Alternative finance in good health
The field of alternative finance is proving to be healthy and promising at the end of the year, as lending challengers are flourishing. LendInvest, UK online marketplace platform for property finance, announced an impressive capital growth of 104% since January. “The demand for credit to back UK residential property projects consistently outweighs the supply, but banks and other traditional lenders continually fail to close that gap. As one of the UK’s leading non-bank lenders, we’re in a unique position to capitalise on the opportunity this creates for the benefit of all our investors,” commented Christian Faes, CEO and Co-founder.
A change in the market is confirmed by the growing adoption of digital loans provided by challengers, having grown by 139% compared to the 2015 numbers, financial services company Zopa reported. Customers are turning to digital providers, attracted by their competitive prices, customers experience and highly customized services.
Meanwhile in crypto
The ‘first countries’ to do so, Saudi Arabia and UAE Central Banks are undergoing collaborative tests for a new cryptocurrency enabling cross-border payments. “This is the first time the monetary authorities of two countries are cooperating to use blockchain technology,” Al-Mansouri stated in a regional publication.
One of the most significant items in yesterday’s news was that Ripple’s XRP has reached new heights with a 89% increase in valuation, becoming temporarily the third biggest cryptocurrency. Ripple’s blockchain is widely used by financial institutions in payments. The digital currency already surpassed the market value of litecoin on Wednesday.
Financial Times temporises Brexit’s impact on banking jobs
In yesterday’s edition, the newspaper stated that Brexit will not likely provoke an en masse banking job migration towards the continent. According to a survey conducted among large banks seniors, fewer than 4,600 jobs are likely to be relocated. This is a mild number compared to the tens of thousands announced by some consulting firms.
By Jean Leguy, Research Coordinator at Holland FinTech.
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