At a Glance: NMLS Consumer Access is a free website maintained by the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) that provides consumers with a single, centralized resource to help them verify the professional status of mortgage industry participants, including brokers, lenders, and loan originat…
At a Glance: Fintech startups must prioritize risk management, in addition to innovation and disruption. There are six key areas of risk management that founders should focus on: general risk management, business continuity planning, business resilience, institutional knowledge, consistent testing, …
At a Glance: Embedded finance is a current reality that involves integrating financial services into non-financial services to create new revenue streams and engage customers in innovative ways. It simplifies the process of offering fintech solutions to users and allows businesses to utilize APIs to…
At a Glance: Banking as a Service (BaaS) is a financial concept that allows non-financial companies to offer financial services to customers using a financial institution’s infrastructure via an API. BaaS simplifies the process of accessing financial products and offers businesses faster and m…
At a Glance: Fintech companies have transformed the business-to-business (B2B) payment space, providing more secure, efficient, and cost-effective digital payment options. Traditional B2B payment methods, such as checks, wire transfers, and credit cards, have their own set of disadvantages, includin…
At a Glance: NMLS State Certification requires startups to meet education and experience requirements. The former includes pre-licensing and continuing education, involving coursework covering federal/state mortgage industry regulations, and completion of a final exam. Experience requirements includ…
At a Glance: The surge in fintech has led to intense competition in the lending and credit market. To stand out, founders must be strategic and analytical in their loan approval and offer process. This write-up highlights eight key metrics, including Pull Through Rate, Decision to Close Time Cycle, …
At a Glance: After signing a debt deal, founders must understand how the deal will play out. The terms that affect the deal after it takes effect are structural and operational, legal obligations, and future growth clauses. Understanding the Waterfall, Bankruptcy Remote Entity, Servicer, reporting r…
At a Glance: Lending startups must adhere to relevant laws and regulations to build trust with customers and investors and avoid legal and financial consequences. These include data privacy, AML, consumer protection, usury, and securities laws. Obtaining and maintaining an NMLS state license is ofte…
At a Glance: Starting a lending business is complex, requiring a focus on five key functions: product, acquisition, underwriting, debt capital, and compliance. Founders must prioritize these functions correctly to scale successfully, ensuring they don’t harm customer trust. Initially, the prod…