Marketplace lending

Austin Capital Bank, a $71.4 million-asset institution based in Texas, will originate loans for a new online consumer lending platform called Self Lender, the two companies announced.

Kabbage, the online small business lender, has announced a partnership to make loans to customers of United Parcel Service, the global delivery firm.

A Seattle-based company is trying to make it easier for individual investors in peer-to-peer loans to cash out early.

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While marketplace lenders like LendingClub and Prosper are at the cutting edge of innovation for now, banks may gain ground eventually. Either way, the competition greatly benefits the expanding pool of borrowers who will have greater access to credit.

The firm widely thought to be Wall Street's smartest is reportedly putting scads of money behind the hypothesis that technology and the use of data analytics will fundamentally reshape lending.

As marketplace lenders, robo-advisers and other startups nibble away at the profitable, customer-facing parts of banking, executives at last week's Digital Banking Summit discussed how banks can defend against "unbundling."

RealtyMogul.com in Los Angeles said it reached agreements for a total of $250 million in capital, which it will use to offer new products.

Moody's managing director Will Black notes that P-to-P firms are growing at a time when credit losses are low, and argues that the companies' loan-servicing operations will become more important over time.

A Federal Trade Commission crackdown on a failed Kickstarter campaign may presage closer government scrutiny of peer-to-peer lending.