Community banks join Lending Club platform

"Lending Club has demonstrated that it attracts creditworthy customers while efficiently pricing, underwriting and servicing loans," said Congressional Bank President Jeff Lipson. "We are pleased to partner with a proven leader."

"Lending Club brings a low cost operating model to consumer lending. Banks, on the other hand, have a low cost of funds and deep roots in local communities. Our alliance with Lending Club truly combines the best of both worlds to bring down the cost of credit for our customers. This is the future of bank lending," commented Titan Bank Director Jonathan Morris.

Lending Club uses technology to make the customer acquisition, underwriting and servicing process more efficient and to operate at lower costs than traditional branch-based banks.

"This is another step in our quest to make credit more affordable for consumers," said Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche. "The combination of our low operating cost and banks' low cost of funds helps create a significantly lower cost structure for providing personal loans, which enables consumers to either pay off or avoid expensive credit cards."

The Lending Club platform continues its significant growth with more than $1.9 billion in loans originated since inception including over $148 million in May 2013. By focusing on high-credit-quality borrowers, the Lending Club platform has generated 23 consecutive quarters of positive returns.

The company's wholly-owned subsidiary LC Advisors, a SEC Registered Investment Advisor, has launched several funds since 2011 and now has more than $492 million in assets under management*.