Lending Club

Missing Screen from Lending Club Presentation at Finovate '08

Rob Garcia — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:59:10 +0000

Renaud presented at Finovate '08 in New York yesterday afternoon. The demo covered the new Lending Club, open to lenders and borrowers, and the Note Trading Platform operated by FOLIOfn, the first p2p secondary market. The demo was a blast – a big thank you to our friends at Banktastic.com for their reviews.

However, Renaud tells me there was a missing screen that he really, really wanted to show but did not have time. Here it is:

The new Loan Performance page contains information lenders might want to review to determine whether they want to buy or sell a Note.

Enjoy the new Lending Club, and feel free to send us your feedback, now that we're not so quiet any more.

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Lending Club Completes $600 Million SEC Registration and Offers New Alternative for Consumer Credit

Renaud Laplanche — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:00:40 +0000

We announced back in April that we were starting a registration process with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that required us to go into a quiet period. Thank you all for your feedback and support during that period.

Today, we’re delighted to announce that we have completed this process and are now available to both borrowers and lenders. We believe that this SEC registration is a major step forward for the Lending Club community and social lending in general, as it helps establish the space as a investment alternative to the traditional debt instruments and credit products offered by large financial institutions.

What does this registration mean for you, the lenders and borrowers?

Under the registered offering, Lending Club lenders will now invest in notes that correspond to portions of loans made to borrower members. The notes have stated interest rates ranging from 6.69 percent to 18.63 percent, after a 1 percent service charge is applied.
By partnering with FOLIOfn Investments, Inc., a registered broker dealer, Lending Club becomes the first social lending network where lenders have the option of a trading platform. On the trading platform, lenders who become customers of FOLIOfn will be able to put notes up for sale in the event they need liquidity before the completed term of a note.
We believe this will accelerate the mainstream adoption of social lending, which will help more borrowers get funded faster.

The current financial crisis is creating mounting consumer distrust of large financial institutions and causing people to demand an alternative that gives them more control over their personal finances and investments. Lending Club is leading the charge to deliver that alternative by providing a network where lenders can fund loans posted by borrowers.

The Lending Club community has continued to show exceptionally responsible borrowing behavior over the last 18 months, demonstrated by the fact that since May 2007 the default rate has remained lower than 2 percent.

At a time when the financial landscape makes our community even more useful to both lenders and borrowers, we are thrilled to be able to accept new lenders again.

The prospectus filed with the SEC is available here.

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Vacation Traveling: Saving Money on Lodging

André Nosalsky — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:27:43 +0000

Continuing our series on saving money while traveling, we will now look at ways you can save money on lodging. Lodging – which can be hotels, motels, hostels, camping facilities, apartments, or guesthouses – can be one of the biggest costs while traveling. This is a fixed cost that is hard to eliminate, because it is not a lot of fun spending nights under the stars.

The first question you should ask yourself is what are your standards for this trip? Do you have to stay at a four-star hotel no matter what the other details are? Do you have to stay within a certain area or can you move around? Once you have figured out your limiting factor, you can start doing your research.

Friends, relatives? If you have friends or relatives in the area and they are OK with you staying with them, by all means consider this option. Nothing beats free or almost free lodging and reconnecting with people you know and care about.
Guesthouses: Many travel destinations have people that put up a portion of their houses for travelers. This is a great way to immerse yourself in the local culture and at the same time save money, as the cost for this option is usually much lower than for hotels.
Hotels: When looking for hotels, make sure to check the top comparison sites, as the quoted rates can vary from one site to another. You should at least try Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia, Priceline and Hotwire. Also, search using the site name and “coupon,” such as: “Travelocity hotel coupon”. Many times you can save $50 or more by booking three nights or more at a hotel.
Package deals: There are many travel companies that put together custom travel packages. Because they have many people on a similar package, these companies are able to secure discounts from airlines and hotels.
Always ask for the AAA discount: This one sentence can save you 5 to 10%, as many hotels that are really busy are part of AAA but don’t have the signs indicating they are.

When looking for lodging, pick a place that will give you a good night’s rest. A vacation is not fun when you didn’t sleep the night before.

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