November 20th, 2008 — , Uncategorized from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
We caught a brief talk from Jackie Flannery, CMO and Founder of Kiva.org last night at UofT. She was in town to speak at the Ontario Association of Food Banks annual fund raising gala, and Rotman School were able to get an hour of her time earlier in the evening.
With small deeds comes big change [...]
Continue reading → Jackie Flannery from Kiva was in Toronto last night
November 13th, 2008 — , economy from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Some notes from the first two keynotes are Startupempire in Toronto.
Don Dodge – nice reality check – down turn does not mean lack of opportunity – just means adjustment
- great time to start up a new company
- vitamin vs pain killer
- vitamins are nice to have
- pain killers are things that are [...]
November 10th, 2008 — , Canadian Banks, social lending from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Niall Ferguson [Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University and a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford, and the author of The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West.] offers analysis and conclusions on the world of financial services, and the historic lead up to the [...]
Related StoresContinue reading → The problem with mathematical finance – it ignores people
October 30th, 2008 — , social lending from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Here is a link to a recent thought-provoking article from VentureBeat journalist, Chris Morrison, entitled "Will "social capital" be the next big industry to emerge?"
His central example in the piece is the emerging field of "Microcredit" and specifically the work of Nobel Prize winning Mohamed Yunus. I especially like Morrison’s quote on this defining [...]
Continue reading → Will “social capital” be the next big industry to emerge?
October 28th, 2008 — , social lending from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
We were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to speak and provide a demo of our lending system a the SIT annual user conference in Markham yesterday. The audience comprised a broad group of banks, credit unions, and technology providers.
Patrick Lannigan who organised the event introduced us following an overview of their strategy.
Then on to [...]
Related StoresOctober 24th, 2008 — , Uncategorized from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
I wanted to highlight an upcoming conference in Toronto aimed at startups and entrepreneurs. Its been organised by the irrepressible David Crow, and Jevon McDonald who have put together a great speakers list, including:
Hugh Macleod
Don Dodge
Austin Hill
and many others
Click through for details, and if the purpose, timing and location works then its one to think [...]
Related StoresContinue reading → StartupEmpire conference | Nov 13th & 14th Toronto
October 23rd, 2008 — , Credit Cards, card debt, economy from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Good wake up piece here indicating the relative appetite for credit and in particular credit card and unsecured lines of credit in Canada vs the US. Not sure the numbers sound completely right, but the indication is that Canadians have relatively much more unsecured debt that Americans, and that might come as a surprise to [...]
Related StoresOctober 16th, 2008 — , CommunityLend, P2P Lending international, social lending from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
It’s been a strange month for the financial services industry as a whole and the burgeoning industry of Social Lending is no exception.
These last few weeks have seen a number of major announcements in the Social Lending space including the following:
- Zopa US announced that it has restructured its operation in the US in collaboration [...]
October 15th, 2008 — , P2P Lending international from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
The pace of registration with regulatory authorities for social lending companys in North America continues to heat up. Following fast on the heels of the LendingClub announcement, Prosper have sent an email to members with this note that they are no longer accepting lender registrations, pending regulatory approvals.
Lending Club Reopens to Lenders while Prosper Shuts [...]
Continue reading → Prosper enters a ‘quiet period’ while seeking regulatory approvals
October 14th, 2008 — , regulation, securities regulation, social lending from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Lending Club have come out of their quiet period with an astounding announcement for themselves and social lending.
Lendingclub blog
Today, we’re delighted to announce that we have completed this process and are now available to both borrowers and lenders. We believe that this SEC registration is a major step forward for the Lending Club community [...]
Continue reading → LendingClub announce registered broker dealer partnership
October 9th, 2008 — , P2P Lending, peer to peer lending, regulation, social lending from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
It is a little sad that we see Zopa US close shop apparently following the participating Credit Unions inability to adequately fund the loans. We had always known the US Zopa was an entirely different model, with the Credit Unions being the sole lenders, and then the credit crisis came along. Nonetheless we will miss [...]
Related StoresContinue reading → Not so good news, and some great news | Zopa
October 8th, 2008 — , Canadian Banks, economy from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
The Canadian banks choose to rebel against the Government of Canada direction to reduce interest rates. The Central Bank dropped rates by a half percentage point indicating concern about the economy and in an attempt to ease credit. However the Canadian Banks are choosing to keep 50% of the drop for themselves. Story at the [...]
Related StoresContinue reading → Unlike the US banks, Canadian banks hold back on dropping rates
October 6th, 2008 — , economy from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
While there is a general assessment that the US and European banking crisis will rub off on Canada, and provoke a recession, possible later in 2008, or early 2009, UBS acknowledge that Canada is in relatively good economic condition which will mollify the impact on the country.
Recession? You don’t say | Globe and Mail
“An important [...]
Continue reading → Canada is in good economic condition, which will help weather global storm
October 6th, 2008 — , Uncategorized from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
MoneyAisle is a unique service, only for the US at the moment. It allows retail savers to place their needs, and competing banks will bid for their business. Even if you are in Canada, you can try the demo out without registering.
Anyhow I was thrilled to be asked to give my 10c worth on [...]
October 5th, 2008 — , Canadian Banks, economy from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
The mainstream press do a good job of presenting quick quotes, and implying all kinds of dread and panic. Its worth looking beyond the headline and some facts at the differences between the US situation and Canada.
Future of Canada’s economy comes into question as TSX ends week of panic | Canadian Press
The theme of the [...]
Continue reading → Stock markets suggests US banking crisis does not appear to be mirrored in Canada
October 1st, 2008 — , Canadian Banks, online banking from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Confidence in financial institutions has been shaken, and the rules for regaining confidence are not clear. Part of the reason that the road ahead is unclear, is because the rules have changed. Its not uncommon for people to suggest that banks don’t ‘get it’, however in fairness to all concerned the new rules are not [...]
Related StoresSeptember 30th, 2008 — , Uncategorized from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Something that has been of concern since last year, is the run on effect of sub prime both internationally, and then into other credit products.
The Globe and Mail pick up on that theme with a piece on US Credit Cards.
“If history is any indicator, there should be an equivalent surge in credit-card charge-offs very soon,” [...]
Continue reading → US Credit Card debt under the microscope | Globe and Mail
September 22nd, 2008 — , Toronto Tech Week from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Toronto Tech Week was opened by Mayor David Miller this morning. There are events on all week, and its nice to see this happening. Toronto is the 3rd largest tech hub in North America, after San Francisco and New York.
PS … Note to Tech Week - tech conferences MUST have wifi. Maybe you can [...]
September 19th, 2008 — , collections from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Jim over at Netbanker picks up on a new theme amongst progressive Banks in the US, for collections.
Web-based Self-Service Debt Collection Makes the News | Netbanker
But last week’s WSJ article by personal finance writer Jane Kim featured a relatively positive spin on how banks are working harder to collect revolving credit debt.
She cited two [...]
Continue reading → Web-based Self-Service Debt Collection Makes the News | NetBanker
September 17th, 2008 — , Uncategorized from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Its a media frenzy outside the Lehman offices in NY …..
& London. Also above, employees take time out to appreciate Chair Richard Fuld and autograph his picture.
All in all a sad state affairs.
Technorati Tags: lehman_brotherrs
Continue reading → More on Lehmans employees and their last day ….
September 17th, 2008 — , CommunityLend, social lending from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
In reading this piece by Joseph Stiglitz at CNN, he speaks of the causes of the crisis in banking. In particular there is this little gem;
CNN: How to prevent the next Wall Street crisis
The new “innovations” simply hid the extent of systemic leverage and made the risks less transparent; it is these innovations that have [...]
Continue reading → Transparency and authenticity have been lacking in consumer credit
September 15th, 2008 — , Canadian Banks, economy from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Today will be a bloodbath on the markets, following Sunday when we saw the end of Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and a deepening crisis for AIG Insurance.
Wall Street shaken by Lehman failure, Merrill sale | Globe and Mail
NEW YORK — — Global markets plummeted on Monday after investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. [LEH-N] filed [...]
Continue reading → Banks, investment banks, and government - state of crisis
September 15th, 2008 — , Uncategorized from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Apologies for not updating after the outage last week. It was resolved later that day, when a kooky piece of hardware was identified as the culprit.
Related StoresSeptember 11th, 2008 — , 1 from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
We apologise that our site is having intermittent problems and we are working to resolve. Updates to follow.
September 7th, 2008 — , Canadian Banks, economy from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
This additional quote from Nixon of RBC pretty much answers the question in our last post.
Credit crunch fallout will cast a long shadow
“The days of cheap money are over,” said Gord Nixon, Royal Bank’s chief executive officer. If anyone would know, he would.
…
That means the banks’ own cost of money is likely to stay [...]
Continue reading → “The days of cheap money are over,” | RBC
September 7th, 2008 — , Canadian Banks, economy from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
This additional quote from Nixon of RBC pretty much answers the question in our last post.
Credit crunch fallout will cast a long shadow
“The days of cheap money are over,” said Gord Nixon, Royal Bank’s chief executive officer. If anyone would know, he would.
…
That means the banks’ own cost of money is likely to stay [...]
Continue reading → “The days of cheap money are over,” | RBC
September 7th, 2008 — , Canadian Banks from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Canada’s leading bankers speak here about the state of the worlds financial markets and the banks who operate them. The general theme is lack of stability and pricing of the markets. I think its safe to assume that consumers can read pricing problems to mean higher charges or interest rates for them.
World financial system in [...]
Continue reading → World financial system in state of dysfunction: RBC’s Nixon
September 7th, 2008 — , Canadian Banks from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Canada’s leading bankers speak here about the state of the worlds financial markets and the banks who operate them. The general theme is lack of stability and pricing of the markets. I think its safe to assume that consumers can read pricing problems to mean higher charges or interest rates for them.
World financial system in [...]
Continue reading → World financial system in state of dysfunction: RBC’s Nixon
August 31st, 2008 — , Canadian Banks from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Following up on our earlier post, here is the full summary of Bank results from the Globe and Mail.
Canadian banks’ decline benign next to U.S - Globe and Mail
Big Six report 21-per-cent drop in profits in past three days, but remain among highest-valued stocks in industry
Continue reading → “Canadian Banks’ decline benign next to US” | Globe
August 28th, 2008 — , CommunityLend, social lending from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
In their latest edition of Retail Banking Insider, Jane Cooper at Lafferty has a piece entitled ‘Credit Crunch a boon to social lending’. We are mentioned and quoted in the along with Zopa and Prosper.
The themes are:
banks have increased their pricing
banks have cut back lending
lenders [investors] are seeking alternative vehicles with better and predictable [...]
Continue reading → “Credit crunch a boon to social lending” | Lafferty Retail Banking Insider
August 28th, 2008 — , Red_Herring, Uncategorized from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
We are pleased that we have been selected as a finalist for the Top 50 Award that will be announced by Red Herring September 16th, 2008.
Red Herring Canada 2008
Red Herring Canada will host its first annual Top 50 Awards, celebrating the most innovative and promising companies in Canada. Adding to the success of our yearly [...]
Continue reading → CommunityLend is a finalist for Red Herring Top 50 Award
August 26th, 2008 — , Canadian Banks, economy from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Irrespective of the way that the capital markets react to this week’s earnings announcements from most of Canada’s largest banks, the core message from each of their announcements will be clear – banking in Canada continues to be a highly profitable business, this, despite the significant issues around sub-prime investment exposure and a worsening economy.
Looking [...]
August 4th, 2008 — , regulation from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
LendingClub has filed a revised S-1 with the SEC. This suggests progress, and will be as a result of comments on the original S-1. Comments from the SEC are not public until final approvals.
www.sec.gov
As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 1, 2008
UNITED STATES SECURITIES [...]
Continue reading → LendingClub file revised S-1; suggests progress being made
July 31st, 2008 — , Uncategorized from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
While there are all kinds of attempts to place a brave face on the Canadian economy, it seems certain that Canada is headed for slower economic times. Suggests it is probably a good time for consumers to review their own personal financial circumstances, and financial plan.
Toronto Star
Canada’s real gross domestic product – the broadest measure [...]
Continue reading → Canadian economy close to recession | Toronto Star
July 26th, 2008 — , P2P Lending international from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Statistics on Monetto, the social lending company that opened in Poland 4 months ago. [1 Zloty = 48c/ 0.24 Euros +/-]
P2P-Banking.com » Poland: Monetto has financed 1 million Zloty loans in 4 months
Monetto.pl, one of the three p2p lending services active in Poland has financed 1450 loans applications resulting in 440 loans totaling 1 [...]
Continue reading → Poland: Monetto has financed 1 million Zloty loans in 4 months
July 26th, 2008 — , P2P Lending international from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Interview with Doug Dolton, CEO of Zopa, the social lending company with offices in UK, US, Italy, and Japan. He has some interesting thoughts, and bullish views on the scale that social finance will achieve over time.
Social Networking Watch: Zopa, CEO Douglas H. Dolton - SNW Interview
What is your long term vision? Where [...]
Continue reading → Zopa, CEO Douglas H. Dolton - SNW Interview
July 25th, 2008 — , P2P Lending international, social lending from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Nice piece from Cindy on social lending, with background, some history, and current state of a few players around the world, including CommunityLend.
Innovation and Transformation Wings: Social Lending: A New Form of Disruptive Innovation in Financial Services
‘Peer-to-peer lending is a means by which borrowers and lenders may transact business without traditional intermediaries, such [...]
July 18th, 2008 — , economy, subprime from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Probably overdue efforts to bring credibility back to banking which has been tarnished by an ‘investment banking’ culture lately.
reportonbusiness.com: Be careful, and other new guidelines
Yet many of these proposed guidelines, outlined in a report Thursday by the Institute of International Finance, may strike investors as self-evident – a sign of just how far the banking [...]
Continue reading → Banks trying to impose their own improvements and stay ahead of new regulation
July 18th, 2008 — , new_zealand, social lending from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Another future social lender in consultation with regulators, this one in New Zealand. Nice to see they are taking the prudent route and getting regulation on their side first.
Divide and conquer
Most of our hold ups are to do with regulation and approval, but there have been some interesting side adventures along the way.…
About us:We’re [...]
Continue reading → Nexx | New Zealand social lending service
July 14th, 2008 — , Uncategorized, iphone spreed spreed:news from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Congratulations to our colleagues at Spreed:News on their official launch this morning. I watched a demo on Dave’s iphone this morning, and it is very impressive. Check it out here.
Spreed:News Mobile
I am very proud to announce to launch of Spreed:News today. Spreed:News is a mobile application that gives users a better reading [...]
Continue reading → Congratulations to Spreed:News on their iphone launch today
July 11th, 2008 — , Uncategorized, batman, batpod, iphone, tumbler from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Our man Duarte being interviewed beside the Tumbler, and the Batpod on Richmond St West this morning, This in preparation for the upcoming opening of The Dark Knight next Thursday.
Related StoresContinue reading → Who needs the iphone today! We have the batpod
July 10th, 2008 — , online banking from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Canadians continue to be leaders in all things internet, and are #1 in online banking usage in the world. Canadians are also first in frequency, averaging 10.5 visits in the month of April 2008. RBC is the most popular site, with TD running a close second.
The usage patterns of Canadians in their 40’s [...]
Continue reading → Canadians lead in usage of online banking | Comscore
July 5th, 2008 — , CommunityLend, social lending from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Fascinating study by Putnam based on research that predates internet, and the mere fact it talks of things such as the Elks club, Parent Teacher Associations, and organisations that are either quaint, or unknown to many nowadays, paints a picture of North American society that has changed dramatically in terms of how people interact. [...]
Related StoresJuly 5th, 2008 — , economy from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
The Canadian economy is reported by Ivey to be continuing with rapid expansion. What the article fails to note explicitly, is whether the level of expansion noted is inflationary.
reportonbusiness.com: Ivey index suggests economy still solid
The index is not adjusted for inflation or seasonal factors, and University of Western Ontario professor Michiel Leenders, [...]
July 5th, 2008 — , economy, interesting links from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Good review of the current investment climate and fundamentals in Canada, and relate to the similarities, yet major differences to the situation in 1974.
reportonbusiness.com: The danger zones of 2008
“The charts did not predict a major crash [in 1974],” recalls Mr. Tynkaluk, who has managed money for Leon Frazer & Associates in Toronto for more than [...]
Continue reading → “The charts did not predict a major crash” | comparison to 1974
June 24th, 2008 — , Credit Cards from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Interchange fees are an obscurity to most Canadians, but the impact on consumers is significent. Interchange is a hot political item in Australia and US and that war might be coming to Canada.
reportonbusiness.com: Credit card perks putting the squeeze on retailers
Banks take in an “interchange” fee, which is a percentage of the purchase, each [...]
Continue reading → Interchange and which it is the next new problem for consumer in Canada
June 24th, 2008 — , Credit Cards from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Even though this CNN piece is American the content is highly pertinent to Canadians too. The other items covered are noted below, and likely at least one is useful to you. Good advice.
Deadlines you can’t afford to miss - CNN.com
But when her credit card company changed its statement closing date, she found herself [...]
Continue reading → Dates and deadlines you do not want to miss | credit card statements
June 23rd, 2008 — , Blogroll from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
MoneyAisle Blog: A Glossary of Commonly Used Financial Terms (#1 in an Occasional Series)
tags: moneyaisle, clblog, financial glossary
Education is one of the primary objectives of this blog. Occasionally we will explore and explain commonly used, and often misunderstood, banking terms. We recommend two resources that help define financial terms: Investor Words and Morgan Stanley.
Lending [...]
Related StoresJune 21st, 2008 — , Blogroll from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
S1 Lending Club
Form S-1
Lending Club
tags: clblog, lending club, SEC, social lending
Form S-1
REGISTRATION
STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF
1933
LendingClub
Corporation
June 20th, 2008 — , Lending Club from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Lending Club in the US have officially filed with the SEC today. Filing is here. We are still analysing what the application means, and they are still under ‘quiet period’ pending approval.
News About Tech from all around the world » Lending Club Update: SEC Filing for $600 Million in Member Payment Dependent Notes
Below [...]
June 15th, 2008 — , Uncategorized from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
At the recent webby awards, Lending Club accepted with 5 unspoken words. Nicely done!
Lending Club Accepts 2008 Webby Award
Acceptance speech:
Continue reading → Best acceptance speech ever | Lending club
June 12th, 2008 — , CommunityLend from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
I was fortunate
enough to be interviewed by Lawrence at IBS, and the result was a case
study on CommunityLend.
International Banking Systems Journal
CommunityLend: A borrower and a lender be (registration required)
Founded
on the noblest principles of democracy, community, individual choice
and responsibility, social lending may have the potential to do what
Amazon has done to book selling. Lawrence Freeborn talks [...]
Continue reading → CommunityLend: A borrower and a lender be | International Banking Systems
June 12th, 2008 — , social lending, subprime from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
The Bank of Canada has just released its twice yearly assessment entitled the Financial System Review. The Globe and Mail reports on it here.
reportonbusiness.com: Consumers, banks to feel pinch [emphasis ours]
Canadian banks have generally remained solid throughout the past 10 months of turmoil, and are able to tap markets to finance their shortfalls. Plus, [...]
June 8th, 2008 — , P2P Lending international, Prosper, Zopa from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
A good update on p2p lending over at Bankrate.
Chris Larsen (Prosper) speaks about the current opportunity, in context of the US credit shifts.
Peer-to-peer lending grows in bad economy (Page 1 of 2)
“Home equity used to be the cash management tool for the credit-worthy borrower, and that has really, really dried up,” says Chris [...]
Continue reading → An update on p2p lending in US | Bankrate.com
June 8th, 2008 — , P2P Lending international from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Article at Bankrate, talks about p2p lending, in the context of the US credit problems, and how it can help both borrowers and investors.
Peer-to-peer lending grows in bad economy (Page 1 of 2)
The credit crunch has meant that many deserving consumers, who once qualified for home equity or personal loans, are being shunned by banks [...]
Continue reading → Peer-to-peer online lending grows in tight economy
June 6th, 2008 — , card debt from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Credit card debt turns into a never ending treadmill for many in Canada, and this piece at Citynews.ca summarises the scale of the issue well. Some who have the home equity, turn the debt into a mortgage, although, while that reduces the payments, that simply converts the debt into a 25 year loan.
The article [...]
Continue reading → About a quarter of Canadians carry $10,000 to $40,000 in credit card debt
June 4th, 2008 — , securities regulation, social lending from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
We were honoured to have the opportunity to answer some highly pertinent questions about social lending in Canada. We hope our answers are of some interest to those following the space in Canada, the role of regulation, and the evolution of this new and exciting business model.
Thicken My Wallet
This month I am pleased to [...]
Continue reading → Inside the World of Peer to Peer (p2p) Lending | thickenmywallet.com
May 21st, 2008 — , economy from Colin @ CommunityLend blog
Now that the credit crisis is being managed into some sense of order, we are now seeing introduction of concern for inflation. This reflects prices and is well documented in this piece in the Globe & Mail.
reportonbusiness.com: Consumer prices up more than expected in April
“While Canada is faring better than most other countries, it [...]