Marketplace lending

Square's practice of using its merchant transaction data for risk analysis may seem innovative, but other agile specialists — including Intuit — are finding ways to use new data streams to limit risk and deliver funds to borrowers.

A proposed class-action lawsuit against LendingClub threatens investors in bonds backed by its loans and similar debt even if the plaintiff loses, Moody's Investors Service said Thursday.

Prosper Marketplace's decision to eliminate 22% of its workforce is more evidence that the bloom is off the rose for a sector that had been enjoying astronomical growth.

The Treasury Department will release a white paper next week outlining "research and recommendations' related to marketplace lending as a capstone to its nearly yearlong inquiry into the fast-growing industry.

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

Prosper Marketplace Inc., one of the largest U.S. online lending platforms, is slashing its workforce 28 percent, joining rivals in signaling investors aren’t as eager to fund loans after years of rapid growth.

Some buyers are hanging in there, but as OnDeck Capital's disappointing first-quarter results show, investors who acquire and securitize marketplace loans are heading for hills. Among the reasons: fear of defaults, unfavorable pricing and shrinking loan yields.

OnDeck Capital reported a quarterly loss of $12.6 million as revenues fell short of expectations. At the same time, the New York firm sharply reduced its earnings projection for the rest of the year.

With consumers generally averse to risk, financial institutions have an opportunity to rethink what it means to make bets in line with their customers' well-being.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup said Wednesday it plans to use the investment to help grow its cloud-based factoring platform for small businesses and expand into new market segments.