... but wait, we're not a bank!  I demand a new category to be created: Best Disruptive/Paradigm Shifting Web Concept. Yes?

On Monday night, Lending Club was awarded the top web honors in the Banking / Bill Paying category at the 15th Annual Webby Awards in New York City. Other nominees in this category were JPMorgan Chase, US Bank, Kashoo and Billeo.

The Webby Awards, hailed as the "Internet's highest honor" by The New York Times, are given annually to the best of the web in a variety of categories. Over 10,000 entries were received from 60 countries to gain recognition for websites, interactive advertising & media, online film and video, and mobile & apps. This is the second time Lending Club has been awarded a Webby, originally receiving the award in 2008. This year Lending Club joins big-name winners including Groupon, Mint, Zillow, Pandora, National Geographic, Angry Birds and Dropbox and celebrity sites from Conan O’Brien, Zach Galifianakis and Snoop Dogg.

The best moments of the ceremony award were when Antoine Dodson joined the Gregory Brothers to perform their viral hit live and when Peter Vesterbacka of Angry Birds accepted The Webby Award for Best Mobile Games - Handheld.

As customary, we were asked to deliver a 5-word acceptance speech when receiving the award.  Check it out:

CONTEST: Tell us your alternative 5-word Webby acceptance speech for Lending Club and WIN!

Oh, and to celebrate our win, we will be giving away 5 stainless steel laser-engraved Zippo money clips to the most creative alternative 5-word speech.  Think: "if I had to receive the webby award for Lending Club, what would my 5 words have been?".  Drop us a comment on our Facebook page to participate. Winners to be announced on Friday June 17 around 4pm on our Facebook page.

...in more ways than one.

We just marked our 4th anniversary, and as we continue setting monthly loan origination records ($17.5 million in April), quickly approach $300 million in total loans issued, and have paid over $22 million in interest to investors, we’ve decided it’s time to move on up, out of Silicon Valley and into the heart of San Francisco.

Our new office at 71 Stevenson puts us right where we belong—midway between Web superstar Twitter in SOMA and traditional banking giants like Goldman Sachs and Citigroup in the Financial District.  We’re excited about the move and hope you’ll come visit our new office soon:

71 Stevenson Street, Suite 300
San Francisco, CA 94105

PS. As I tweeted the news earlier today, one of our avid brand loyalist and expert investor @investorjunkie funnily referenced "The Jeffersons".  Good one, IJ.

A true measure of a company’s success is not only how big it becomes, but how efficiently and rapidly it grows while continuing to deliver value to its customers.

Lending Club passed the $200 million in personal loans mark in December of 2010 (December 30th to be exact), thus doubling the $100 million mark reached in March of the same year.  In other words, it only took 9 months to double the volume of loan originations reached after 34 months of operations.

In addition, with our investors working together, a new record was set in monthly originations with $14.8 million in issued loans in January 2011 alone, doubling the $7.39 million from January 2010.

The next few weeks will prove to bring forth another milestone, when more than half a billion in personal loans should have been issued through Lending Club and Prosper together.  As of this morning, real time statistics from both Lending Club and Prosper sites showed $223,807,850 and $219,490,725 in funded loans respectively. Check out other Lending Club real time statistics here.

Who has benefited from this success? Our customers. They are regular Americans seeking alternatives for their borrowing and investing needs, and our simple, transparent platform has proven to be a winning proposition for all.

Creditworthy borrowers seeking personal loans can obtain low-rate, fixed-term loans often at rates lower than those offered by traditional banking and credit card institutions for similarly situated borrowers, while investors have consistently gotten access to an investment opportunity that has delivered a platform net annualized return of over 9.5% *.

Need more proof? Since 2007, investors on Lending Club’s platform have received nearly $17.5 million in interest**  and borrowers have saved as much as $5 million in annual interest***  on the more than 22,500 loans issued.

No doubt 2010 was a great year for Lending Club and its customers, and 2011 has already started with a bang.  We look forward with unrestrained optimism for an even better 2011.

@RobGarciaSJ

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* NAR calculated as of January 18, 2011, and is based on the return of the entire platform since inception, your returns may vary.  Currently only residents of the following states may invest in notes: CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, KY (accredited investors only), LA, ME, MN, MO, MS, MT, NH, NV, NY, RI, SC, SD, UT, VA, WA, WI, WV, or WY.

** Total interest paid to investors calculated as of February 16, 2011.

*** Based on Lending Club two week average interest rate of 11.36% for 36 month loans as of February 10, 2011 vs. 13.67% for “all accounts assessed interest” as reported in the FRB G19 release of February 7, 2011 on all loans issued since inception to February 10 2001.

All loans issued by WebBank, a Utah industrial bank.

The holidays are here and let's face it, they are not all about cheer.  Not only are you probably overspending on gifts for friends, family, and colleagues, but you are also dreading the inevitable: getting gifts you don't want or need.

At Lending Club, we are determined to make these holidays more interesting by giving away thousands of dollars in Amazon.com Gift Cards*.  This way, you can treat yourself to the gift you really want.

During the month of December, you can earn one of these cards.  But hurry, time is running out.

Now through December 31, 2010, Lending Club is offering Amazon Gift Cards* to eligible investors. Gift card values range from $50 up to $3,000, based on amount transferred and invested.

Log in to learn more »

*Amazon.com is not a sponsor of this promotion. Amazon, Amazon.com, the Amazon.com logo, and the Amazon Gift Cards logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Amazon.com Gift Cards ("GCs") may be used only for purchases of eligible goods on Amazon.com or its affiliated website Endless.com. GCs cannot be redeemed for purchases of gift cards. Except as required by law, GCs cannot be reloaded, resold, transferred for value, redeemed for cash, or applied to any other account. See www.amazon.com/gc-legal for complete terms and conditions. GCs are issued and ©2010 by ACI Gift Cards, Inc., a Washington corporation.

To receive your gift card bonus, all funds must be (1) newly transferred between the date you enrolled in the program (but not earlier than December 1, 2010) and December 31, 2010, (2) continuously maintained in your Lending Club account and (3) fully invested on the Lending Club primary market by January 31, 2011. Existing account balances and transfers prior to your program enrollment date will not be counted towards satisfaction of the necessary load to earn this bonus. Your gift card bonus, if any, will be emailed to your email address on file within 5 business days of receiving your qualifying transfer. The transferred funds that qualify you for this bonus offering will be locked for investment purposes only and unavailable for withdrawal. You acknowledge and agree that Lending Club reserves the right to withdraw the full original value of the gift card delivered to you upon violation of any of these terms. If, upon any violation of these terms, your Lending Club account does not have sufficient funds to compensate Lending Club for the original value of the gift card provided to you, you authorize and direct Lending Club to remove from your Lending Club account any and all proceeds until such time as Lending Club has been repaid in full for the original value of the gift card. Transactions in the secondary market (the trading platform operated in by FolioFN) do not count as "investing funds" or towards unlocking the bonus. This bonus payment is taxable so please consult with your personal tax advisor. You are responsible for any taxes related to this offer. Void where otherwise prohibited. This program may be discontinued at any time without notice. This offer may not be combined with any other offer. Maximum bonus amount per tax id is $3,000.

We are thrilled to announce that residents of North Carolina can now apply for personal loans through LendingClub.com and borrow at lower rates.

North Carolina is home to more than 9 million Americans, the 9^th largest economy in the US with $395.1 billion in GDP in 2009, and a unique humid subtropical climate.

Arguably one of the most technologically advanced States in the country, North Carolina hosts Research Triangle Park (RTP), UNC Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University, 3 well known research and development hubs for Green Technology, Bio-Chemical Engineering, Medical Sciences, and Computer Engineering.

The Tar Heel State’s history includes the first successful powered flight by man when the Wright Brothers were able to lift their airplane 20 feet above a wind-swept beach in North Carolina for 12 seconds and a distance of 852 feet.

Food also peppers North Carolina’s history: Krispy Kreme Doughnut was founded in Winston-Salem, Pepsi was invented and first served in New Bern, and barbecue sauce tastes the best here.  Lexington is the Barbecue capital of the world, serving more than 11,000 pounds of barbecue goodness to more than 100,000 people during its annual festival.

Now I’m hungry…

If you’re a North Carolinian and you’ve never heard of Lending Club, let us tell you about how our service works:

• Lending Club offers unsecured personal loans of up to $25,000.
• You can use a Lending Club personal loan to do things like refinance or pay off debt, make major purchases, cover medical expenses or invest in a small business.
• Annual percentage rates (APRs) start at 6.78% [i] which is nearly half the average starting APR of 13.15% [ii] offered on credit cards to similar borrowers.

So whether you are a Panther, a Hurricane or a Tarheel, we may have a great rate on a personal loan for you.

As of October 27, 2010, your southern and northern neighbors have all been busy on Lending Club, with more than $14 million in personal loans issued to residents of North Carolina' neighboring States through LendingClub.com:

• In Virginia, over $6.3 million in personal loans have been issued through Lending Club.
• In South Carolina, over $1.8 million in personal loans have been issued through Lending Club.
• In Georgia, over $5.9 million in personal loans have been issued through Lending Club.

Over $172 million in personal loans have been issued to borrowers through the Lending Club platform for needs ranging from debt consolidation to special events. Thousands of Lending Club borrowers across the country have taken advantage of Lending Club's fixed-rate loans to pay down credit card debt, fund home improvements and green loans, plan their dream vacations and weddings, buy cars and boats, or re-invest in their businesses.

Want to learn more?  Check out how Lending Club works and how we can offer better rates on personal loans.

We believe our service is able to play a vital role in North Carolina by providing much needed capital to credit-worthy borrowers who want to pay down their credit card debt, purchase new fun toys like motorcycles, cars and boats, pay medical bills or expand their small business.

By opening our doors in Kansas last week, and in North Carolina this week, Lending Club loans are now available in 42 States.

Welcome North Carolinians!

@RobGarciaSJ

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