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www.wbjournal.com February 2, 2015 • Worcester Business Journal 15 >> B A N K I N G & F I N A N C E Business Banking. For growth. MEMBER FDIC | MEMBER DIF | countrybank.com • 800.322.8233 A Powerful Presence in Central Massachusetts For advertising information contact: Mark Murray, Associate Publisher 508.755.8004 x227 m @wbjournal.com The Worcester Business Journal A Fact of Business Life in Central Mass! murray Lending Club What is it? Lending Club is a peer-to-peer lender that makes unsecured loans through the Internet based on credit score and other parameters using money from individual investors. How does it work for investors? Investors can spread their money across a number of different loans. How much business has it done? To date, the company has facilitated $6 billion in loans. Lending Club (NYSE: LC) launched an initial public offering of stock in December. It opened at $15 per share on Dec. 11 and climbed to a high of $27.90 on Dec. 17. But it has fallen back since; it opened trading on Jan. 29 at $19.25. is really a very, very small piece of what community banks would do," he said of single-time unsecured loans. McAuliffe does see a place for the unsecured loans offered by Lending Club. For example, he said the loans can serve people with a good credit score but a lack of banking history. "You might have the cash flow to be able to pay the loan back but it's for a purpose a traditional bank might not approve," McAuliffe said. Sanborn said Lending Club loans have been used for everything from weddings to moving costs. In the short term, the Lending Club model does not represent a true dis- ruption, said Alt, although similar lending models heavy on online auto- mation might prove to be a distur- bance to banks eventually. If nothing else, they could push traditional lend- ers to move even more services online, he said. "I think that parts of the model will lead to a more efficient market over time," Alt said. "My hunch is that it will lead to a catalyst to other changes. People will keep experi- menting and trying different things, and this may just be a waystation along the way." n 905 Hartford Turnpike, Shrewsbury, MA 01545 tel. 508.842.1213 • www.elevationee.com CUSTOM RENTAL GLOBAL GRAPHICS EVENTS PORTABLES