Lending Club’s wildly successful initial public offering late last year, topping $1 billion, is largely credited for legitimizing the alternative finance market. But until now, Lending Club’s online peer-to-peer lending platform was only accessible to individual consumers.
Now, the company is making use of a partnership with Google, as well as Chinese eCommerce giant Alibaba, to explore small business lending. Reports late last week revealed that Lending Club will be working with businesses that sell Google applications aimed for business users, and will offer these companies up to $600,000 in credit.
Reports said that Google will be lending its own money to SMEs through the Lending Club platform to provide its sellers with greater access to financing.
The company has also inked an exclusive deal with Alibaba to allow businesses that procure goods and services from the site to also apply for credit through Lending Club, which will offer loans as much as $300,000. Reports said interest rates will be as low as 0.5 percent.
Lending Club first began exploring ways to work with the small business community as a way to introduce its streamlined application process and lender matchmaking algorithms – which have contributed to lower borrowing costs – to business borrowers. According to the platform’s Chief Executive Officer Renaud Laplanche, this automation of the lending process can be just as useful to SME loans.
Google and Lending Club first announced their partnership in January just days after Lending Club’s IPO. The companies introduced plans for small business lending when they revealed their collaboration. Less than a month later, Lending Club announced a deal with Alibaba to facilitate businesses in the U.S. looking to manage their working capital while doing business with Chinese suppliers.
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