Good news for lenders and bad news for borrowers. Lending Club has been swamped with new loan applications since they went national last week and eliminated state loan rate caps. This has created an imbalance between borrowers and lenders with more borrowers requesting funds than lending capital available. In order to adjust the equilibrium, Lending Club will increase their rates 0.5%. This will only apply to new loans initiated starting tomorrow. Currently about 90% of borrowers requesting a loan through Lending Club are funded. By increasing the loan rate, Lending Club hopes to keep the fully funded percentage high.
In addition, Lending Club recently announced a very nice bonus for lenders - 5% cash bonus if you lend $5,000 or more by February 3, 2008. This is on top of the $25 referral bonus if you sign up through a referral link.
