Marketplace Lending News Roundup – April 4, 2015

During the week I share the latest marketplace lending news on Twitter as it happens. Then every Saturday I take the most interesting news items and blog posts from the past week and share them here.

RateSetter gets £20m investment from Finextra – In the UK RateSetter receives £20m equity investment from some big finance names.

Prosper Hits Escape Velocity: Record Loan Originations for March as P2P Lender Passes $3 Billion in Lending from Crowdfund Insider – Interesting interview with Ron Suber of Prosper on their recent dramatic growth.

What do rising rates mean for online lenders? from CNBC – Great perspective on the oft asked question: What happens when rates rise?

Exploring the Public Zopa Loan Book from Orchard – The folks at Orchard dig into UK p2p lending pioneer Zopa’s loan book.

Temasek Snaps Up Stake In UK’s Funding Circle from Sky News – Looks like Funding Circle is about to close a large new round of financing at more than a $1 billion valuation.

Reevaluating 2015 Fintech Trends – All About Marketplace Lending from Forex Magnates – Now even forex publications are writing in depth articles about marketplace lending.

Exclusive Interview: Lending Club CEO Plans Expansion Into Car Loans, Mortgages from Forbes – Interesting Q&A with Renaud Laplanche, CEO of Lending Club in Forbes.

Peer-to-peer lending is surging in the US, and it could hurt big banks from Business Insider – Is p2p lending going to ultimately help or hurt banks? The jury is still out.

Peer-to-Peer parties past talk of credit reckoning from Financial Times – A bearish view of our industry particularly when it comes to company valuations.

SoFi Passes $2 Billion in Loans Funded from Crowdfund Insider – SoFi is on a tear, passing $2 billion in total originations, $700 million coming in Q1.

Prosper Platform Surpasses $3 Billion in Loans, Closing Out Record First Quarter from the Prosper Blog – Meanwhile Prosper have now passed $3 billion in total originations. Letter from CEO, Aaron Vermut.

7 Problems that Keep P2P Lending a Niche Investment from LendingMemo – Simon tackles many of the reasons that people chose not to invest with Lending Club or Prosper.

Marketplace Lending: There’s Plenty of Room at the Inn from the LendIt blog – In the future there will be many successful marketplace lending platforms argues Gregg Schoenberg of Peerform.

The Inevitability of Regulation? from the LendIt blog – We need an industry group otherwise regulation is inevitable for online small business lenders argues Jim Salters, CEO of The Business Backer.

From the Lend Academy Forum

The Lend Academy forum is where investors go to discuss p2p lending. Below are some topics that were being discussed this week.

Opposite of tax-loss harvesting to improve tax efficiency of P2P? – Bryce asks about the potential of selling stock and immediately repurchasing it to offset p2p lending losses, thus aiding in tax treatment.

Rising interest rates and their effect on P2P lenders – A reader asks a common question for p2p investors: What happens when rates eventually rise?

Cease and Desist request in collection log – Discussion around what it means when the loan notes state “Borrower requested that Lending Club cease and desist all communications”.

  • Peter Renton

    Peter Renton is the chairman and co-founder of Fintech Nexus, the world’s largest digital media company focused on fintech. Peter has been writing about fintech since 2010 and he is the author and creator of the Fintech One-on-One Podcast, the first and longest-running fintech interview series.