Todd H. Baker

The alleged practices at the heart of Well Fargo's settlement were fueled by a short-term incentive system that is detached from broader goals.

Companies like Prosper have revolutionized the front end of the consumer lending experience, but they have not proven able to handle even minor financial bumps without running off the road.

The idea that restricted access to loans for poor-credit borrowers is unequivocally a bad thing is based on industry talking points that don't stand up to real-world scrutiny.

We should all understand now that pure gain-on-sale marketplace lending businesses, like LendingClub, are inherently unstable.

The hits that alternative lenders like OnDeck Capital are taking shouldn't be a surprise for an industry built on unsustainable business models.

A leading alternative lender has admitted that balance sheets and liquidity matter, and that it is a problem that such lenders need to keep growing lending volumes to prosper.

Disruption in credit scoring is healthy, but the new models touted by marketplace and other alternative lenders are still untested, especially about how loans will perform in a downturn.

Many emerging innovators want to incorporate digital advances into the incumbent financial services sphere, not necessarily leapfrog banks.