I just purchased several gift certificates for friends and family from Yard & Pool Company. This is an online store that rocks. They have real customer service which is, quite frankly, usually lacking from online stores. I'm not getting paid to say this. I like the store and want to help promote their business. They sell quite a variety of stuff. Here's a quick overview of what you can find there:
Obama and Biden will establish a five-star rating system so that every consumer knows the risk involved in every credit card. They also will establish a Credit Card Bill of Rights to stop credit card companies from exploiting consumers with unfair practices.
Obama and Biden will reform our bankruptcy laws to protect working people, ban executive bonuses for bankrupt companies, and require disclosure of all pension investments.
We have already issued more than $20,000,000 in loans at better rates than banks' and we are looking to spread the word of this great alternative.
We will reward publishers for every user they refer that fill out the loan application form, independent of the loan issuing or not.
Lending Club accepts only US-based credit worthy borrowers with 640+ FICO score and no current delinquencies.
Here are some answers you may be looking for before you advertise for us:
What will you pay for?
We will reward publishers for sending us qualified traffic:
$35 for first 10 applications/month
$40 for each additional loan application
What is your conversion rate?
Our current conversion rates are very high (upwards of 60%) if the user is looking for a loan and has good credit.
Do you have a dedicated affiliate manager?
Yes. We have asked CJ to manage the program initially, and in addition, we have a dedicated SEM resource on board.
What is your average order amount?
Typical order amount is between $80-$150(fees charged once a loan is issued). We don't charge a fee for application, and about 80% of the applications actually become loans.
Is your website attractive and easy to navigate?
Very much. We won the Webby award 2008 as best banking and payments site as well as a 2008 WebAward for Outstanding financial services site.
How does your commission structure compare with other advertisers in your category?
We feel we are very competitive and in most cases, we pay higher than other advertisers.
If a publisher consistently performs, will you increase their commission?
YES. We are willing to discuss better pay-offs based on performance, quality of borrowers and volume.
Based on my own experience with various referral programs I'm optimistic towards Lending Club's new referral program. With Prosper, hundreds of new members have joined Prosper after clicking on links from this site but very few have become borrowers or lenders. Prosper did not pay a referral bonus until the borrower made their first payment so, even if the borrower converted, it was still several months until a payment occurred.
"You probably know that Zopa’s US operation has a very different model to that in the UK and Italy in that it works in partnership with financial institutions (the credit unions) rather than being a pure peer to peer marketplace as it is here and in Italy.
So while our model is doing very well in current market conditions, the US has been adversely affected as the credit unions have pretty much stopped lending which rather limits the work that our US friends can do. This just couldn’t have been predicted when we launched int he US and is no way the fault of our partners. For us, a real shame is that we weren’t able to launch the original model over there for regulatory reasons.
So, sadly, our US colleagues have decided to withdraw from the US marketplace. This decision will have no impact on Zopa’s other activities in the UK, Italy and Asia.
Zopa’s UK operation has experienced significant volume increases in 2008 with huge growth in new members and increasing lender returns, while continuing to maintain excellent credit quality – currently less than 0.5% of loans are affected by any kind of late payment issue, with actual losses below 0.04%.
Zopa Italy has also achieved the highest growth of any European peer-to-peer operation since its launch in January, and has recently launched the first secondary market for any peer-to-peer operation.
Zopa’s US customers’ deposit accounts continue to be insured by the NCUA up to $250,000, and servicing of those accounts as well as the loans will be assumed by the credit unions within 90 days."
Zopa is closing shop less than a year after they opened their doors.
Well, I have more than $2,000 per month income and I've got more than a decade of credit history. What else could they want? I found some more requirements on this splash page:
Hmmm...no problems with any of these requirements. I sent a note to customer service requesting specific information about why I was declined. I received a vague response, "Since you do have a score above 640 it looks like the application was declined for one of the other reasons." I followed up with a phone call and was told the borrower requirements have changed within the last 30 days.
An email to their media contact was returned undelieverable.
Fearing identity theft or something worse, I logged in and pulled up my credit report. Only one surprise. There is a new item on my credit report - a credit inquiry today for a loan. The only inquiry on my credit report at all. Unlike Prosper and Lending Club, Zopa pulls a "hard" request when you inquire about a loan. I should have read all of the FAQ throughly before requesting a loan. Here's what Zopa has to say about their "hard" inquiry:
"We think it's best if you assume that there will be an impact to your credit score. That means you should only get a quote if you really would be interested in a Zopa Loan."
I would add - you should only request a quote if you have perfect credit and don't mind a hard inquiry on your credit score even if you decide not to obtain a loan through Zopa. Try one of the other p2p lending platforms (like Lending Club) which do not pull a hard inquiry.
King: Is this a good time to get into the market?
Orman: No. It's not a good time to get in with brand-new money. I would let these markets kind of wash themselves out....Are you kidding? These are the markets that you just sit on the sidelines and wait on the sidelines and stay away from them until everything works out.
"We have made the decision to discontinue accepting new lender registrations, and new bids from existing lenders, from residents of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Our decision to make this change was based on our ongoing discussions with regulators in Pennsylvania, which led us to believe the change was necessary to comply with their current interpretation of their state regulations.
We have notified existing lenders residing in Pennsylvania of this change via email and at the point of signing into their Prosper accounts. Existing lenders residing in Pennsylvania will continue with their existing lender agreements, have their existing loans serviced, and be able to transfer funds out of their Prosper account. However, they will not be able to place new bids on listings or transfer money into their Prosper accounts.
This change does not affect borrowers residing in Pennsylvania, who remain free to create loan listings on Prosper."
Lending Club has been nominated as one of the Top 100 Internet innovators in the U.S. by the Industry Standard in the 'Commerce' category. Others nominated include Mint, Zillow, Farecast and Wesabe. The winner will be decided by popular vote and announced at the end of October.
where he promotes Lending Club as one way to finance your dreams.