Marketplace lending

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.

With the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency evaluating the possibility of a nationwide charter for certain fintech firms, state regulators are voicing concerns that a charter could cut into their authority.

Heather Cox is moving to USAA; female regulators are gaining prominence in the online lending conversation; and asset managers are still fighting sexism at work (but then again, who isn’t?).

Banks have found a novel way to fend off fintech’s plans to take them down: they are funding it. A new report shows corporate venture capital investors, such as those backed by banks, made up nearly a third of funding in the second quarter.

LoanDepot, a Foothill Ranch, Calif.-based company that offers mortgages, home equity loans and personal loans, has raised $150 million in term debt financing.

Avant, an online consumer lender based in Chicago, is shoring up its funding base with a pair of new transactions.

This year federal and state regulators have started to pay closer attention to the rapidly evolving online-lending sector — particularly online small-business lending. What follows is a look at eight key players in the debate over how to regulate this emerging industry.

Online alternative financing can be an efficient source of capital for small businesses, but it can also be predatory, especially to unaware and inexperienced borrowers.

A federal judge in California approved a $2.4 million settlement in a class- action lawsuit against Social Finance, a San Francisco-based online lender.

Small-business owners are struggling to understand the cost of loans sold by marketplace lenders. To remedy this, the industry must embrace a disclosure box that includes these five principles.