"Chaomei will play a critical role in maintaining Lending Club's executional excellence at a large scale," said Renaud Laplanche, Lending Club's CEO. "Chaomei has developed a reputation for innovative thinking and intellectual rigor; she will fit right in with the team. We are very excited to have her on board."

Chen brings over 20 years' experience in the banking and financial services industry. She previously oversaw all risk management functions for the WaMu credit card portfolio at JP Morgan Chase. Prior to JP Morgan and WaMu, Chen was vice chairman and chief credit officer at Providian Financial Services, where she was instrumental in turning around Providian before its acquisition by Wamu. Her experience also includes executive positions with Fleet Credit Card Services and PNC National Bank, and management positions with Citicorp, American Express and Household Credit Services. During her career, Chen has overseen the business and credit risk within portfolios totaling more than $20 billion and has given direction to more than 2,500 staff members including Credit Risk Management, Business Risk Management, Collections, and Fraud Prevention.

"I see enormous potential in Lending Club as a leading player in consumer credit, and their innovative approach immediately sparked my interest," Chen said. "I am excited to join the team and to help the company scale while continuing to tightly manage risk."

Chen graduated with a BS degree in mathematics from Southwestern Jiaotong University in China and earned an MSE degree in mathematical science from The Johns Hopkins University.

Lending Club is transforming consumer lending by providing a platform that enables consumers to obtain fixed rate loans that are funded by investors. Since June 2007, the platform has generated net annualized returns over 9.5 percent, and borrowers have obtained loans at rates 20 to 30 percent below available marketplace alternatives.