The Status of Prosper Marketplace???
November 16, 2016
Loan investors will have to wait even longer to find out if the resignation of Prosper’s chief executive on Monday holds special significance. That’s because on Tuesday the company informed the SEC that they would be filing their 3rd quarter results late. They were unable to complete the report in a timely manner, according to the filing, “without unreasonable effort or expense due to a delay experienced by the Registrants in completing its financial statements and other disclosures in the Quarterly Report relating to a recent arbitration decision.”
Jay Antenen, the Senior Editor for DealReporter, said on twitter that the arbitration reference has to do with “the early 2013 loan purchase agreement Prosper signed with Colchis.” According to a brief Antenen published with Eleanor Duncan on Debtwire, “Under that deal, Colchis gained the right to see Prosper’s origination pipeline and bid for loans at no disadvantage to other investors on the platform.” Apparently, there may be some tension between Colchis and new investors.
This all belies the fact that Prosper’s previous quarter produced a gut-wrenching $35.5 million loss on just $28 million in revenue. They had $14 million in expenses just from restructuring related to their downsizing and layoffs which included the closing of their Salt Lake City office and the termination of 167 employees. Their first quarter of the year yielded a $17 million loss on $56.5 million in revenue.
Meanwhile, loan performance has remained fairly steady, even as they continue to make regular pricing adjustments.
On Monday, the company’s CFO, David Kimball, was promoted to CEO to take over Aaron Vermut’s role. Vermut will remain on the company’s board.
On the Road to Recovery? Lending Club Shrinks Quarterly Losses, Announces Major Loan Buyer
November 7, 2016
Is Lending Club on the path to recovery, yet?
The marketplace lending company’s Q3 loss of of $36.5 million paled in comparison to the $81.4 million loss in the previous quarter, but the improvement is not as significant as it looks. That’s because Q2’s extremely poor showing was largely a result of the $35.4 million goodwill write-down of Springstone Financial and one-time “unusual expenses” related to an internal investigation into the previous CEO’s scandalous exit.
The $36 million loss is a far cry from the profit they turned in Q3 of last year however, but that spread is also deceiving. That’s because $20 million of it can be attributed to still more one-time costs related to Laplanche’s departure and an additional $11 million is due to incentives paid out to money managers to buy their loans. They stopped paying out incentives at the end of August.
Operating revenue grew 10 percent QoQ from $102.4 million to $112.6 million, but shrank by 2 percent annually from $115.1 million.
The stock closed up 15% on the day, but it’s still down more than 60% from the IPO price. The day’s rally was bolstered in part by an announcement that a US subsidiary of National Bank of Canada, Credigy, agreed to buy up to $1.3 billion worth of loans through the Lending Club platform over the next twelve months.
Loan originations grew marginally – $1.97 billion, up 1 percent from $1.96 billion in Q2, down 12 percent compared to $2.24 billion last year.
“I am very pleased with our performance in the third quarter. We actively reengaged with investors of all types to deliver on our plan and enable $2 billion in loan originations,” said Lending Club’s President and CEO, Scott Sanborn in a statement. “While we’ve made incredible progress, there is still work to be done. In the months ahead we are focused on increasing the diversity and resiliency of our funding mix, realigning our resources, and regaining our operating rhythm.”
At the Money 20/20 event last month, Sanborn announced that the company will foray into the $40 billion auto refinance market and said that he remains bullish about the company’s future in this new venture. The marketplace lender is offering loans in the range of $5,000 – $50,000 with APRs ranging from 2.49 percent to 19.99 percent for terms up to 72 months.
The third quarter has been an eventful one for the company which saw some management shuffle too. CFO Carrie Dolan was replaced by Thomas Casey, former CFO at the medical device company, Acelity. And, citing high delinquencies, the company also raised interest rates by a weighted average of 26 basis points, with high a concentration on F and G grade loans, in October.
One major cause for concern, however, remains to be the thinning retail investor base. While the company expanded its investor base to 142,000 active individual investors, investment was down to $273 million in the third quarter, from $327 million in Q2.
A GIANT BUFFALO ‘BILL’: Fake Debt Settlement Company Allegedly Defrauded Merchants, Business Lenders and MCA Companies Out of Lots of Cash
November 2, 2016
Several companies controlled by an alleged fraudster run out of western New York, promised merchants they could settle MCA agreements and alternative business loans for cheap.
Sergiy Bezrukov AKA John Butler AKA Thomas Paris AKA Christopher Riley was arrested last week after being charged with mail fraud. A joint investigation between the Department of Homeland Security, the IRS and the US Postal Inspection Service concluded that he scammed more than 100 victims and caused damages in excess of over $500,000.
“The victims and losses are the direct result of Bezrukov’s scheme involving the mailing of thousands of fraudulent solicitations to vulnerable small business owners, luring them into paying him for a service he never intended to provide, and resulting in hundreds of defaulted loans, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars,” an affidavit signed by Postal Inspector Clinton E. Homer states.
$400,000 in hidden cash was seized by investigators. The prosecution argued he was a great flight risk after it was discovered Bezrukov has dual Ukranian citizenship and that an identical copy of his US passport exists which he claims is missing and cannot forfeit. That combined with his propensity to use fake aliases resulted in his bail being denied and his being detained pending trial.
Bezrukov is currently being charged with mail fraud.
Records, surveillance and witness interviews confirmed that he paid to have 75,000 mailings sent out to advertise his service just between the first week of August and the first week of October 2016. Those services allegedly included an offer to reduce a small business owner’s short term debt by as much as 75% in just 6 to 12 hours.
One small business owner said that after signing up, they were directed to send an initial $1,250 to Corporate Restructure, Inc. via wire transfer. It was suspicious bank activity like this that would ultimately play a role in the scheme unraveling.
“The Postal Inspection Service received a referral from a fraud investigator for Citizens Banks related to multiple accounts with suspicious activity,” Federal Agent Homer wrote in his affidavit.
Bezrukov is alleged to have used over 30 different company names, numerous banks, post office boxes, UPS Store boxes, and employees in an effort to ensure the success of his scheme, and in an effort to hide his true identity and location of operations. Most of the locations were in upstate New York, specifically in Salamanca, Jamestown, Irving, West Seneca, Cheektowaga, Buffalo and Sanborn.
Two other individuals were also charged in connection with the activity, Mark Farnham of Buffalo and Dustin Walker of Salamanca. Farnham is referred to as the Vice President of Bezrukov’s company, Corporate Restructure, Inc., while Walker was the Chief of Security. They are alleged to have committed bank fraud. More than $125,000 was deposited in their accounts just between June 21st and August 12th of this year.
Bezrukov himself was no stranger to alternative business finance. Numerous complaints online date back to his role in a company known as SBC Telecom Consulting, a purported business funding company that was also referenced in the affidavit attached to the criminal complaint against him.
Even in that business, Bezrukov who went by alias John Butler at the time, was known for being outrageous. Last year, shortly before he ventured into the alleged debt settlement scheme, his company filed a $45 million lawsuit against a former sales rep for among other similar claims, allegedly violating a non-compete agreement.
The Buffalo News reports that Bezrukov is being represented in his criminal case by Scott F. Riordan, who declined to comment on the allegations.
More Loans, More Fraud? Lenders Are the Victims
October 30, 2016
Funders and lenders might want to review a TransUnion study that revealed borrowers who take out a second loan within 15 days are four times more likely to be later identified as fraudsters. Taking out a third loan in that time period raises the likelihood to ten times.
Telis Demos of the WSJ reported on the subject in a brief titled, Borrower or Fraudster? Online Lenders Scramble to Tell the Difference, but one statistic really stands out. “On average, 4.5% of borrowers take out more than one personal loan on the same day,” according to TransUnion. “While only some forms of loan stacking are fraudulent, the practice can be costly when inauthentic borrowers apply for multiple loans from multiple lenders within a short timeframe.”
TransUnion SVP Pat Phelan wrote that loan stacking can be a lucrative crime. “In 2015, our study of lenders in the FinTech industry reported that stacked loans represented $39 [million] of $497 million in charge-offs. Depending on how fast each lender does their due diligence, it’s possible they won’t know about other loans and applications until it’s too late.”
The analyses are notable in that they attribute stacking behavior to mischievous borrowers. It’s the lenders that are being victimized.
“It’s likely the same applicants with malicious intent who apply for multiple loans are also applying for multiple credit cards or a number of short-term or personal loans at other financial institutions as well,” Phelan wrote.
Expansion Capital Group Announces New Executive Management Team
October 25, 2016SIOUX FALLS, S.D., October 25, 2016 – Expansion Capital Group (ECG), a provider of small business loans, is pleased to announce several changes to its executive management team.
Effective immediately, Mr. Vincent Ney (ECG’s majority shareholder) is CEO and will focus on further developing the foundation built by the Expansion Capital team. In addition to an impressive combination of leadership and operational experience, Mr. Ney brings a passion for building financial services businesses with a focus on meeting the needs of its strategic partners and its customers. Most recently, he was involved in the online consumer lending sector where he was instrumental in building a business to $100 million in revenue.
As part of Mr. Ney’s early initiatives, Expansion Capital Group has begun testing and implementing new loan term and pricing options to provide broader and more advantageous solutions for borrowers.
Additionally, Mr. Marc Helman has joined Expansion Capital Group as Director of Strategic Partnerships. In this role, Mr. Helman is responsible for driving originations across the Company’s Funding Partner and Partnership channels. Before joining ECG, Mr. Helman spent over ten years in investment banking and venture capital, providing financing to both private and publicly traded small businesses. Mr. Helman stated, “I am incredibly excited to join Expansion Capital Group’s growing team. As our product offerings and platform continue to expand, we look forward to serving the capital needs of a wider variety of small businesses.”
Mr. Ney and Mr. Helman add to other members of the executive team that joined earlier in 2016. Mr. Herk Christie joined ECG’s operations team in March after experience and tenure with Resurgent Capital Services and Capital One. Mr. Tim Mages joined in February as CFO to assist ECG with its financial analysis and Capital Markets initiatives.
Dusty Wasmund, ECG’s VP of Business Development and Channel Partnerships, stated “During the past six months, ECG has broadened its executive management team to build a sustainable business that enables small business owners to access capital quickly to capitalize on their objectives. Our combined team brings a variety of experiences and perspectives to better serve our customer’s needs. This team has collaborated extensively during the past 60 days to strategically bring two new product innovations to market, which provide our borrowers greater financing options tailored to their specific needs. I am very excited about our revised positioning and look forward to working with many of our strategic partners during 2017 as we continue to grow our platform.”
As part of these changes, ECG also recently executed a partial equity recapitalization by ECG’s existing two family office investors. This additional equity, along with its $25 million credit facility closed in partnership with Northlight Financial and Bastion Management during the fourth quarter of 2015, provides ECG with enhanced capital resources to facilitate future growth. With this additional equity base and more flexible product alternatives, ECG will look to significantly expand its origination partners and loan volume.
About Expansion Capital Group:
Since 2013, Expansion Capital Group has provided over 5,000 small businesses with capital exceeding $130 million. Expansion Capital Group has developed a platform based on data aggregation and predictive modeling, which enables it to service this target market cost-effectively. Expansion Capital Group uses a broad array of both traditional and nontraditional data sources to predict individual performance and cash flow of each small business.
For general inquiries, please contact:
Tim Mages
CFO
(605) 877-3910
For sales, lead generation, or channel partner inquiries, please contact:
Mr. Dusty Wasmund
VP of Sales and Channel Partnerships
(605) 351-5833
Mr. Marc Helman
Director of Strategic Partnerships
(605) 681-6400
Bizfi Appoints Alternative Finance and Payments Veteran John Donovan as CEO
October 24, 2016
New York – October 24, 2016 – Bizfi (www.bizfi.com), a leading fintech company with a platform that combines aggregation, funding and a marketplace for small businesses, announced its board of directors has appointed John Donovan as the Company’s chief executive officer (CEO). Donovan is a 30-year veteran in the payments and alternative finance industry serving both small businesses and consumers.
Over the course of his career, Donovan helped pave the way for the development of the fintech and alternative finance industry. Having worked for nearly two decades with MasterCard, Donovan was integral to conceiving and developing new products, launching a global card program and growing the Company’s global electronic payments offerings. As one of the founding employees of Lending Club, Donovan helped create the direct-to-consumer fintech industry that has transformed the way consumers and financial institutions interact with one another. During his tenure at Lending Club, he held various roles including chief operating officer, board member and executive vice president of corporate development.
“Bizfi is transforming the way small businesses are accessing growth and working capital. John Donovan brings a unique combination of industry-related expertise, strategic vision and proven management experience which will accelerate this transformation and further enhance our market-leading position in the fintech space,” said Tom Breitling, Bizfi Chairman.
“I have known the Bizfi team for many years and have been extremely impressed with the market presence the company has established in the fintech space,” said John Donovan. “I have spent my career building and operating companies, conceptualizing new products and increasing shareholder value. It is clear that the Bizfi team have built the single best way for small businesses to access capital in a quick, frictionless and simple way.”
With originations growing over 35% over the past year, Bizfi continues to demonstrate record volumes, and is on track to approach nearly $600 million of fundings this year, highlighting the strength and scalability of the overall platform and the company’s leading position in the fintech industry.
Since its creation in 2005, Bizfi has provided more than $1.9 billion in capital to more than 33,000 small business owners. Earlier this year, the Company announced partnerships with Western Independent Bankers (WIB) and the National Directory of Registered Tax Return Preparers & Professionals (PTIN). These partnerships are providing hundreds of thousands of small business owners across the country with access to financing through the Bizfi platform in addition to the ability to visit Bizfi.com, the Company’s lending marketplace.
About Bizfi
Bizfi is the premier fintech company combining aggregation, funding and a participation marketplace on a single platform for small businesses. Founded in 2005, Bizfi and its family of companies have provided in excess of $1.9 billion in financing to more than 33,000 small businesses in a wide variety of industries across the United States.
Bizfi’s connected marketplace instantly provides multiple funding options and real-time pre-approvals to businesses from a wide variety of funding partners. Bizfi’s funding options include short-term financing, franchise financing, lines of credit, equipment financing, medical financing, invoice financing, medium-term loans and long-term loans guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The Bizfi API provides a turnkey white label or co-branded solution that easily allows strategic partners to access the Bizfi engine and present their clients with financial offers from Bizfi lenders all while maintaining their customer’s user experience. A process that once took hours, now takes minutes.
Media Contact:
Abbie Sheridan / Kenneth Cousins
KCSA Strategic Communications
asheridan@kcsa.com / kcousins@kcsa.com
212-896-1207 / 212-896-1254
Bizfi Sales:
855-462-4934
bizfisales@bizfi.com
Have Online Consumer Loans Served as a Replacement For Home Equity Loans?
October 22, 2016
At the late September Marketplace Lending and Investing Conference in New York City, loanDepot CEO Anthony Hsieh laid out his view on the state of the union.
“As a nonbank lender, you must be patient,” he preached. Hsieh knows something about patience. His company’s planned November 2015 IPO was cancelled due to adverse market conditions and six months later, the scandal at Lending Club sent just about all marketplace lenders reeling.
“I’m still trying to figure out what’s been going on over the last 6-9 months,” Hsieh joked in front of the audience. No rookie to lending, Hsieh said he has been in consumer lending for 32 years, before FICO scores were around, and as he viewed it, through five credit cycles.
“The mortgage industry is still very archaic,” he said. “It hasn’t found the digital age yet.” He explained that it can take weeks or months to do a cash-out depending on where a borrower lives because of the appraisal process. And since the Great Recession, those borrowers that used to tap into their home equity have been going somewhere else.
One thing they noticed was that the credit and financial profiles of their borrowers were nearly identical whether they took a home loan or a personal loan, meaning that it’s all the same borrower base.
Both borrowers had a 724 FICO on average.
Home loan borrowers had an average age of 49 versus an age of 51 for personal loan borrowers.
Home loan borrowers had an average income of $82,500 versus an average income of $82,300 for personal loan borrowers.
Home loan borrowers had an average 100% home ownership rate versus a 94% home ownership rate for personal loan borrowers. But here’s where it gets different. The average home loan amount is $274,000 while personal loan sizes average only $16,076. The average coupon percentage is 3.88% for home loans versus 13.87% for personal loans.
The motivations for borrowing are also similar. 92% of personal loan borrowers claim to be using the funds either for debt consolidation or home improvement. So until home equity returns as a major source of consumer cash, which Hsieh believes it will, consumers will continue to seek all types of alternatives.
One way they’ve been able to measure that demand is from the sheer volume of leads they acquire, in the range of 600,000 leads every month, a level that has surprised even Hsieh. Not that they don’t work to generate those prospects considering they spend more than $150 million a month in marketing.
Conversions, he noted however, have been quite low for many lenders because so many are monoline. But even so, “today’s cycle is fundamentally different from the previous 4 cycles,” Hsieh agued, citing that people working in the industry this time around are genuinely smarter. And despite the fact that loanDepot operates in the era of the CFPB, a judge, jury and executioner-style government agency, Hsieh remains optimistic. “I respect the CFPB,” he said. “I think they’re a great agency.”
All data and quotes were sourced from Anthony Hsieh’s presentation at the Marketplace Lending & Investing Conference in New York City on September 27th. AltFinanceDaily did not interview him personally.
With Cybersecurity Rule Looming, It’s About To Get Way More Expensive To Be A Traditional Lender In New York State
October 18, 2016
Coming soon to New York, any company required to operate under a license, registration, charter, certificate, permit, accreditation or similar authorization under the banking law, the insurance law or the financial services law, will need to implement a cybersecurity program.
“Senior management must take this issue seriously and be responsible for the organization’s cybersecurity program and file an annual certification confirming compliance with these regulations,” the NYDFS proposed rule states. That likely means hiring computer experts to comply. Actually, it definitely does because one of the requirements is to employ cybersecurity personnel sufficient to manage cybersecurity risks and to perform core cybersecurity functions. That includes training, monitoring, penetration testing, auditing, implementing multi-factor authentication, and encrypting non-public data, among other tasks.
Based on the language, MCA companies are likely exempt, as are companies that have fewer than 1,000 customers a year, are generating less than $5 million in revenue a year and have less than $10 million in assets.
In Leasing News, Barton, Klugman & Oetting attorney Tom McCurnin, argued the proposal will be a disaster for small banks with branch offices in New York.
The rule is slated to go into effect on January 1, 2017. And even if the rule doesn’t apply to you, it might be a good time to start bolstering your cybersecurity anyway, if for no other reason than to protect your customers and your company.
