Marketplace lending

A centralized platform that validates loan and borrower data and tracks ownership of marketplace loans could prevent fraudulent activities and help investors regain confidence.

Blackmoon, a Russian financial technology startup that analyzes, screens and prices loans issued by others to sell on to investors, is opening a U.S. office to expand in the world's biggest market for non-bank lending.

Medallion Bank in New York has sold nearly $100 million in prime-credit consumer loans, largely consisted of home improvement and recreational vehicle installment loans, to an unnamed buyer.

While fintech companies are urging federal regulators to create a federal charter that would allow them to follow a single national standard instead of a myriad of state rules, such a benefit will almost certainly come with strings attached, including possible compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act.

American Express plans to debut an online loan platform for small-business clients this year, targeting territory occupied by startups like Square and On Deck Capital.

For the second time in six weeks, the online lender Avant is taking steps to reduce the size of its workforce.

Affirm's head of new markets, Brad Selby, says hidden fees and onerous compounding interest terms are trapping too many consumers in deep credit card debt.

Seven weeks into a crisis precipitated by the ouster of the company's longtime CEO, the embattled marketplace lender is trying to convince shareholders that it is turning a corner.

LendingClub Corp. named Scott Sanborn to replace its founder and chief executive officer, who resigned unexpectedly last month, and said it will dismiss 179 employees to cope with the decline in loan volume caused by the turmoil.

The court's decision to return Madden v. Midland Funding to a lower court leaves unresolved a number of important questions for marketplace lenders and other parts of the consumer-finance industry.