Marketplace lending

Lending Club rebounded to profitability in the third quarter as revenue growth at the nation's largest marketplace lender outpaced an increase in operating expenses.

Antonio Weiss, a counselor to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, called Thursday for greater transparency in the pricing of online small-business loans.

"At some point there will probably be a government agency telling us to do this. So why not start now?" says MultiFunding CEO Ami Kassar.

Customers Bancorp in Wyomissing, Pa., is building an online borrowing experience for its small-business clients.

The ease of comparing rates online will make it hard for industry pioneers like Lending Club and OnDeck to keep generating high-margin loans, some observers believe.

Skills Fund, which has raised $11.5 million in seed capital, is one of several lenders targeting students hoping to boost their salaries by quickly learning how to write computer code.

OnDeck Capital, Lending Club, Funding Circle and Kabbage in the last week have all announced moves designed to boost their loan volumes.

Springleaf's proposed acquisition of Citi's OneMain Holdings is being delayed by the Justice Department, which appears focused on preserving competition at the local level — even as a raft of new subprime installment lenders are popping up on the Web.

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The pioneering online lender Kabbage has raised $135 million in new equity financing, with three large multinational banks among the lead investors, the company announced Wednesday.

Banks are being "unbundled" by challengers in numerous business lines, but they can recapture the relationship with the help of technology and the right mindset.

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OnDeck Capital has hired Gary Fearnall as its country manager for Canada.

The digital-age industry sells borrowers on its speed. But it remains captive to outdated technology that can delay the delivery of funds by several days.

After unveiling an online loan for subprime borrowers in July, ZestFinance announced Tuesday that it has raised $150 million in debt to finance the product’s growth.

Kabbage is one of many nonbank lenders looking to partner with traditional financial institutions. But the firm is facing a tough sell with bankers who worry about the risks associated with ceding control of the loan-underwriting process.

Consumer advocacy groups are urging regulators to take a closer look at how alternative lenders are using the stockpiles of personal information they collect.

While large banks are risk-averse, conformist and bureaucratic, marketplace lenders are inspiring the best and the brightest with their high-energy cultures.

Banks worldwide are in danger of losing significant profits in several lending areas to nonbank alternative lenders, according to a McKinsey study.

Avant, an online lending platform that focuses on borrowers with marred credit, announced an agreement Wednesday to raise $325 million in equity financing from blue-chip investors.