Prosper Marketplace Inc. said Wednesday that recent changes to its lending model have cut in half the time it takes to fund loans.
In December, the San Francisco peer-to-peer loan facilitator altered the way the interest rate is determined for loans made through its website.
Before, rates were set through an auction-style process with multiple investors bidding the rate they would be willing to accept in exchange for funding part of a loan. Today, Prosper sets the rates itself.
As a result, loans obtained through Prosper are funded within two days, whereas before they were funded between two and four days, Prosper said.
It also said that risk management changes it made about two years ago have led to higher rates of returns for investors.
"In the coming year Prosper will continue to look for ways to improve the experience and expand its offerings," Chris Larsen, Prosper's co-founder and chief executive, said in a press release.
