Fintech's hype is wearing thin in these lean times
For consumers and small businesses, online lenders are attractive because they can offer cheaper financing options since they have low overheads. But many have still struggled to make a profit.
The years after the last global financial crisis proved to be the perfect era to launch a US online fintech lender. Traditional banks were left reeling from the subsequent deleveraging. Technological advances and proliferation of smartphones made start-up investments reasonable.
And a benign economic backdrop mitigated the risks of heavy initial loan losses.
