Marketplace lending

In comments to the Treasury Department, traditional financial institutions are calling for more oversight of an industry that is fast becoming a big competitive threat.

Former Citigroup Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit is part of a group of investors plowing $5.9 million in a new digital exchange aimed at making it easier for smaller investors to buy loans made to mid-sized companies.

Credible, a comparison shopping site for private student loans, announced that it has raised $10 million from a group of investors that includes some big names in marketplace lending.

Cloud Lending Solutions, a technology provider to marketplace lenders and other finance companies, announced that it has raised $8 million in venture funding.

The marketplace lender is paying $30 million in cash plus an undisclosed amount of stock. It plans to use BillGuard’s apps, which come with detailed information about their users’ financial habits, to attract new borrowers.

CommonBond has expanded its student loan refinancing program to more than 2,000 universities at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Money360, a marketplace lender that focuses on commercial real estate, has hired mortgage industry veteran Gary Bechtel as its president.

The profound disruption that has led to the rise of challengers like Apple, PayPal and Square can ultimately drive innovation across the financial services industry.

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Fundera, which runs a website where small-business owners can shop for loans, has raised $11.5 million in new equity funding.

Not only do rules imposed under the Dodd-Frank Act threaten regional banks' lending capabilities, they could actually wind up increasing risk to the financial system.

CircleBack Lending, a Boca Raton, Fla., marketplace lender, has completed a $17.4 million round of equity financing.

A small Internet-focused bank plans to offer Prosper Marketplace's personal loans directly to its own customers through the bank's website. Prosper could use it as a template for deals with other banks.

Brayden McCarthy and Jared Hecht of Fundera argue that the Small Business Borrowers' Bill of Rights, a self-regulatory document written by online small-business lenders, should serve as a template for future government regulation of the sector.

PeerIQ, which provides data to firms that invest in marketplace loans, has raised $2.5 million in early-stage financing.

Funding Circle has formed a partnership with H&R Block to provide loans to the tax preparation firm’s small-business customers.

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Arthur Levitt, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission from 1993 to 2001, will become an adviser to the marketplace lender Social Finance.

Orchard Platform, which provides services to institutional investors in the marketplace lending industry, has raised $30 million in additional funding.

Brayden McCarthy of Fundera contends that unfair practices are commonplace in the online lending industry, and that self-regulation is needed to protect small-business borrowers.