Lending Club: A Billion-Dollar Quarter

July 8, 2014
Charles Moldow

Lending Club hit an important benchmark today: in one quarter, they have processed a billion dollars in loans. To put this into perspective, it took seven years to hit their first $4 billion.

But what does it mean to process $5 billion in loans? It’s a good question, and one whose answer reflects the variety of uses that people have found for Lending Club. Nearly 6,500 small businesses looked to Lending Club to help them expand, buy equipment, renovate offices or storefronts, or purchase inventory. Over 2,300 couples found financial options for their weddings; 3,700 got help with medical expenses; and almost 32,000 found help for big ticket purchases. Perhaps tellingly, over 288,000 loans were facilitated to help refinance credit cards or a loan – and they are paying an estimated average of 29% lower than they were previously paying.

There is still a tremendous opportunity for growth, which is of course an exciting prospect for us here at Foundation Capital. The team at Lending Club has created a great infographic that shows these opportunities as well as takes a deeper look at the impact that Lending Club has had on how people look at marketplace lending. You can view that at their site here.

For more info on marketplace lending, check out “A Trillion Dollar Market By the People, For the People.”