How to Lend Money to Strangers

We all love how easy it is to change bank accounts these days... until it is our customers (and their planned-on deposits) who are moving. After all, we just sent them a pamphlet that very clearly invited them to apply for a loan at an APR of between 5% and 25% variable on term and risk and changes in the base rate, and subject to final credit checks, and late fees and penalties could apply in cer...

It's only thirty years since Lithuania's broke free from the Soviet Union, but already it's home a buzzing fintech scene: "Leapfrogging was probably the largest idea behind the Lithuanian success". Join me and Jekaterina Rojaka, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at Creditinfo Lietuva, as we explore the roots of that success. Creditinfo Lithuania can be found at https://lt.creditinfo.com/en/ or jump s...

"Trust matters more than ever, but in today's anonymous landscape, it is becoming rarer by the day. (At Bondafidee) we want to change that." I recently sat down with Sasha Marley for one of the most personal interviews I've done here, because fraud isn't just a numbers thing, it has very real human impacts. Bonafidee is at home online home at https://bonafidee.com/ (or jump straight to YourQNA at...

Nigeria is Africa's biggest economy. Or maybe not quite, economic variables can be hard to measure and somewhat fickle, but whatever way you slice this cake, it is in the top three with Egypt and South Africa. Fintech has played a growing role in that economy, but until now, almost none of the 'fin' that the 'tech' has been modernising was lending-related. "I knew that if Nigeria was going to grow...

Moishe Gubin is a workhorse, a mule. And now it's paying off: for him, for the banks he leads, and for the communities they serve. In today's episode we chat about work ethic and an old-fashioned path from the bottom to the top, we chat about what communities are, and we talk about bankers becoming a footnote in someone else's success story. Optimum Bank are at home at https://www.optimumbank.com/...

"Distressed property can always be repaired, not so distressed people. And so we focus on distressed properties. And that platform has worked very, very well for us: I've done a billion dollars of this, and I will tell you, I have never ever lent on a property that I was not able to fix." The modern mortgage model is designed to work at scale, so when a deal pops up that's a little outside the nor...

"If you help a bank to create lending IP, there's always a question around 'who now understands how it works' and 'who owns it'. And the lending IP, that is something that, as a fintech, as a bank, you should own yourself.  And that is why (instead of consulting) we decided to build software that helps internal risk teams and internal credit teams to create more lending IP, faster, and on the...

We've spoken about lending systems, we've spoken about lending models, and we've spoken about the nuance of diverse markets and even more diverse market niches, but in the end, there's one thing that ties every successful lending business together: people. In this episode, I welcome Northreach 's Robbie Blake about how fintechs can attract and grow the right talent, and about how the current marke...

One of the most exciting things about working in emerging markets is the opportunity to leap frog old systems - a tool that once had a cutting edge is now an anchor, and to be free of it a means to be nimble. Now, I’m not suggesting traditional data has reached the point of being an anchor, but markets rich with it have created fully developed ecosystems that may be stifling innovation on other al...

The Fifa World Cup is the biggest prize in football. So, about ten years ago now, the world's best men's team headed to Brazil with glory on their minds, but it wouldn't be easy: home to loud and loyal fans of the sport's most storied national team, winning in Brazil would take a monumental effort. In fact, many thought it would be impossible. Global lenders know the feeling. Home to half of the p...

Dr Joseph Breeden is an entrepreneur and a researcher. or perhaps I should describe him as an entrepreneur and a discoverer, so keen is his curiosity. And, with 30 years spent at the sharp point of credit analytics innovation, he is also a fantastic speaker on some of the most important topics of the day: machine learning, AI, and managing economic cycles among others. In fact, just yesterday, he...

Today is Ukraine’s National Day, so there's no better time than to support the people in their endeavours to survive and resist the Russian invasion: donate to World Kitchen at https://donate.wck.org/give/499865/#!/donation/checkout or to Save Life in UA at https://savelife.in.ua/en/donate-en/#donate-army-card-monthly “Launch any lending business in an hour.” Normally I write a bit of a blurb here...

It’s hard enough for consumers who earn precipitable salaries to manage unpredictable expenses, so imagine the situation for fast-growing e-commerce businesses that have unpredictable incomes and unpredictable expenses. To compensate for the perceived risk, big banks tend to take a very conservative view of repeatable earnings, hampering these businesses' ability to fund their growth. But what if...

"Profitability is paramount for the global lending industry in 2023. But for lenders to increase profitability under the new status quo, much of the industry must undergo change. To stay ahead of the game, lenders need to fully enable every level of their business to react quickly to market changes and proactively steer their risk selection." Taktile is using cutting edge data tech to allow busine...

Criminals keep changing the game. Which is annoying, don't they know our models depend on them re-enacting the past behaviours over and over and over again? Sygno have flipped the script by modelling the good behaviour of your customers... because they're not trying to outmanoeuvre you. Also, there are a lot more of them. Sygno's automated machine learning technology generates monitoring models fo...

This week sees a Dutch double-header on HTLMTS, with two episodes I recorded in Rotterdam while attending Money20/20. First up, a bonus episode that explores how Lendahand gathers capital from socially conscious European investors to empower loans to entrepreneurs in the developing world. 250+ investors are backing d.light, for example, who, with a next loan of EUR 120,000, will provide product fi...

We Finance Progress... when you visit www.m-kopa.com you're met with this brief but powerful message that, I think, captures the dual business and social impacts of their connected financing platform. In today's episode, I speak to Mayur Patel , Chief Commercial Officer at M-KOPA, about financing life-changing assets collateralized by the service those assets provide. And we talk about a lot more....

Today's episode stretches the lending niche, but fifty-four years ago, humanity landed on the moon, so I'm feeling flexible. And anyway, people lend to airport operators all the time, so it won't be too long until spaceports are seen as similarly stable fixed-cost operators. When I was younger, if a conversation involved a South African tech billionaire and space, you were talking about Mark Shutt...

"Living without a bank account is not only a hindrance to everyday life, but also stunts the financial growth of families and communities. Seymur Mammadov, Founder and CEO of Simbrella, wants to improve the quality of life for unbanked populations through access to financial instruments and microloans." I don't usually quote a different source for these, but when your guest wins the title of EY Wo...

When I lived in Hong Kong, which was not all that long ago, there were these rather complicated-looking ATMs around town, covered with instructions to help you correctly feed a passbook into them without the staples causing problems. I never actually saw a passbook in the flesh, but they were explained to me as a paper-based statement of record that you updated as needed, like an automated receipt...

“So eventually we raised capital, left our previous platforms, and built this place where the black community around the world could feel like they belong, where their dreams can be financed, from innovation to stories. If they create content, we'll help finance it, we’ll help them grow. And that's the platform that we built.” Chinedu Enekwe was a fine example of the American Dream: the son of Nig...

It's no secret that I am a fan of the BNPL concept while still being a little nervous about how it has been implemented. Some of the valuations have been built on sand, but that's not what I'm concerned about here, instead, I'm referring to independent lenders all chasing growth with no thought to see the combined impact of their independent activities. Luckily, there's a relatively easy fixe for...

Lendoe are a UK-based lender focused on supporting black, ethnic minority and early stage entrepreneurs. Their journey started when a few young adults raised £220,000 to save their church building from repossession, and, in so doing, discovered first-hand the lack of support offered to small businesses from underrepresented communities. I caught up with one-time entrepreneur, one-time investment b...

Recorded yesterday in front of live audience at Money2020 Europe, I welcome Craig Smith back to the show. Last time we spoke, all the way back in episode 9 , Craig was busy launching JustLend but a lot has happened since so we chat about that journey, about where JustLend are today, about communities, and also about a certain appearance on our TV screens. Anyone who caught Craig’s Dragon Den appea...

Recycling is a good thing, right? Well, in that case, let me recycle this from yesterday’s show notes. Most consumers borrow to manage expenses. It’s different for SMEs, though, who often borrow to drive income. As such, being denied credit is not just about having their lifestyle curtailed, it’s about having the business growth, and sometimes even their business survival, put at risk. “When iloan...