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.
There was a slew of negative news and predictions about the marketplace lending industry this week. Even though I am very positive about the future of this industry I always find it interesting to read the opposite point of view.
P2P Lending Is Dead from Huffington Post – Another writer claiming p2p lending is dead. For the record, I obviously believe it is far from dead, but it is evolving.
Interview with Maurizio Sella, CEO of Smartika Spa from P2P-Banking – Interview with the CEO of Smartika Spa, an Italian p2p lender.
What will P2P lending look like 5 years from now? from FT Alphaville – Another bearish article on the future of p2p lending. No one thinks we can survive a downturn.
Lending Club’s Loose-Door Policy from The Wall Street Journal – No new arguments here, but a very bearish outlook on Lending Club.
Alternative Lender SoFi Expands into Personal Loans from American Banker – Prime and super prime borrowers now have another option for an unsecured personal loan: SoFi.
George Soros’ Top New Holdings from GuruFocus – Billionaire investor George Soros now owns 4.5 million shares of Lending Club.
P2P lending platform Solvesting launches in Kenya from Disrupt Africa – Solvesting is helping underserved businesses in Kenya, launching soon for US investors.
Big Data in P2P Lending Don’t Be Misled Part 2 from P2P Lending Expert – Despite all the data Stu believes that the Lending Club and Prosper loans are still too new to make any definitive judgments.
Lending Club Secondary Market: Profitability of Trade and Recovery Rate with Loan Status at Listing from PeerCube – More great analysis of the Lending Club secondary market.
A$ at record lows, timing for International Expansion into Australia P2P is better than ever from OZ P2P Lending – Australia is looking more attractive than ever for international marketplace lending platforms.
Wagging the Dog: Technology and Marketplace Lending from Orchard – Technology has played a key role in growth of marketplace lending.
Assetz Offers Equity to the Crowd from AltFi – The Assetz Capital team are raising an equity funding round through Seedrs. They are already at £1.6 million in the first five days.
Millennials: A New Approach to Handling Money from Newsweek – Money quote: “Millennial small-business owners are five times more likely to receive funding from peer-to-peer lenders than Gen-Xers.”
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.
Does Lending Club ever sue? – A reader asks about the recovery process and whether Lending Club sues borrowers.
What are the best annual ROR that people achieve on Lending Club? – Discussion about calculating returns with Lending Club.
Earnings Surprises – Readers speculate on Lending Club’s earnings as their first earnings call as a public company approaches. (Tuesday, February 24th)
