Through this partnership, members of BancAlliance will be able to offer access to co-branded personal loans to their customers through the Lending Club platform, as well as purchase certain of these consumer loans and others for their portfolios. This program is designed to give community banks and their customers access to the benefits of the Lending Club platform's low cost of operations paired with the banks' low cost of capital to help drive down the cost of credit for consumers.

Brian Graham, CEO of Alliance Partners, said, "We founded BancAlliance as a collaborative solution to empower community banks to compete, together, in attractive lending markets that are typically controlled by the biggest banks.  Community banks deliver extraordinary service and high customer satisfaction locally but often lack the economies of scale of the largest banks. This partnership with Lending Club is another way in which BancAlliance gives community banks the tools they need to serve their customers more fully, in this case by expanding their consumer loan offerings."

BancAlliance was founded in 2011 as a collaborative solution for community banks to enable them to access attractive lending markets that are typically dominated by larger banks. It comprises community banks in 39 states, ranging from $200 million to $10 billion in assets. In aggregate, BancAlliance would rank fourth in branch count among all U.S. banks and 14th in assets. 

Renaud Laplanche, founder and CEO of Lending Club, said, "Community banks are the lifeblood of American communities. This program will help them level the playing field with national banks by offering affordable, consumer-friendly loans to their customers. We're excited to make Lending Club's low cost of operations available to community banks, for the greater benefit of their customers."

Mark Pitkin, President & CEO of BancAlliance member Sump; CEO of BancAlliance member Sugar River Bank, commented, "By partnering with Lending Club through BancAlliance, our bank can offer access to a responsible product to our customers while at the same time acquiring assets with which we are very familiar and that offer higher returns than many alternatives.  As a former regulator, I also appreciate having access to the legal, regulatory, compliance and credit experts at BancAlliance that helped us vet the Lending Club program." 

All loans made by WebBank, a Utah-chartered Industrial Bank, Member FDIC.