Author Archives: Martin Baker

Banks Have Far To Go In Love-Hate FinTech Relationship – Plus Loan Latest

The mainstream of financial services has a love-hate relationship with those in alternative finance. It’s a familiar tale of the establishment seeking to assimilate the rebels and smooth off the rough edges. The early days of many FinTech companies saw a weird relationship with the banks, who simultaneously courted and envied their success -and attempted […]

Coinbase Offering Promises To Be FinTech Landmark – Plus Loan Latest

The biggest landmark event in the FinTech sector since the IPO of Lending Club over six years ago is upon us. It’s another IPO – the flotation of crypto exchange, Coinbase. The share debut will see an explosion of interest and publicity – and, we hope, understanding. Our friends at Crowdfundinsider run a piece that argues […]

SME Funding Platform Shuttered – Plus New Loan Offer Latest

A new snippet of news from the mainstream of financial-services sector reinforces a growing trend we’ve noticed. The mainstream is much better at buying FinTech operations than it is at setting up its own businesses in the sector. This story comes from our friends at AltFi: NatWest has closed Esme Loans, a standalone lending platform it launched […]

New Vehicle Seeks To Make FinTech Assets Investable For Individuals

The FinTech sector was originally a grass-roots movement. The people, led by geeks, were doing finance for themselves. We think here of the early days of Lending Club over a decade ago. This was a peer-to-peer lender doing what individuals wanted and small businesses needed. All long before the advent of investment banks and plans […]