Posted by Renaud Laplanche :: December 23, 2007 @ 7:15 am

In free markets, prices vary with supply and demand, and Lending Club is no exception. Until now, the Lending Club social lending community has enjoyed a near-perfect equilibrium of supply and demand, with funds available to lend slightly exceeding qualified loan applications.

The relaunch of our Facebook application and the addition of other online communities in early December, immediately followed by a National Launch with new loan applications flowing in from California, Texas, Illinois, Michigan and a few other states has increased demand (loan applications) faster than supply (lenders’ lending capital). As a result, we will increase our base rate tomorrow from 6.80% to 7.30%. This page will update to reflect the new rates: http://www.lendingclub.com/info/how-we-set-interest-rates.action.

As an example, a borrower with a 705 FICO score and a 20% DTI currently pays an interest rate of 12.17% for a $20,000 loan. Starting tomorrow, that same borrower would pay 12.67% for a new loan of the same size.

All Lending Club loans are fixed-rate, so the rate hike will only apply to new loan listings. The average return of all Lending Club lenders after 6 months now stands at 12.2% after fees and losses. Monday’s half-point rate hike will help lender returns while maintaining the high percentage of borrowers getting fully funded (currently at about 90%).

As we continue to collect more data and understand the platform’s behavior in different circumstances, the rate-setting mechanism will be established systematically based on real-time supply and demand.

We believe tomorrow’s rate hike is good for both lenders and borrowers: lenders will earn a better return and borrowers’ loan listings should get funded faster. The rate paid by Lending Club borrowers remains on average 25% lower than the average credit card rate, which stands at 15.24%.

Better rates and better returns. Together.