One of the consistently positive trends in marketplace lending over the past several years has been the growth of securitization. Many, if not most, major platforms now have securitization as a key component of their capital markets strategy.

The point of sale lending space is really interesting to me. Even though point of sale platforms are providing unsecured consumer loans they have some unique advantages over typical online consumer lending platforms. In many cases, their customer acquisition cost is lower and where loans are provided at physical stores there is less consumer fraud because these are in person transactions.

We have heard it many times. Small businesses are the backbone of the economy, accounting for more than half of all new jobs created. But small business owners are not necessarily experts in finance and many need serious help in this area.

The short term loan space has unique challenges. There is often little to no credit data on the borrowers which makes underwriting difficult. Defaults are high and therefore interest rates are high as well. The space has had a history of bad actors so the CFPB recently released new rules in order to ensure more responsible lending practices. Some companies, though, had already embraced responsible lending.

We are doing something a bit different in this episode of the Lend Academy Podcast. This episode is part entrepreneurial story, that didn’t end well, and part book review.

The JOBS Act was supposed to open up opportunities for non-accredited investors but it really hasn’t taken off the way people expected. Non-accredited investors have few debt options today outside of Lending Club and Prosper. But there are some companies that are working hard to change that. One such company is Groundfloor.

We have not seen much in the way of global expansion when it comes to online lending platforms. Younited Credit is the largest online consumer lender in Continental Europe having crossed €500 million in total loans issued earlier this year. Based in Paris, they have recently expanded their business to Italy and Spain.

Regtech, short for regulation technology, is a fast growing segment that many people say is the hottest area of fintech right now. Since the financial crisis compliance costs at banks have skyrocketed. In many ways the development of regtech is a response to that increased burden as banks look for more efficient ways to operate their compliance departments.

Simon Champ is a true pioneer in the online lending space. He did something that had never been done before, he created the very first publicly traded investment vehicle for online lending and in the process changed the industry forever. P2PGI launched in May of 2014 in a £200 million IPO and they have now raised a total of £900 million.

One of the largest European banks, BBVA, is also one with the most aggressive in their approach to innovation. They acquired Simple back in 2014 and their venture arm, BBVA Ventures, has invested in the likes of Atom Bank, Prosper, Taulia, Coinbase and many other fintech leaders. They were one of the first large banks to create their own innovation center.