Alternative Finances

Lending Club Slapped With Shareholder Lawsuit
May 18, 2016

Lending Club’s troubles don’t appear to be going away anytime soon. The company was hit with a federal lawsuit from shareholders late on Monday (May 16) in San Francisco that claims that the online lender inflated its share price by not being transparent about the...

Alternative Finances
The Clock Is Ticking For Lending Club
May 17, 2016

Brutal. If one were forced to come up with a single-word description for the week that the remaining executive team at Lending Club has just lived through, we imagine “brutal” would be the winner. As of a week ago, the “highlights” of the Lending Club’s...

Alternative Finances
Green Dot Money Enters Online Lending Business
May 13, 2016

Green Dot said on Thursday (May 12) that it is launching Green Dot Money, which it has billed as an online marketplace that will match low- and moderate-income consumers with what it called “a curated set of lending partners” that specialize in those consumer segments. The firm...

Alternative Finances
A Brief History Of Lending Club
May 13, 2016

The recent history of Lending Club is well-known to, frankly, probably just about everyone at this point. Founder Renaud Laplanche pulled off the commerce curveball of the week with twin announcements: His tenure as Lending Club’s CEO is officially over. An official audit turned up some rather disturbing details...

Google Puts The Kibosh On Payday Loan Ads
May 12, 2016

Payday loans and the advertising of some lending products just got a lot less Google-friendly. Google announced that it has updated its AdWords policy to effectively ban advertisers from marketing a number of lending products starting July 13. This decision stems from the number of controversies surrounding...

Alternative Finances
Banks Push Pause On Lending Club Deals
May 11, 2016

The fallout from Lending Club’s admissions of improper loan sales earlier this week might come in the form of chilly reception for the firm’s investment and loan sales, The Wall Street Journal stated on Tuesday (May 10). Goldman Sachs and Jefferies LLC have gone cold...

Alternative Finances
Lending Club’s Bombshell And Alt-Lending Aftershocks
May 10, 2016

“What is even more exciting is the potential of where we are headed. I feel that our competitive advantage compared to traditional banks is really long lasting because, again, it is grounded in technology and cost, not something they can react to.” · Renaud Laplanche,...

Lending Club CEO Resigns
May 09, 2016

Renaud Laplanche, the CEO of Lending Club, has resigned following a board investigation regarding allegations of improper practices surrounding a loan sale with an investor. According to a news release on the subject, the investigation concerns whether Lending Club and some of its officers and/or directors have...

Alternative Finances
Facing Tougher Times, Prosper Marketplace Is Making Deep Staff Cuts
May 04, 2016

Big cuts are coming to Prosper Marketplace. According to Wall Street Journal reports, the online lender is shedding 28 percent of its staff and rearranging its executive team. The moves comes as the firm is working to account for declining loan volumes. The biggest individual...