The world’s largest Peer-to-Peer lender, Lending Club, is teaming up with Google in order to provide their partners with small business loans. P2P lending is becoming more and more popular in the mainstream and this is the latest case to further establish that trend.
Google is one of Lending Club’s biggest investors and this move is sure to increase awareness of the peer-to-peer industry. This news comes just over a month after Lending Club announced their debut on the New York Stock Exchange in a move to raise funds.
More Effective than Traditional Banking
The method of P2P lending aims to utilise online platforms and digital technology in order to connect lenders with borrowers. This process is much easier and much more efficient than some methods provided by traditional banking, though not regulated in the same way so carrying more risk.
The peer-to-peer lender has expanded into new types of lending and secured partnerships with many different companies, including banks. This is in a bid to maintain business growth, as the group from San Francisco have extended $6.2bn worth of credit since its inception in 2006.
A Wise Move
As part of the pilot programme with Google, Lending Club will facilitate loans to their partners in a bid to help the technology group distribute the applications and services. Partners will include resellers, system integrators and consultants. What’s more, the founder and chief executive of Lending Club, Renaud Laplanche, has said he expects to see yet more partnerships developing with Google and other organisations in the future.This wise move will provide an opportunity for Lending Club to work with large organisations that wish to provide credit to their partners but can’t due to a lack of compliance or service capacity.
Many experts and statistical analysts have argued that this deal marks an evolution for Lending Club and P2P lending in general.
A Progressive Industry
Peer-to-Peer is growing rapidly in the UK at a rate of 200% a year, and has the support of the government, as P2P often funds business development and start-ups in Britain, promoting national economic growth.
Wellesley & Co. are the fastest growing P2P platform of 2014 and are pleased that the British public’s knowledge is expanding with the sector. Plans are in place for Wellesley to continue their exponential growth within the sector and have an exciting 2015 ahead of them.