Lending Club, who have been offering small business loans for more than 18 months, is now targeting small businesses in a different way through customers of Google AdWords, the extraordinarily popular advertising program. This is the second partnership announced since Lending Club and Google began working together.
According to the email below, which was originally posted on Search Engine Land, business owners can borrow up to $120,000 for one year with the funds being deposited into their AdWords account. The interest rate is fixed at 0% for the first six months and 9.9% thereafter. This apparently is a limited test between Google and Lending Club.
This is not the first time that Lending Club and Google have worked together after Google invested in Lending Club in 2013. Earlier this year we featured an article on the Google for Work Partners Program where we mentioned that the Google partnership could expand to Google AdWords clients. It appears this has now come to fruition and it opens a big opportunity for Lending Club.
The difference between these two partnerships is that the Google for Work Partners Program loans were funded directly by Google. With the AdWords loans, borrowers are simply being referred to Lending Club and it is not clear who the investors are behind these loans. It is likely that these loans are offered to specific institutional investors at Lending Club.
Earlier this year Google phased out their AdWords Business Credit Card leaving customers with little financing options. This partnership with Lending Club is a welcome change for AdWords customers who will now have an opportunity to scale their campaigns through these loans. Provided the trial is a success, it is possible that the Lending Club partnership will be the replacement for the AdWords Business Credit Card program. This move is a natural fit for Lending Club who is leading the way in this industry as far as partnerships are concerned.
Their SMB program is a disaster