
The platform strategy, for the sponsor, will consist in defining the rules of engagement, the selection of vendors allowed to the marketplace, the governance, the monetization, data privacy issues, the level of technology integration, amongst other things.
Successfully executing a marketplace banking strategy will require the sponsor to deliver “match-making” capabilities to help consumers find the right producers—and vice versa. This will become a hurdle for many existing banks as they may be inclined to push their own proprietary products and services. A startup bank may be better positioned to deliver this capability.
Presumably, marketplace banking requires APIs. Retail Banks as well as Wholesale Banks can implement marketplace banking platforms. In as much as lending is predominantly a banking activity, notwithstanding non-bank lending, marketplace lending should be viewed as either a subset or first degree cousin of marketplace banking.
One can argue (as Philippe Gelis from Kantox has) that marketplace banking could be delivered by new entrants, such as a non-bank or a fintech startup or by an incumbent bank. Some fully digital startup banks in the UK have signaled their intent to build marketplaces.
It is my view, and that of Ron Shevlin, that this will be quite challenging for a startup to effectively deliver. To be successful with a marketplace banking strategy, the platform sponsor must be a “magnet” – drawing a critical mass of both consumers and producers to the marketplace. As a new entrant into the industry, this will be quite challenging for a startup. An existing bank has a head start as it has already has a critical mass of consumers to feed the marketplace. In other words, many have tried to become eBay or Amazon starting from scratch and only eBay and Amazon have succeeded.
Smaller banks could participate as vendors within the marketplace platform of a larger bank. In addition, it may be feasible for smaller banks to pursue a marketplace banking strategy if it is focused on a specific consumer segment with unique needs. We should expect marketplace banking to develop and segment itself by size, geography, type of service, type of customers.
Bank as a Service (BaaS): The delivery of certain banking capabilities in a programmatic fashion to enable third parties to deliver their own financial products or services.
For example, a bank could deliver AML/KYC services, checking account capabilities, financial data storage, payment services via an API. These services would then be used to build and deploy “last mile” financial services by a third party, be it a fintech startup, another bank, a non-bank. An analogy would be the technology services Amazon Web Services provides to its clients.
The strategic intent behind a BaaS strategy is the creation of new non-interest income revenue opportunities, created by driving down the marginal cost of delivering a given service to near zero.
BaaS can also deliver the necessary drivers to enable a marketplace banking strategy. A bank, a startup or a non-bank can implement BaaS, although an entity that is not licensed as a bank will presumably only deliver a subset of services, compared to a licensed bank. It should be noted that we are now seeing new entrants intent on providing BaaS, notably in Europe.
As with marketplace banking we should expect segmentation and specialization in this space. The various banks that have lent their license and/or balance sheet to provide certain services to alternative lenders (p2p, marketplace) should be viewed as proto-BaaS. Finally, certain fintech startups have developed a BaaS for specific services targeted at equity crowdfunding companies.
Bank as a Platform (BaaP): Fancy term for a bank’s platform strategy, does include API banking by definition and may include BaaS or marketplace banking.
A few more important thoughts. The &8220;platformification&8221; of the banking industry, in one way or another &8211; as per the above definitions &8211; will necessarily mean different approaches to strategic thinking and technology. As far as technology is concerned, and we have seen this occur with different industries and technology giants, such as the ones referenced above, open source and open standards or standardization of either technology building blocks or data/meta data and its associated methodologies and ontologies, are necessary and required.
We should therefore expect an acceleration towards standardization. We would not be surprised if certain financial technology building blocks would end up being released as open source libraries, very similarly to what has happened to the AI world (machine learning, deep learning) thereby helping the platformification process. Whether incumbents, new entrants or technology minded third parties with an interest in market optimization and social mandates do so is anyone&8217;s guess.
I will also note that regulatory trends in the US may force banks to pursue platformification if banks are required to provide some kind of fiduciary responsibility for providing financial services (beyond just investment services).
If you want to learn more about the subject I recommend you revisit the following posts:
Articles written by Ron Shevlin:
The Platformification of Banking
Full Stack Banking: How Fintech Will Fuel API-Based Competition
Article written by Philip Gelis:
Why &8220;Marketplace banking&8221; is better for newcomers while &8220;Platform banking&8221; fits incumbents
Articles written by David Brear & myself:
Exploring Banking as a Platform (BaaP) model
Making Bank as a Platform a reality
Finally, I owe a debt a gratitude and special thanks to Ron Shevlin for pushing me to think through my arguments as well as having provided his thoughts and comments to this article.
As usual, thoughts and comments are welcomed and highly encouraged.
The Goldman Sachs introduced Marcus by Goldman Sachs, an #online #platform offering unsecured #personal loans to consumers.
Named after Marcus #Goldman, one of the firm’s founders, Marcus by Goldman #Sachs is a new business that benefits from the firm’s 147-year history of financial expertise, risk management and customer service. Marcus provides consumers with a transparent and simple approach to consolidate their high-interest credit card debt. At Marcus.com, credit-worthy borrowers can apply for fixed-rate, no-fee personal loans of up to $ 30,000 for periods of two to six years.
“For many who manage debt payments on high-interest rate credit cards, a straight-forward personal #loan is a better solution,” said Harit Talwar, head of Marcus by Goldman Sachs. “Marcus offers an option for consumers who are searching for a simpler alternative to credit card borrowing, where rates can change and multiple fees can be charged.”
The Marcus team listened to thousands of consumers share their experiences managing personal debt. This feedback was central to the design of the Marcus personal loan product and the customer experience. We heard that:
-Consumers are tired of hidden fees. Marcus has no fees.
-Consumers are stressed by unexpected changes in interest rates on credit cards. Marcus offers fixed rates throughout the term of the loan.
-Consumers are disgruntled by pre-assigned payment dates and limited payment options. Marcus enables customers to choose their monthly payment date and a payment option designed to fit their budget.
-Consumers are frustrated with automated machines instead of being able to speak to someone directly when they need assistance. Marcus has U.S.-based, dedicated loan specialists who deliver live, personalized support.
Initially, applications on Marcus.com will require a code that millions of prospective customers will receive by mail. The feedback we expect to hear from the initial group of customers will help us to refine the Marcus experience. In the coming months, Marcus will offer our personal loan product to a broader audience.
Featured Image is from goldmansachs.com
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#KPMG has launched a new #platform that allows users to #hire KPMG #specialists to cover their short-term needs for up to 20 days, effectively, and online. The new service aims at addressing the increasingly fast-paced, dynamic and #digital working world.
As digitalization forces Swiss companies to innovate and take a critical look at their business models, KPMG is looking to lead the trend as the auditing and consulting firm has announced the launch of a new digital platform for the temporary staffing of its professionals.
Qualified as “the latest innovation in digital platforms,” KPMG’s #Marketplace lets businesses hire KPMG specialists rapidly through an entirely digital process. The temporary staffing agreement is concluded #within 48 #hours and marks the beginning of deployment.
Explaining the new platform, Anne van Heerden, head of advisory and member of the executive committee at KPMG Switzerland, said:
&8220;Marketplace is something completely new in the advisory business. Regardless of the reason, whether seasonal peaks, complex analyses requiring extra work or emergencies that pop up at short notice, at KPMG’s online platform, enterprises can find just the right specialists in a flash to efficiently cover their temporary requirements for any timeframe of up to 20 days.&8221;
KPMG&8217;s specialists provide a wide range of capabilities through Marketplace including financial modelling, analytics, business and process analysis and project administration and reporting.
According to Stefan Pfister, CEO of KPMG Switzerland, the platform intends to help companies with their digital transformation processes. He said that the new service will open up a wide range of opportunities and possibilities for the firm to incorporate into its auditing and advisory services.
&8220;Marketplace is just the latest example of our broad-based digital #attack,&8221; Pfister said. &8220;For years now, we have been offering our clients a unique range of support services in areas such as cognitive data analytics where we work together with Microsoft, IBM Watson and McLaren, along with many others.&8221;
KPMG Marketplace has launched in a number of markets including Switzerland, Australia and Vietnam (also referred to as KPMG OnDemand).
As the consulting world undergoes a shift, KPMG has been deploying a number of initiatives to disrupt itself and remain competitive in the face of growing demand for greater digitalization.
With a team based in Singapore, KPMG Digital Village acts as an online platform connecting firms with startups. The idea is to boost collaboration between corporates and the startup community to help the firm&8217;s clients in their digitalization journey.
KPMG Digital Village focuses on three particular areas: #fintech, healthtech and logtech.
During the past few years, consulting firms s have made some strategic acquisitions of design firms, moves that highlighted the industry&8217;s shift towards digitalization.
Featured image via KPMG
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UK-based #Freetrade will be launching a new commission-free #platform for #trading stocks and shares. The company will be joining iDealing, another UK brokerage, that has opted for a zero commission model for stock trading.
Freetrade‘s mobile-first investment platform seeks to democratize investing and targets demographics that have been priced out of investing on the stock exchange notably due to costly broker fees. These include Millennials, which currently counts some 14.8 million individuals in the UK alone.
Freetrade’s mobile app was designed to make stock market investing more accessible for UK investors, the company says. It offers a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to search for companies that are trading on an exchange. The platform has no restriction around portfolio sizes and operates on a zero-commission model “so low value traders are not excluded.”
Additionally, the company will introduce fractional share dealing to the UK market, an option available in the US through the likes of DriveWealth and Stash Invest that has yet to be brought in the UK.
A fractional share is a share of an equity that is less than one full share. They are considered as an efficient way for investors to diversify every penny in their investment portfolio.
Furthermore, the Freetrade app will offer access to a network of independent financial advisors (IFAs) using a model similar to &8220;Uber and Airbnb.&8221; Independent advisors will be able to provide advice directly through the app, providing thus people new to trading with access to the same professional advice as more seasoned investors.
&8220;We came across the model they have in the US, and not being satisfied with simply bringing the same concept to the UK, we looked at how we could raise the bar,&8221; said Adam Dodds, co-founder of Freetrade.
&8220;Professional advice is an intrinsic part of making a good investment decision, and no one, as far as we can see, is offering low-cost, flexible access to IFAs and other advisers,&8221; he said.
&8220;We are creating a world-first – an Uber or Airbnb model for IFAs, alongside a zero commission trading model. With all these elements combined, we’re unlocking the stock market for millions of people, and creating an investment platform that will massively disrupt a huge market.&8221;
Freetrade is in the process of applying to the UK&8217;s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to become an execution-only broker. The company plans to start officially trading by early 2017.
Earlier this month, Freetrade announced that it has been selected to join Octopus&8217; #fintech program, Octopus Labs. Octopus is a UK fund management business managing over £6 billion worth of assets on behalf of over 50,000 retail and institutional customers.
The 12-week acceleration program will give Freetrade a workspace in Octopus&8217;s London headquarters as well as top level mentoring from financial industry experts and successful entrepreneurs.
The success of American companies such as Robinhood and Loyal3 has demonstrated that zero commission trading models can work. Robinhood Markets Inc., the Palo Alto-based company behind the popular commission-free stock trading app, has announced plans for international expansion in 2015. The company said it will start with Australia and China.
Although Robinhood says it has no plans to start charging commissions to trade stocks, the company launched Robinhood Gold premium features last week, reports Techcrunch.
For US$ 10 per month, users can skip the three-day waiting period with instant deposits and reinvesting, trade 30 minutes before and 2 hours after the market is open, as well as borrow up to double the money in their account to trade on margin with leverage.
Featured image by ESB Professional via Shutterstock.com.
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A group of #banks within the R3 distributed ledger consortium have tested a #blockchain prototype for US Treasury bond trades.
Das Unternehmen Swisspeers mit Sitz in Winterthur hat #eine neue Online-Plattform #für Peer-to-peerFinanzierung initiiert, die Investoren und kleine und mittelständische Unternehmen (KMU) mit Finanzierungsbedarf zusammenführt. Dieses Finanzierungskonzept zielt darauf ab, die Innovationsfähigkeit von KMU zu unterstützen und die Schweiz als Wirtschaftsstandort zu stärken.
Das Unternehmen wurde 2015 von Alwin Meyer, Andreas Hug und Stefan Nägeli gegründet und die Plattform ging im Mai dieses Jahr online. Bislang hat die Plattform Unternehmenskredite im Wert von über 500.000 CHF durch sieben Projekte mit jeweils neun bis achtzehn privaten Investoren beschaffen können, teilte Meyer Schweizeraktien.net kürzlich in einem Interview mit.
Von links nach rechts: Stefan Nägeli, Alwin Meyer und Andreas Hug, Co-Gründer von #Swisspeers, auf https://www.swisspeers.ch/
„Unsere Unternehmenskredite sollen sich langfristig auf eine Größenordnung von 50.000 CHF bis zu 1 Million belaufen,“ sagt Meyer.
„Laut unserer Marktanalysen ist die Nachfrage in diesem Bereich am grössten. Der Zugang zu Krediten in dieser Größenordnung wird über die traditionellen Kanäle nicht ausreichend gewährleistet.
Swisspeers will Investoren eine Alternative zu den traditionellen Festzinsanlagen bieten. Auf der Unternehmerseite werden KMU die Möglichkeit geboten, Zugang zu einem unbürokratischen Finanzierungstool ausserhalb des traditionellen Bankensystems zu erhalten. Es sorgt für komplette Transparenz bei der Finanzabwicklung. Swisspeers nimmt eine Bonitätsprüfung vor und vergibt daraufhin eine Empfehlung für einen risikoadäquaten Zinssatz. Das vom Unternehmen selbst entwickelte Finanzierungskonzept basiert auf einem kommerziellen Kreditrisikomodell, das eine Empfehlung für risikoadäquate Zinssätze abgeben kann.
Für Unternehmen bedeutet dies ein schneller und einfacher Kreditprozess, faire Preisfestsetzung durch Bonitätsprüfung und eine nach dem Auktionsprinzip getätigte Finanzierung sowie eine Reihe von zusätzlichen Serviceleistungen wie z.B. Unterstützung und Beratung bei der Erfüllung der Dokumentationsanfordungen für den Kreditantrag.
Für Investoren bietet Swisspeers Direktinvestitionen bei regionalen KMU, attraktive Renditen mit minimalen Gebühren und einen Beitrag zur Stärkung von #Schweizer Unternehmen. Somit sind Investoren in der Lage, dem Anlagenotstand im Schweizer-Franken-Festzinsgeschäft zu entkommen.
Das Unternehmen hat bislang sehr positives Feedback erhalten. „KMU schätzen die einfache, bequeme sowie orts- und zeitungebundene Alternative sehr,“ sagt Meyer.
„Investoren sehen die Möglichkeit, eine positive Rendite zu erzielen. […] Viele Investoren beginnen mit einer kleinen Investition, um das neue Anlagemodell erst einmal zu testen. Nach der ersten positiven Erfahrung fahren sie dann mit weiteren Investitionen fort und bauen ein Portfolio auf.“
Neben Swisspeers gibt es derzeit noch sechs weitere #Crowdlending-Plattformen in der Schweiz: Cashare, CreditGate24, creditworld, Lend und splendit (Studentenkredite) laut eines Reports des Instituts für Finanzdienstleitungen Zug IFZ und Swisscom. CreditGate24 und Cashshare spezialisieren sich auf Privatkunden und KMU, Swisspeers und Creditworld nur auf KMU und Lend fokussiert sich bislang nur auf Privatkunden.
2015 wurden in der Schweiz insgesamt CHF 27.3 Millionen an Finanzierungsgeldern für 1.342 Finanzierungsprojekte vermittelt. Crowdlending verzeichnet das größte Wachstum von 2014 bis 2015 (+127%, auf CHF 7.9 Millionen).
„Für 2016 erwarten wir mindestens eine doppelt so hohe Summe im Schweizer Crowdfunding Markt, der“, laut des Reports, „insbesondere durch Kreditvergaben an KMU und Immobilien-Crowdfunding angetrieben wird.“
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Overstock subsidiary tØ has partnered with a new broker-dealer as part of its bid to launch a #blockchain #trading #platform.
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