Lending Hub is a Sydney based private company that is building the first online peer to peer platform for Australians who want to borrow online and people with some spare cash who want to invest in the new asset class – online fixed income personal loans.The Australian banking industry has shown significant restructuring of its banking industry over the past five years with the trend being set initially by new entrants in the field of home mortgage broking then the rise of non-conforming loan providers and now peer to peer banking has reached Australia.
This dynamic activity has been led by the five large banks (Commonwealth, ANZ, National, Westpac and St George) that have aggressively competed for market share in the home loan market. However with the recent decline of the property boom in Australia the focus has now shifted to other sectors such as car financing and person loans for which there has been a much more limited product choice for consumers. Combine this opportunity with the strong dislike Australians have of dealing with banks and the significant number of potential borrowers who are unable to obtain loans through the larger banks (the large banks are highly risk averse) and it becomes obvious that Australia is an ideal market for a Social Lending platform that can cut out the banks.
Lending Hub is set to tap into the personal loans market in Australia with a targeted launch in early 2008 and will focus on delivering lower interest rates to borrowers across a broader spectrum of credit grade loan applicants. Ivan Mantelli, the founder and Managing Director of Lending Hub sees the opportunity as being about delivering a revolutionary alternative loan choice to borrowers in terms of - a new product, interaction with the Lending Hub community and ‘first in the market’ online loans provider. The Lending Hub team, led by Ivan Mantelli who has a background in new business start-ups, investment banking and business strategy, comprises a group of entrepreneurs who have a vision to build a truly social and useful site for Australians that can deliver Social Lending outside of the typical banking format.
