Meta Financial Group in Sioux Falls, S.D., has struck a deal to provide personal loans to customers of Liberty Lending, an online lender based in New York.
The $5.2 billion-asset Meta said it expects to originate $500 million to $1 billion in personal loans during the three-year partnership. The program marks Meta’s first foray into the direct-to-consumer credit business.
In 2016 Meta bought Specialty Consumer Services, which now operates as a division of MetaBank. The division's underwriting model and loan management system serve as the platform for the new personal loan program, which will offer closed-end installment loans ranging from $3,500 to $45,000 with durations of 13 to 60 months.
“We are excited to partner with a respected and growing brand in online lending, and look forward to working together to deliver best in class loan products to consumers,” Brent Turner, Meta's head of consumer lending, said in a press release Thursday. “Leveraging the underwriting expertise and consumer credit experience of the SCS team provides us with great resources to accomplish our objectives in consumer credit.”
“The partnership will enable Liberty Lending to further deliver on its mission to customers by leveraging Meta’s wealth of resources and expertise,” said Bill Yialamas, the company's chief financial officer.
Meta agreed earlier this month to buy Crestmark Bancorp in Troy, Mich. Meta was interested in Crestmark’s national lending platform and opportunities to cross-sell its insurance premium finance products.
