SoFi Scores Moody’s Top Credit Rating

Although the online lending market has taken some hits this year, there’s one online lender who has secured a top approval from Moody’s.

Social Finance, commonly known as SoFi, has received a triple-A rating for its securitization bond deal. This is the highest credit rating from Moody’s for a startup online lender but is a common rating for traditional, established lending companies. The bond was a $380 million offering that was completed last week.

While this rating is particularly important for SoFi, it also comes at a time when online lenders in the consumer market are facing rougher times. The biggest lender to stir up controversy has, of course, been Lending Club, which has been facing a slew of issues.

Those issues began recently after its CEO resigned following a number of controversies that involved mishandling loans that were sold to an investment bank. Lending Club is also facing investigations from regulators as a result of the issues, which has pushed the company’s stock even further down. Prosper Marketplace has also been facing layoffs, as investors have been pulling back on buying loans.

Furthermore, the lending market has faced tough headwinds as more and more lenders have had to scale back their expansion plans and instead focus on seeking more funding first. That’s why, for companies like SoFi, this rating is so important, as it enables more investors to buy into the company as the risk is reduced.