Merger combines two online lending trade groups

Two trade groups that were formed last year to represent the nascent online small-business lending industry are merging.

The Innovative Lending Platform Association and the Coalition for Responsible Business Finance announced Monday that they are joining forces. The combined group will operate as the Innovative Lending Platform Association.

The Innovative Lending Platform Association was formed in May 2016 by OnDeck Capital, Kabbage and CAN Capital, which are among the largest U.S. online small-business lenders. Last fall, as the industry faced criticism over disclosures that some borrowers found hard to understand, the group unveiled a uniform set of pricing disclosures.

The Coalition for Responsible Business Finance had a similar agenda; the group had said that it was focused on educating policymakers and creating a code of ethics for the industry.

Its members included Breakout Capital, PayNet, Orion First Financial and a business-lending unit of Enova International. Those firms are now part of the Innovative Lending Platform Association.