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Banks Pushback Hard on CECL; FinTech Earnings Recap

By Vy Phan

November 11, 2018

Greetings, The Fed reiterated its plan to raise rates for a fourth time in December. The yield curve continues to flatten with the spread between 10 and 2-year treasury yields down to about one rate hike (~27 bps). Consumer credit grew by $10.9 Bn in September – well below expectations of $15 Bn. Revolving credit contracted by $312 Mn to $3.95 Tn outstanding, the third decline in the last 6 months. Any sustained drop in consumer credit could curtail growth in an economy where consumer spending accounts for nearly 70% of economic activity. We noted in our previous newsletter that credit card issuers have grown their loan books in Q3 and are seeing near record low charge-offs and delinquencies. JP Morgan is pulling back from subprime auto and credit card lending to avoid higher losses – and capital charges from CECL – when the credit cycle turns. Discover and Capital One are also proactively lowering credit limits for some customers for the same reason. In regulatory news, OCC Chief Otting expects to grant a FinTech charter to an online lender soon despite legal challenges from state banking regulators. Mr. Otting conveyed that many FinTech companies have decided to apply for the charter despite pending legal concerns. You can view our prior presentation on the OCC’s FinTech charter and watch the webinar replay. Banks Pushback on CECL The Banking Policy Institute set out its opposition to the implementation of CECL in a letter to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and FSOC. The Bank Policy Institute represents the nation’s largest banks and its members are responsible for originating 70% of loans. Source: PeerIQ, Bank Policy Institute. PeerIQ summarized CECL and how you can prepare in a prior newsletter. The Banking Policy Institute urges the Treasury to delay the impact of CECL to conduct further study. Banks signing the letter include virtually all of the nation’s largest originators of consumer credit risk. Reach out to learn how PeerIQ can help comply with CECL valuation and loss-forecast requirements. In this week’s newsletter we will analyze the earnings of FinTech lenders. Mixed FinTech Earnings We analyze the earnings of Enova (ENVA), GreenSky (GSKY), LendingClub (LC), OneMain (OMF) and OnDeck (ODK). All lenders delivered high-double digit revenue growth YoY. ENVA’s revenues grew 35% YoY, and GSKY’s revenue grew 29% YoY, albeit from a low base. Originations also grew by double digits YoY, with originations at GSKY growing by 33% YoY. Credit performance remains on a solid footing driven by low unemployment and a strong economic growth. Growth in loan losses reserves is consistent with loan growth. Delinquency rates at OneMain and at OnDeck are close to their post-crisis lows. Lenders have raised their borrowing rates, although well below the rate of Fed Rate increases leading to margin compression. In the last 12 months, LendingClub, for instance, has raised interest rates across the credit spectrum by between 49 bps and 114 bps, while the Fed has raised short-end rates by 100 bps. The flattening yield curve is raising the cost of borrowing on lenders’ credit facilities which are benchmarked to short-term interest rates. Overall, lenders and investors are experiencing margin compression. By contrast, large banks continue to issue deposits at ultra-low rates (< 6 bps for large money center banks) and have benefitted from rising rates. Source: PeerIQ, Bloomberg, Capital IQ. Change shows the value in % difference since Q3 2017. Stock price performance post earnings has been good in a relatively volatile market. Margin compression at GreenSky disappointed investors and the stock slid by over 35% after earnings. All other stocks gained post earnings with OnDeck up by nearly 33%. Enova Earnings GreenSky Earnings LendingClub Earnings Source: LendingClub OneMain Earnings OnDeck Earnings Investors can analyze the credit performance of FinTech lenders on PeerIQ’s platform. Reach out to learn more! PeerIQ Mentions: Industry Update: Lighter Fare: