Home equity loans are back on the rise
/Lenders originated more than $100B in home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) in the first five months of 2022. This represents a 50% increase over the same period in 2021.
Read MoreLenders originated more than $100B in home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) in the first five months of 2022. This represents a 50% increase over the same period in 2021.
Read MoreThree Arrows Capital (3AC), a Singapore-based crypto hedge fund, filed for bankruptcy in July 2022. It owed more than $2.8B to creditors at the time it went bust, and is widely blamed for fueling the collapse of the crypto ecosystem.
Read MoreOn Friday, UBS announced that it had called off its acquisition of Wealthfront. UBS had been slated to purchase the robo-adviser for $1.4B.
Read MoreUS banks have closed 1,261 branches during the first six months of 2022. If closures continue at the same pace over the rest of the year, then this rate will represent a 15% decline compared to 2021.
Read MoreTexas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced a list of ten financial firms that are now banned from doing business with state entities in Texas. Hegar said those firms, which include BlackRock, Credit Suisse, UBS, and BNP Paribas, “boycott” the fossil fuel sector, which is illegal under a 2021 Texas state law.
Read MoreIn a new report, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said consumers may be vulnerable to payment and lending apps that monetize users’ behavioral and spending data. The Bureau said it is planning to draft regulations to protect consumers’ financial data rights.
Read MoreAfter interviewing the Episode Six founding team in 2020, The Financial Revolutionist sat down with CEO John Mitchell, revisiting Episode Six’s strategies and predictions for the future. Mitchell outlines the company’s steady course, shares the vision behind their business model, and hints at the future of hybridized, digital payments ecosystems.
Read MoreConsumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra said that Big Tech’s expansion into the BNPL space raises privacy and antitrust issues. To date, Apple is the only tech giant to launch a BNPL product, which is called Apple Pay Later.
Read MoreIn a letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra, Democratic lawmakers asked Chopra to clarify whether consumers who are defrauded into making a financial transfer on peer-to-peer (P2P) payment apps like Zelle are “errors” or “unauthorized electronic fund transfers.” This shift could make financial institutions liable for repaying consumers who have fallen victim to fraud on P2P platforms.
Read MoreIn an interview with The Financial Revolutionist, Ubiquity COO and Co-Founder Sagar Rajgopal describes the bidirectional benefits of outsourcing, provides examples of the insights customer-experience experts can offer fintechs, and outlines the future of outsourcing in the face of volatility.
Read MoreCryptocurrency trading firms Celsius and Voyager Digital crashed earlier this month, trapping clients' funds within their platforms. Voyager’s financials are unknown, but Celsius has $167M in cash on hand to repay over $4.7B in customer deposits.
Read MoreStarling, the UK-based challenger bank, withdrew its application for a European banking license four years after its initial application to the Irish Central Bank. The bank is now eyeing growth through its banking software subsidiary, Engine, and by expanding its lending initiatives.
Read MoreOn July 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law that bans the use of digital assets like NFTs and cryptocurrencies to pay for goods and services within the country. It is still legal to trade, buy, and sell those assets.
Read MoreThe European Union General Court ruled that Brussels has the authority to regulate the merger between US biotech groups Illumina and Grail. Grail has no commercial presence in Europe and its operations are primarily in the US.
Read MoreGoldman Sachs announced a $233M loan to Latin American e-commerce giant MercadoLibre. Similarly, Citigroup lent $375M to them last year.
Read MoreThe Financial Revolutionist is weekly newsletter and blog focused on the torrid pace of financial innovation. Today, thanks to the exponential rate of technological change, explosion in global trade and new regulations ushered in by the Great Financial Crisis, a new financial revolution is under way. In this battle, virtually every aspect of the greater financial services sector is subject to rigorous challenge. With the Financial Revolutionist, we are aspiring to create a boots-on-the-ground and highly opinionated assessment of important financial innovation developments in the past week.