Posted by Lending Club :: January 1, 2008 @ 7:48 am

The end of each year gives us an opportunity to reflect on all of the events that have occurred over the past twelve months. For Lending Club, 2007 was a very good year.

The launch of Lending Club in May on Facebook was just the beginning. As a Facebook application, Lending Club facilitated its first $1 Million in loans in a mere 100 days. Loan originations then doubled each month to reach about $5 Million by the end of the year. By leveraging existing relationships in social networks and various online communities, lenders and borrowers were able to come together to establish mutually beneficial loans.

With the September expansion of Lending Club beyond Facebook, a new type of user emerged as well. People who were not familiar with online social networks could still harness the power of social lending. By using affiliations and LendingMatch™, borrowers and lenders were able to bypass banks and get better rates regardless of whether they were members of online communities.

Another milestone of 2007 was the coast-to-coast availability of Lending Club beginning in December. With the addition of California, Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Nevada, and the rest of Texas and Ohio, all Americans could join the person-to-person lending revolution.

As Lending Club grew, so too did the breadth of subjects covered on this blog. In addition to educating visitors on how to sign up, browse, and apply for loans, we have covered many other topics to achieve our goal of providing a substantial and meaningful resource. From identity protection and money management to debt reduction strategies and money influences from pop culture, we have offered posts on a broad array of personal finance topics.

2007 was a good year for social lending in general, with mainstream press paying increasing attention with recent coverage in USA Today and Business Week and the financial press turning “bullish” on peer-to-peer lending and specifically Lending Club.

Whatever 2008 may bring, all indications are that Lending Club's success, as well as its beneficial influence on its users, will continue to grow in the coming year. For your personal contributions to that success and your devoted readership of this blog, we thank you for helping to make 2007 a very good year indeed!