Podcasts about online lending

Are these financial apps just payday loans in disguise? Learn the sneaky ways modern tech keeps you hooked on debt and how to avoid it. Many popular money apps market themselves as helpful tools, but often hide high-cost borrowing structures beneath a clean interface. This conversation breaks down the mechanics behind these predatory lending tactics, specifically focusing on how they encourage users to borrow money, keeping you in a cycle of repayment. If you are trying to become debt free, understanding these traps is essential to protecting your finances. Doug & Ted examine the psychological hooks that keep people cycling through high-interest debt. By identifying these patterns early, you can take control of your spending habits and avoid falling for slick marketing that hides the cost of credit. Subscribe for weekly debt free strategy breakdowns, and comment below if you have ever spotted a suspicious lending feature in a finance app. Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:38 What Payday Loans Were & What They Are Today 03:11 The Categories of Online Loans Starting with Payday Loan Apps 07:40 Credit Building Products & The Dangers 08:40 Buy Now Pay Later Apps 12:30 The Dangers of Online Lending, Money Apps, & BNPL 14:30 Credit Adjacent Products - What Are They - Why It Matters! 15:40 The Differences Between Traditional Payday Loans & New Cash Apps 21:00 The Problem With Modern Cash Apps & Practical Advice

DEAR PAO: Harassment received from an online lending app company, violation of Sections 28 and 31 of the Data Privacy Act of 2012 | Sept. 28, 2025Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net Follow us: Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital Check out our Podcasts: Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcherTune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein #TheManilaTimes#KeepUpWithTheTimes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Santa Clarita Real Estate Market UpdateDate: October 17, 2024 | Day 290 of the YearHost: Connor McIvor, First Responder RealtorTagline: "Saving the world one honest home sale at a time."Introduction:Welcome to your Santa Clarita Valley real estate market snapshot! I'm Connor McIvor, your trusted First Responder Realtor. Today, we're diving into the most up-to-date market stats and trends for the week. Whether you're a buyer looking for the best deals or a seller wanting to maximize your home's value, this is your go-to resource. Let's jump in!Market Watch:Coming Soon Listings: 14 new properties will hit the market soon—great news for buyers eager to get ahead of the curve.New Listings: We've seen 82 new properties go live in the last 7 days, offering a wide range of homes for buyers at various price points.Price Adjustments: 71 price reductions were recorded this week. If you've had your eye on a property, now's the time to act!Back on the Market: 18 homes have returned to the market after escrow fell through, giving buyers another chance at securing their dream home.Active Under Contract & Pending Sales: 30 properties are under contract and 49 are pending, reflecting a hot and competitive market.Total Properties in Escrow: 79 properties are currently in escrow, which underscores just how active the market is right now.Youtube Channels:Conner with Honor - real estateHome Muscle - fat torchingFrom first responder to real estate expert, Connor with Honor brings honesty and integrity to your Santa Clarita home buying or selling journey. Subscribe to my YouTube channel for valuable tips, local market trends, and a glimpse into the Santa Clarita lifestyle.Dive into Real Estate with Connor with Honor:Santa Clarita's Trusted Realtor & Fitness EnthusiastReal Estate:Buying or selling in Santa Clarita? Connor with Honor, your local expert with over 2 decades of experience, guides you seamlessly through the process. Subscribe to his YouTube channel for insider market updates, expert advice, and a peek into the vibrant Santa Clarita lifestyle.Fitness:Ready to unlock your fitness potential? Join Connor's YouTube journey for inspiring workouts, healthy recipes, and motivational tips. Remember, a strong body fuels a strong mind and a successful life!Podcast:Dig deeper with Connor's podcast! Hear insightful interviews with industry experts, inspiring success stories, and targeted real estate advice specific to Santa Clarita.

In this episode, our resident Business Ninja Andrew and Michael Tryon, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Biz2Credit, talk about how Biz2Credit is providing innovative financing for today's businesses.Biz2Credit is focused on funding what's next for small businesses. They leverage data, cash flow insights, and the latest technology to give business owners an automated small business funding platform. Biz2Credit has provided over $7 billion in small business loans and financing.Biz2Credit is also the company behind the Biz2X Platform. Biz2X in the natural outgrowth of Biz2Credit's established platform software that brands like HSBC, Oriental Bank, and TATA Capital have chosen to launch new online lending initiatives. Learn more about Biz2Credit on their website: https://www.biz2credit.com/   -----Do you want to be interviewed for your business?  Schedule time with us, and we'll create a podcast like this for your business:  https://www.WriteForMe.io/-----https://www.facebook.com/writeforme.iohttps://www.instagram.com/writeforme.io/https://twitter.com/writeformeiohttps://www.linkedin.com/company/writeforme/https://www.pinterest.com/andysteuer/Want to be interviewed on our Business Ninjas podcast? Schedule time with us now, and we'll make it happen right away! Check out WriteForMe, more than just a Content Agency! See the Faces Behind The Voices on our YouTube Channel!

As digital banking rises to prominence in Indonesia, tech companies from various sectors have been dipping their toes in the game, partnering with and sometimes even acquiring digibanks. Leveraging their greater and easier access to capital, online and peer-to-peer lenders have also joined the fray. However, some question whether this move toward the digital banking space might spell doom for the lending scene. Will digibanks soon render online lenders obsolete?  Or is there room for coexistence in the future? On this episode of Deep Dive, Tech in Asia journalist Budi Sutrisno discusses what lies ahead for Indonesia's online lending scene. Featured reporters: Budi Sutrisno, a Tech in Asia journalist based in Jakarta Essential reading: Why Indonesia's tech giants find digital banks irresistible As digibanks rise, will Indonesia's online lenders become obsolete? The tech companies bankrolling Indonesia's digital banks

During the show we discuss:   ● How Venture Capital and Alternative SBA Loans Work ● The Differences Between Equity Crowdfunding and Reward-Based Crowdfunding ● How Peer to Peer and Online Lending, and Private, Federal, and Local, City, and State Grants Can Help Your Business ● Exactly Why Angel Investing is a Great Solution for So Many Business Owners… Like You!

While initially regarded with skepticism, online lending has become one of the leading finance options for small businesses that are unable to meet the rigid criteria for traditional bank loans. Still, before you enter any formal agreements with a potential lender, it's important to carefully examine whether your business is in a position to fully benefit from the terms of the actual loan. In this episode, Jon Aidukonis and Gene Marks, along with Lendio CEO, Brock Blake, discuss several factors that small business owners need to keep in mind when navigating the online lending process. Continue reading Online Lending: See How It Can Help Your Business at .

Finding loans for your small business can be a challenge – your company is not as big, you may be looking to borrow smaller amounts of money, or you may need your loan faster than a large bank can provide it. OnDeck, is an online lender company focused on the small business customer. In this episode, Gene Marks talks with Noah Breslow, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors at OnDeck. Hear what Noah has to say about the service OnDeck provides, the online experience of applying for a loan, bridge loans, and more.  For more information about small business loans, read our article, “Securing Financing for Your Small Business.” Looking for how to get back to business during COVID-19? Download our whitepaper, “Peer Insights to Help SMBs Get Back to Business.” DISCLAIMER: The information presented in this podcast, and that is further provided by the presenter, should not be considered legal or accounting advice, and should not substitute for legal, accounting, or other professional advice in which the facts and circumstances may warrant. We encourage you to consult legal counsel as it pertains to your own unique situation(s) and/or with any specific legal questions you may have.  

The landscape for eCommerce SMEs needing capital is constantly changing, as is the online lending industry that serves many of them. Keith Smith, co-founder of Payability, an American FinTech company that provides finance solutions to suppliers of digital marketplaces. Find show notes and more at: https://www.soarpay.com/podcast/

Originally aired on 11/ 19/19 on GMA News TV. Technology has made almost everything within our reach - including borrowing money from Online Lending Apps. However, the ease of transaction is outweighed by the harassment faced by borrowers from collection agents who stop at nothing to make their clients pay. Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Kelvin Lee explains the dangers of online lending apps in this episode.

Disrupting India's Online Lending Market   Matt Flannery, Branch   Bill Sheedy, Visa   Moderator: Moderator: Melissa Frakman, EMVC

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I'm Zack Miller. We're digging deeper here, talking to some of the top finance and fintech marketers about the challenges and opportunities in growing their businesses. It's not often that a marketer gets a chance to create a new brand, but that's exactly what happened to Laurel Road's CMO, Alyssa Schaefer. Fresh out of Amex, she was tasked in helping a community bank build a national online lending business and brand. Laurel Road is an interesting hybrid model. Its roots are in community banking in Connecticut but it's evolved into providing student loan refinancing, mortgages, and personal loans to customers on a national basis. She joins us to discuss how she approached the new brand creation process and what channels she's using to help grow Laurel Road. Before we jump into the interview — If you get value out of this podcast, we'd appreciate a review wherever you get your podcasts. We do this for you and reviews are the fuel that make this podcast go and help others to discover it. You can get this episode and 200 others in our archives at www.tearsheet.co Here's my interview with Alyssa.

Once upon a time P2P was a simple thing. Now it's more accurate to see it as online lending and borrowing. Models vary, regulation varies, the most successful platform was started by a bank, direct lenders have wholesale flows in funding retail or corp...

Once upon a time P2P was a simple thing. Now it's more accurate to see it as online lending and borrowing. Models vary, regulation varies, the most successful platform was started by a bank, direct lenders have wholesale flows in funding retail or corp...

Online Lending 2.0 – The Next Chapter of Online Lending Product Innovation Renaud Laplanche, Upgrade

We continue our look at how FinTech is redefining lending to small business through new underwriting models. We also talk about the importance of the availability of credit to economic development and how FinTech seeks to make that process more efficient."

This month we learn about how FinTech is redefining lending to small business through new underwriting models. We also talk about the importance of the availability of credit to economic development and how FinTech seeks to make that process more efficient.

Positioning for Institutional Capital in Online Lending at Lang Di Fintech 2016.

Andrew Graham is the CEO of Borrowell, an online lending marketplace for Canadians. We discuss where the idea for Borrowell came from and what kind of financial consumer makes up their target market. Borrowell is aiming to take a chunk out of the high interest rate credit card market in Canada by offering term loans for unsecured debt at lower rates. We also delve into where Borrowell gets the money to fund these loans, what kind of rates they offer, the average loan amount taken out by their users, and more.

From Competition to Collaboration: Partnerships in Online Lending at LendIt USA 2016

Lending as a Service: The Future of Online Lending at LendIt USA 2016

Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche talks with Kara Swisher about the benefits of online financial services in a world that no longer needs old-fashioned bank branches. He also explains why Lending Club's stock has been slipping for two years and is currently at half its IPO share price. Plus: Why the venture capitalist honeymoon with private financial tech companies might be ending and why Laplanche is bracing for a general market downturn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to all episodes and get a FREE crash course on real estate investing at:    in iTunes. . It's here! Part 2 of an online lending series and what you need to know. We are digging deep into the "why" online lending is a fantastic alternative with Fund That Flips's Matt Rodack. He shares how streamlined the firm is from verification, loan details, to funding. If you are a player, you will be funded. Today we brought an actual client of Find That Flip who shares his "one stop shop" experience with no filter. You MUST hear this continuation of benefits to use online lending through Fund That Flip if you are without financial backing and you have a great deal. Best Ever Tweet: If someone does not have an online presence, they have something to hide. Subscribe in   and    so you don’t miss an episode! Made Possible Because of Our Best Ever Sponsors: You find the deals. We’ll fund them. Yes, it’s that simple. Fund That Flip is an online lender that provides fast and affordable capital to real estate investors. We make funding your projects easy so you can focus on what you do best…rehabilitating homes. Learn more at . What’s the Best Ever health plan for YOU? Go to and find a better health plan in 10 minutes or less. On average you’ll save $418 on coverage and care.

You have a deal, you nailed the numbers, and you lack just one thing...funding! Welcome to our two part series unearthing the mysteries of online lending. The cautions, the steps to closing, and even what you need before submission for money are what you'll hear in this show. Our Best Ever guests even want you to join Fund That Flip BEFORE YOU SNAG A DEAL! So jump on! Best Ever Tweet: If you don't have any experience, you are not getting any money. Subscribe in   and    so you don’t miss an episode! Made Possible Because of Our Best Ever Sponsors: You find the deals. We’ll fund them. Yes, it’s that simple. Fund That Flip is an online lender that provides fast and affordable capital to real estate investors. We make funding your projects easy so you can focus on what you do best…rehabilitating homes. Learn more at . What’s the Best Ever health plan for YOU? Go to and find a better health plan in 10 minutes or less. On average you’ll save $418 on coverage and care.

A Mobile Approach to Online Lending panel at LendIt USA 2015 with Itzik Cohen, of Prosper Marketplace; Sun Lei, of 9F Bank; Greg Symons, of SocietyOne; and moderator Melissa Guzy, of Arbor Ventures. The panelists talk about the phenomenon that online lending is becoming a disruptive innovation and one that deserves serious consideration from varied stakeholders. Moreover, the rapidity and convenience of online lending means that price is no longer the decisive factor in choosing a lender. The ability to get a quick decision and apply for a loan at any time or anyplace trumps price. Moreover, a mobile approach usually is viewed as a marketing campaign tool for Chinese P2P companies. Furthermore, they are discussing about the threat of this new approach to the whole industry.

State of the Real Estate Online Lending Market by Dan Ciporin, General Partner at Canaan Partners. The real estate lending market is a $15 Trillion market, compared to $2.2 Trillion for consumer loans and $300 Billion for small business loans. Despite this, real estate currently only comprises of 5% of total marketplace lending. The steps necessary to increase real estate marketplace lending include: coming up with standardized risk metrics, enabling infrastructure and technology to manage data, and creating a real-time marketplace. It is interesting to see the business model parallels between marketplace lenders now and the successful internet giants, who made their money by being an advertising platform. Marketplace lenders are being the platform between investors and borrowers or sponsors.

Risk Management of Online Lending in the U.S. & China panel in the China Track at LendIt USA 2015 with Chaomei Chen, Chief Risk Officer of Lending Club; Dr. Zane Wang, Founder & CEO of China Rapid Finance; Zhen Yao, Director of Scores and Analytics at FICO China; and moderator David Ho, Lead Analyst, Consumer Finance/Specialty Finance at Deutsche Bank.

Global Online Lending leaders panel with Alejandro Cosentino, Afluenta; Viola Llewellyn, of Ovamba; Neil Roberts, of Harmoney; Greg Symons, of SocietyOne; Meg Zwick, of Millennium Trust Company; and moderator Rodolfo Gonzalez, of Foundation Capital. The discussion centered around the different challenges each country brings to p2p lending.

Hot Button Issues in Online Lending panel at LendIt USA 2015, with Mike Cagney, Co-Founder & CEO of SoFi; Bobby Mehta, former President & CEO of TransUnion; Hans Morris, Managing Partner of NYCA; and moderator Nigel Morris, Managing Partner of QED Investors.

The European Online Lending Opportunity at LendIt USA 2015, with James Meekings, Chief Commercial Officer & Co-Founder of Funding Circle; Peter Behrens, Co-Founder & Chief Commercial Officer of RateSetter; Geoff Miller, CEO of GLI Finance; Jaidev Janardana, COO of Zopa; Partel Tomberg, Founder & CEO of Bondora; Etienne Boillot, CEO & Co-Founder of Eiffel eCapital; and moderator Cormac Leech, Equity Research at Liberum.

Emerging Online Lending Leaders panel at LendIt USA 2015 with Dave Girouard, of Upstart; Michael Solomon, of CircleBack Lending; Al Goldstein, of Avant; Stuart Law, of Assetz Capital; and moderator Matt Burton, of Orchard.

Minter Dialogue Episode #143 — This interview is with Mike Baliman, host of the London Fintech Podcast. In this podcast, Mike and I discuss the world of fintech, what are some of the most interesting initiatives and, more importantly, how can financial services companies approach and take advantage of this new wave of new technologies. Meanwhile, you can comment and find the show notes on myndset.com where you can also sign up for my weekly newsletter. Or you can follow me on Twitter on @mdial. And, if you liked the podcast, please take a moment of your precious time to go over to iTunes to rate the podcast.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/minterdial)

Join hosts Cliff Perotti and guest host Kenneth Fowler on The Property Beat this week as they talk online lending. CEO and founder Jason van den Brand, of Lenda.com calls in to discuss online mortgages, platform home loans from start to finish, and the financial and practical reasons to refinance online. They discuss the many reasons to love Portland real estate and why you should invest there. Investment opportunities include Portland and India with seminar dates to come! The Property Beat can be heard live on KLOK 1170 AM in San Francisco on Wednesday mornings from 10-11 am. We're sponsored by Lion & Foster International, Inc., an international luxury lifestyle agency, helping clients to acquire and sell properties in the SF Bay Area and throughout the world

For me Alternative Finance is the most exciting sector in Fintech by far in terms of near term impact as competition for the “Old FS” and as choice for both borrowers and lenders. In this episode I am delighted to be joined by Christian Faes CEO of Lendinvest. In the world of Fintech froth that has been 2014 Lendinvest and Christian are the real deal. In this episode we “kick the tyres” of P2P and have an organic conversation exploring some key angles in the sector right now.  There is plenty of “linear” content out there (eg this concise YouTube explaining Lendinvest), and conference panel discussions (eg this LendIt one with Christian on the panel) – and they are all great.  However as usual on the podcast I aim more for the kind of conversation that one might have with the insiders in the bar after the formal conference. This is also a special episode in being rather longer than normal – there is so much to be discussed as the sector is very active right now and the future is busy taking place with lots of seismic shifts happening beneath our feet. We discuss a whole variety of topics as we kick the four tyres around the car – Lendinvest; penetrating the subsector’s opaque/confusing terminology; understanding the risks; and the future of the industry. In editing the podcast (which means I listen to it many times) I progressed my own thoughts on how I see the risk in P2P and how to describe it simply.  So for the avoidance of doubt I put the risk thoughts in a “Postscript” section down below to make it obvious that these are my afterthoughts and language (Christian’s comments are in the podcast).  However I think that the terminology will be helpful in listening to the podcast so it’s not an “unrelated” mini essay Lendinvest In the AltFi awards Lendinvest was ranked as the best UK fintech-real estate platform (which has done over £166m of deals to date). Recently I heard a leading Fintech analyst describe them as the best dark horse bet for London’s first major fintech IPO. They have grown organically from being a “non-digital” real estate lending business to the world’s largest real estate platform. And all of this without raising any VC money. Since 2008 they have returned (in one incarnation or another – more on that in the show) over 6% to investors via secured short-term bridging loans (1mt-1yr) with LTV’s (loan-to-value ratios) of around 60% and no capital losses. More recently they have added a 1-3yr buy-to-let mortgage product. Lendinvest also have a (relatively?) unique twist to their business model in that their (financially separate) fund management company Montello pre-funds/underwrites the deals they list on their platform.  In other words they put their money where their mouth is – if no investor buys that asset Lendinvest’s sister company is left holding it “themselves”. For the borrower this means there is no uncertainty as to whether a loan will be funded (whereas on a typical platform they have to wait to see if it gets funded). For the lender its a whole extra dimension of confidence above and beyond “we rate this X” – rather it’s “our sister company has already bought this asset – that’s how much confidence we have in it”. A recent bank line application led to the bank’s Head of Credit saying that Lendinvest’s credit quality procedures (that the bank audited) were better than the bank’s Towards the end Christian explains more about, not just Lendinvest’s history, but also their direction going forwards – in particular their investment in tech to improve deal origination, credit and the time it takes to offer a buy-to-let mortgage (currently around two weeks, hoping to move it to a matter of days (which is of course tremendous compared to the banks processing time)) Opaque Terminology Shakespeare may have been right about the fragrance of roses for more abstract matters naming is everything – the words we use condition our thinking – a point marketers spend years studying in degree courses. If I said to you “do you want to lend money to dozens of folks you have never met so they can splash out on a new car, have a fancy wedding, get a house extension etc, and you will have no security?”, you might think one thing. If I said to you “do you want a team, who are incredibly motivated to make a success out of your investment, and who have got a brilliant credit track record over a decade, including one of the worst recessions ever, to invest your money in consumer finance and get you a return ten times what you get from a bank?”, you might think another. So words are important. What else do we speak and write with? In LFP010 “The 3,000 feet overview of Alternative Finance”, Rupert Taylor mentioned how he dislikes jargon which serves only to (1) form a barrier between insiders and outsiders and (2) a block to understanding. He also mentioned that there is no commonly agreed definitions in the sector (I am sure I saw the FSA include P2P within crowdfunding recently (?!)). Language also (3) leads to groupthink (which is a factor in many FS risk disasters in the past decades/centuries). Peer-to-peer is originally a tech phrase which describe a de-centralised network (in contrast with client-server architecture all “peers” are both “clients” and “servers”). Napster was really peer-to-peer in this sense. If you look up “P2P” on Wikipedia right now it doesn’t have any reference to Alternative Finance! [Note to P2PFA edit that wiki page?! :-)] As if to make matters worse, following on from using phrases like peer-to-peer, the sector is now taking up the (very tech, very VC) term of “marketplace lending”.  This is in large part a “valuation play” – “marketplaces” are more highly rated and there are billion dollar IPOs coming in the US .. so the #OldFS hype machine is busy. Now once again I don’t feel that this is a widely comprehensible term, nor do I feel it’s accurate – eBay is a marketplace – which to me means that plenty of folks can come and sell their stuff and plenty of folks can come and buy.  We discuss this term – Christian is a fan and I am not.  You can form your own opinion Another term we don’t discuss (but it came to me many times when I was when editing the audio) is “exchange” [and coincidentally today I heard Ron Suber President of Prosper describe themselves as “an online exchange for consumer credit” which I thought clear, simple and with the right implications (after all compare and contrast two exchanges – the London Stock Exchange and AIM – it’s clear which is a more reliable market)]. Most importantly I don’t think any single term can cover the disparate models in P2P right now (see below in the Risk comments).  For investors my advice is both to dig below any label and not to read too much into any label. “Alternative Finance/Online-lending&borrowing” is something that (a) never existed before (hence no vocabulary to fit it) and (b) is evolving over time (hence a label that worked last year might not next). THE FUTURE – Where the P2P Industry is Heading The US model is much more institutional and “marketplacey” – hedge funds for example being well able to make their own credit decisions (assuming they can “see through” to the asset).  The UK has to date been much more of a “savings substitute” design (lower yielding, minimal losses on the top platforms). In the US the market has been heavily regulated (enabling a few platforms to grow very large and their owners very wealthy (sound familiar?)). Lending Club alone is forecast to do perhaps $10bn of business next year – more than the entire UK P2P industry put together. In the UK regulation has been light touch, it’s easy to enter (maybe even “from your bedroom”). Both the government and the London Mayor’s office have been a major part of the 2014 promotion/hype – talking of vocab … take your pick – of Fintech as a whole.  The government has been a heavy supporter not just in terms of considering including P2P assets as viable ISA investments but also in terms of investing tax payers money in deals via some platforms. In the UK there are a lot of players ~150 in the P2P Finance Association – even Christian who is full-time in this sector and attends many conferences doesn’t know many of them. A “Goldilocks” growth curve is very important – not too hot, not too cold. P2P is still a tiny portion of the market (eg the UK mortgage market is £1.6trn) and therefore unlikely to be constrained in terms of quality asset acquisition in the near term. So “external” constraints aren’t that significant right now. However internal constraints are always significant – Fintech is not Tech – you are dealing with people’s money.  There will be a spectrum across P2P of how automated the process can be  – more automatable in consumer-P2P due to big data? less in real estate as one needs “boots on the ground” eg re valuation.  Where there is manual intervention – especially around credit (far more common in the UK than in the US) – you can’t “just add another server” – “adding another person” takes longer to do well. To wrap up the show Christian outlines the rosy scenario, the downside scenario and his central scenario – you’ll have to listen to find out the details but his conclusion is “there is a rough ride ahead but the long-term viability of the concept is very real”. Everyone has an important job in deciding how the market evolves. Platforms; regulators/industry associations; the government and last but not least the investors – caveat emptor – plenty of real opportunities out there for great risk;returns – but be wise! Personal Afterthoughts – Rewording the P2P Risk Debate These comments are all my own – even if all being inspired by listening to our conversation.  Whilst we touch on a number of these topics in the episode these are my afterthoughts. The industry is very focused (correctly) on credit analysis. However personally – as an outsider (mind you if I am an outsider I wonder what the average member of the public is) – I feel it is less easy to ascertain all the risks the investor takes. In a sense this is a question of evolution. Historically the main platforms have done an excellent job of risk management – I don’t wish to question that for one minute. However going forward – especially given the possible ISA flood – can we be certain that all platforms will do as good a job?  My view of FS as a whole is that on the one hand much of #OldFS needs to wake up to an epochal shift.  On the other much/most/all of #NewFS needs to get ever more professional/solid/reliable over time. What happens, post ISA-flood when a hundred or more platforms are listed on a consumer “price comparison website”?  Hard to see how one avoids a whole tsunami of unsophisticated investors being attracted to the biggest headline rates rather than assessing quality. On a price comparison site one could see headline rates and volumes perhaps. But what about the platform risk/quality?  Clearly not all platforms are as strong/good/reliable – you name it – as each other. How would one even assess a simple red/amber/green measure? In LFP006 I discussed this problem over the lack of quality assessment on price comparison sites in the insurance marketplace. Price comparisons websites are just that – they compare the prices of your insurance. They do not compare the quality of the insurance (you only find that out when you claim). That the public is rate-driven we know – witness in 2008 how many people had money with Landsbanki in the UK (as it had had the “best” rates in the market). Few folks are able to assess the risk of banks or platforms.  Even banking analysts don’t have a great record of predicting demises .. just to name a few – Barings, Bankers Trust, Lehmans, Landsbanki were all (as far as I recall) unheralded by the analysts. RISK I/II – Asset Risk (Principal) vs Platform Risk (Agent) What the use of the term P2P is trying to convey is that the investor ends up with a direct exposure to the underlying loans. I get that.  However there are less obscurantist ways of doing that Arguably the “peer-to-peer” phrase itself distracts one from the central role of the platform. To me this is the most important point – vocabulary apart – AltFinance-borrowing&lending is absolutely not “disintermediated”.  The role of the platform as an intermediary/agent is absolutely central, absolutely vital. As Christian says all of the (sensible?) platforms have segregated client bank accounts (and one assumes a settlement mechanism re investing in the loans which means you are not on risk to the platform (not discussed)).  So you shouldn’t have a direct cash-asset risk on the platform. However even though you end up with a principal exposure to the specific loan-asset(s) you also have an agency exposure to the platform. What do I mean by agency exposure? Well let’s assume you have a holiday home abroad which you rarely visit. The general solution is to have some agent looking after it for you. And if they do that well your asset remains in good shape.  However if the agent goes bust or disappears your asset is more exposed to deterioration as any problems that arise aren’t  addressed immediately etc. This agency role is far more vital than say an estate agent – when you buy a house you see it, you decide if you want to buy it and you get an independent survey, valuation etc – so you have little exposure to an estate agent as such (and none post-purchase). All (?) platforms accept their agency responsibilities – and will live or die by their ability to – source quality deals, filter out fraud, service payments flows, chase late payments, work out defaults etc etc etc. Owning assets (secured (0.00001% of 1 Park Lane or unsecured loans (£70 to Mr Bloggs1-100)) is one thing if you have a platform there fulfilling all the agency responsibilities. Even if technically your asset exposure doesn’t change if a platform disappears your asset servicing (“agency”) exposure certainly does. It would become a huuuuuge hassle to start collecting yourself on all those loans etc – in fact in the general case it would be inconceivable (and by definition you couldn’t do it as well as the platform, especially as, in most cases, you would become just one of many many tiny creditors). If we fast forward many years to the first platform to fail, in practice the “book”/”portfolio” would have to be transferred (/sold) to another platform to fulfill the agency duties. Maybe this agency risk is obvious to some of you (it wasn’t to me despite watching a whole host of conference videos!).  However as Christian points out whilst the industry (of course) loves volume figures and does publish loss rates, all too often it doesn’t publish and measures of platform profitability or other measures of financial viability/longevity.  So how can you assess this agency risk? This is clearly key.  Especially now loan terms are increasing (out to 5yrs) I, having worn a number of FS Risk hats, certainly would not invest any money of that term without assessing my agency risk exposure over that time horizon to the platform. And don’t forget these platforms are not covered by the Bank Deposit protection scheme, nor do they have an industry guarantee scheme (unlike eg travel agents and ABTA/ATOL). If you are an investor who is considering investing in all 100++ P2Ps but first you want to select which ones to rule in and rule out, it is essential to measure this “agency risk”. Firstly what is the chance of the platform running into financial problems? I absolutely don’t know myself – but generalising from Fintech as a whole – most Fintech startups are not going to survive. Secondly what is their equivalent of “banks living wills”? That is, in the worst case of the platform falling over, do they have a new agent lined up?  I believe in Lendinvest’s case Montello Capital (a related but separate company with experience of loan servicing/agency duties) would step in as the fallback/”safety net” agent. Based on a quick straw poll of P2P websites I just checked “not everyone” (being polite) has such arrangements.  Some P2Ps merely have vague comments saying the servicing fee should be enough for you to pay for someone else to service your assets. I am not making these points merely to be critical or to throw rocks at other people’s greenhouses. Rather I am: (a) trying to help lenders understand the risks they are taking and flag up due-diligence issues to consider; and (b) trying to help the evolution of Fintech as a whole, but in this case P2P by flagging up my perception of how to make them even more solid and robust than they are right now. RISK II/II – P2P Two Main Subtypes – YOU select your asset(s) or THEY select your assets Revisiting the vocabulary point – no single term right now meaningfully covers all of Fintech hence the subsectors. Nor does any term now cover all the “P2P” subsector. There are many models within P2P.  If we ignore the “shades of grey” and simplify into a black and white schematic we could say that “P2P” (the debt subsector of AltFinance) has bifurcated into two main subgroups. Both approaches are perfectly valid – however they are sufficiently different to explain the fact that no single term fits both. One type of “P2P” is the P2P/You-Select subtype (eg Lendinvest).  They are (somewhat) like a marketplace – or perhaps more like a shop that sources all the things it sells. The platform’s main role re principal risk is, like a stock exchange perhaps, to be a quality control on the individual assets “sold in the shop”. The other main subtype one might call P2P/They-Select. They are (somewhat) like a fund (albeit neither structured nor regulated as such).  In this case your agency exposure is much greater as they are making your principal investment decisions for you. One key difference with a fund is that in some cases there is no transparency – ie you may legally own a bunch of loans (or rather parts-thereof) but you have no knowledge of them, and no auditing that you would get if you invested in a fund. There are further bells and whistles in that some “P2P-They-Select”s may run provision funds, take out insurance, run “rolling 1mt investments”, have “rate promises”. There is a further agency wrinkle that touches on principal (which we don’t go into) around liquidity – how easy is it on various platforms to get your cash back before the term of the asset?  The agency role there gets very close to your principal risk bone if you need to rely on the agent to (effectively) re-sell your asset.  One for another day – and I have written faaaaar too much lol – am sure next to none of you made it this far – but wearing my old bloodhound hat I would want to sniff some of those quite hard to ensure that principal risk on any given platform hasn’t slipped back in. Did anyone read all of this? Say hi if you did