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The ease of comparing rates online will make it hard for industry pioneers like Lending Club and OnDeck to keep generating high-margin loans, some observers believe.
October 26 -
OnDeck Capital, Lending Club, Funding Circle and Kabbage in the last week have all announced moves designed to boost their loan volumes.
October 21 -
The decision to leave Charles Schwab for a startup seemed crazy, especially since Carrie Dolan wasn't entirely sure, when a headhunter first called to recruit her for Lending Club, precisely what peer-to-peer lending was. But now her move looks like a good one.
September 22
Lending Club rebounded to profitability in the third quarter as revenue growth at the nation's largest marketplace lender outpaced an increase in operating expenses.
Quarterly operating revenue at the San Francisco firm was $115 million, a 104% increase from the same period a year earlier, thanks largely to a 92% rise in loan originations.
Meanwhile, operating expenses climbed by 81%. Net income was $1 million, up from a loss of $7.4 million in the third quarter of 2014.
Lending Club, which matches borrowers and investors through an online platform, had reported a $4.1 million loss in the second quarter. The company currently specializes in personal loans and small-business loans, but has been contemplating expansions into other asset classes.
While reporting its third-quarter results after the stock market closed on Thursday, Lending Club also raised its revenue guidance for the fourth quarter.
The revised guidance calls for operating revenue of $128 million to $130 million during the last three months of the year, up from the prior guidance of $122 million to $124 million.
Shares in Lending Club rose by 4.6% in after-hours trading. That more than compensated for a 2.7% decline in the stock price earlier in the day, amid reports that Santander Consumer USA had terminated a contract under which it could invest in Lending Club loans.
Back in 2013, Santander Consumer entered into an agreement that allowed it to buy up to 25% of Lending Club's total loan originations for three years, according to a research note by Mark Palmer, an analyst at BTIG Partners.
Palmer, who has a "buy" rating on Lending Club, downplayed the importance of Santander Consumer's decision to terminate the deal, arguing that other investors will fill the void.
"We have heard estimates from alternative lenders that demand for peer-to-peer loans has been outstripping supply by a margin of four-to-one," Palmer wrote.
