Person-to-person lending application becomes first collaborative financial
service to launch on a leading social network.
SAN FRANCISCO, May 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Lending Club
(http://www.lendingclub.com) announced today the launch of its
collaborative, person-to-person lending service on the Facebook Platform.
The service helps Facebook users borrow and lend money directly among each
other, bypass the banks, and get better rates. By working together,
Facebook users can borrow money more easily and at a better rate than they
would get from a bank, or invest in loans at higher rates than those served
by savings or money market accounts.
"Person-to-person lending helps both lenders and borrowers get better
rates," said Renaud Laplanche, Founder and CEO of Lending Club. "Banks
support an expensive branch network and incur high costs to collect
deposits from the public on one side and extend loans on the other side;
Lending Club provides a shortcut."
Using Lending Club, individual borrowers can apply for personal loans
of $1,000 to $25,000 that get funded by one or more individual lenders.
Lending Club handles user authentication, bank account verification, credit
checking, credit reporting, funds transfers and collections.
Lending Club's proprietary technology called LendingMatch(TM) helps
lenders identify loans based on pre-set criteria such as being Facebook
friends, or being in the same network, group or geography. LendingMatch(TM)
then presents lenders with a diversified loan portfolio (composed of ten to
thirty borrowers) reflecting these relationships as well as the lenders'
individual risk preferences.
"Person-to-person lending will gain broad adoption faster in an
environment where people feel connected to each other," said Laplanche.
"Facebook is the perfect launch platform, with 24 million active users who
communicate and share information through the social graph, or the network
of connections and relationships between people."
Facebook is the sixth-most trafficked website in the United States.
More than 50 percent of Facebook users return to the site each day.
"Facebook Platform creates an ecosystem for developers to build
applications that deeply integrate into Facebook and use its social graph,"
said Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO of Facebook. "By enabling developers
to make applications within Facebook, we're working together to create a
better utility for millions of people."
In addition to helping borrowers get better rates, Lending Club offers
a more responsible method of borrowing. Instead of giving unsuspecting
borrowers a revolving credit line with variable rates, Lending Club offers
stability by facilitating fixed rate installment loans with no hidden
charges or fees.
In an effort to protect its community and encourage responsible
borrowing, Lending Club is available only to borrowers with credit scores
at or above 640. Although Lending Club is exploring offerings for borrowers
with lower credit scores, the company does not participate in sub-prime
lending.
Lending Club generates revenue by collecting a one-time processing fee
of 0.75% to 2% of the loan amount from borrowers and a processing fee of 1%
of the installment amounts from lenders.
About Lending Club
Lending Club is an online lending community where people can borrow and
lend money, bypass banks and get better rates. By working together, members
can borrow money more easily and at a better rate than they would get from
a bank, or invest in a pool of loans at higher rates than those served by
savings accounts or CDs. A proprietary technology called LendingMatch(TM)
helps match lenders with borrowers using connections established through
social networks, associations and online communities, and build diversified
portfolios based on lender preferences. Lending Club is headquartered in
Sunnyvale, CA. More information is available at http://www.lendingclub.com.
|
