Ex-Santander Exec Joins MarketInvoice

Alternative lending firm MarketInvoice has welcomed a new executive from the traditional banking world.

Reports Monday (April 3) said Shaun Alexander will join MarketInvoice as head of risk. He joins the alternative lender from Santander U.K., where he served as head of risk for asset-based lending, reports said. He also oversaw credit risk management across the bank’s invoice and asset financing operations. Alexander had also previously served at Barclays.

Some reports are pointing to Alexander’s move to MarketInvoice as a new trend in the financial services space: Aalt lenders, once emerging as direct competitors to traditional banks, are now finding these banks a source of talent and know-how — especially in the areas of risk management, as more FinTechs collaborate with traditional peers.

But others may view Alexander’s move as a sign that even insiders in the traditional banking game are seeing the industry’s shortcomings.

“For too long, as I have witnessed firsthand, the status quo in risk management has gone unchallenged,” Alexander said, according to reports in The Financial Times. “Much more can be done with the available technology to drive and enhance the quality and speed of risk decisions for U.K. businesses.”

“As we grow, in handling the scale and volume of interest in the business, it is imperative that we have the resource to deliver on our customer promise whilst delivering the highest-quality risk tools,” said Ilya Kondrashov, COO and cofounder of MarketInvoice, in another statement.

Reports noted that MarketInvoice tapped Zopa founder Giles Andrews as its new chairman only weeks ago.

A separate analysis from Business Insider pointed to other alternative finance companies poaching professionals from the traditional finance space to give a boost to risk mitigation capabilities. For instance, in 2015 Funding Circle nabbed Chief Risk Officer Jerome Le Luel from Barclays, while RateSetter also tapped an executive from Lloyds as its own new chief risk officer last year.