Peer-to-Peer Lending Marketplace Grows Loan Originations by 413% in One Year
SAN FRANCISCO – APRIL 3, 2014 – Prosper (www. Prosper.com), a leading peer-to-peer financing platform, today announced it has surpassed $1 billion in personal loans. Prosper has experienced tremendous growth over the past year, as more borrowers turn to the site for everything from debt consolidation to financing large purchases and projects such as small businesses, vacations and home improvements. To date, more than 93,000 people have taken a loan through Prosper, and more than 75,000 individual investors have invested money through the platform.
In March, Prosper reported $77.3 million in loan originations, its largest month ever. This is up 413% from March 2013, when Prosper reported $15 million in loans. Prosper did a total of $357 million loans in 2013, a 133% increase over 2012 and a 376% increase over 2011.
“We’ve seen an incredible spike this year in peer-to-peer lending and interest in the space, but there are still millions of Americans who don’t know how easy it is to get a loan through Prosper that can help them start a small business, refinance a high-interest credit card or fund a large purchase or project,” said Aaron Vermut, CEO, Prosper. “This awareness presents a huge opportunity for us in 2014. We’re on track to see even more unprecedented growth – both at Prosper and across the entire industry.”
In addition to record interest from individual and institutional lenders, a driving factor in the company’s growth has been the ease with which people can obtain a loan through Prosper compared to traditional methods of lending. Over 50% of the loans on the Prosper platform are funded within two days of the borrower starting the application process, and rates and loan options can be checked within a matter of seconds with no impact to a person’s credit score. Loans are competitively priced, and based on a person’s personal credit, rather than a generic rate across the board. They are also fixed-rate, fixed-term loans with no prepayment penalties. In addition, borrowers have the convenience of applying anytime day or night online, and receive their FICO score for free as part of the application process.
About Prosper
Prosper Funding LLC (“Prosper”) owns a leading peer-to-peer financing platform to invest and borrow money (the ” platform”). The Prosper platform connects people who want to invest money with people who want to borrow money. On the Prosper platform, borrowers list loan requests between $2,000 and $35,000, and individual and institutional lenders invest as little as $25 in each loan listing they select. Institutional investors can also elect to participate in the Whole Loan Program. Over the past six years, more than one billion dollars in personal loans have originated through the Prosper platform. The unsecured personal loans are used by Prosper borrowers for a variety of purposes including paying down high interest rate debt and helping with small business funding. Learn more at www.prosper.com. Prosper Marketplace, Inc. is the parent company of Prosper Funding LLC.