Lending Club?

[SoCalGardener]

I recently started receiving pre-approved offers from Lending Club, with amounts up to $50,000. My debt is a fraction of that, and any CC debt I currently have is on 0% offers. I have no idea why they're targeting me. I've never done business with them at all, but I just wonder in general, what are they like? Are they good? Bad? Somewhere in between? What would a loan from them do to a credit report--does it look bad or like a legitimate loan from a reputable place?

[RSX]

i like them - i dont like the loan fee they charge up front - but i always factor that into my calculations on whether i will save Interest, by adding that amount

they are reputable - but they will show as a Consumer Finance Loan - which some people don't like to have on their record

the targeting could be from CK - or any other credit check facility  - or could be random

[tcbofade]

DW and I both get ads from them three times a week...every once in a while they change the packaging so that I have to open it to see that it is just another Lending Club ad.

They're not awful... they are legitimate...and will legitimately charge you fees and higher interest rates for Personal Loans that you could get elsewhere with no fees and lower rates.

Meh.

It's my understanding that they are now a bank... ish.  No longer a peer to peer lender.

[SoCalGardener]

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@tcbofade wrote:

DW and I both get ads from them three times a week...every once in a while they change the packaging so that I have to open it to see that it is just another Lending Club ad.

They're not awful... they are legitimate...and will legitimately charge you fees and higher interest rates for Personal Loans that you could get elsewhere with no fees and lower rates.

Meh.

It's my understanding that they are now a bank... ish.  No longer a peer to peer lender.

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Thanks for the input. That last sentence piqued my interest--I have a very vague memory of something about that...but we're talking VAGUE memory! Can you explain what that was, how it worked? I mean, was it literally individuals lending money to other individuals?

[tcbofade]

Yes and no.  Every nickel went through Lending club.

Borrower A applies for a loan from Lending Club.

Lender B gets notified that Borrower A has qualifed and lender B could choose whether or not to fund the loan.  Lender C also notified and has the option of funding the loan.  Lender D also gets the option...

...the idea was that three or four different investors could come together to fund a loan.

All funds went through Lending Club, which charges a fee to the borrower AND to the lender(s).

[SoCalGardener]

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@tcbofade wrote:

Yes and no.  Every nickel went through Lending club.

Borrower A applies for a loan from Lending Club.

Lender B gets notified that Borrower A has qualifed and lender B could choose whether or not to fund the loan.  Lender C also notified and has the option of funding the loan.  Lender D also gets the option...

...the idea was that three or four different investors could come together to fund a loan.

All funds went through Lending Club, which charges a fee to the borrower AND to the lender(s).

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Ah, yes, now that sounds kind of familiar. I had forgotten all about it, really. Wow, talk about double-dipping! (LC getting fees from both parties.) So now they're a bank, more or less?

[tcbofade]

So I've been told.

DW actually got another mailer today... in the fine print it reads, "Loans are made by LendingClub Bank, N.A., Member FDIC ("LendingClub Bank"), a wholly owned subsidiary of LendingClub Corporation."

...later it says that, "Loans are subject to credit approval and sufficient investor commitment."

So maybe they're both?

Some combination?

Regardless, I know that they charge an origination fee and that their rates are mediocre.  PenFed, Discover, NFCU, and countless others have them beat.

[SoCalGardener]

You're way ahead of me--I've never actually bothered READING the fine print! I usually just shred them as soon as I see what they are.

What strikes me as funny is how it says you can save all this money by using their loan to pay off HIGH INTEREST credit cards. Um... I don't consider ZERO PERCENT to be high interest!

Well, I'm glad to see I'm not alone in getting a barrage of offers from them. I do wonder, though, why they think I'd want or need a $50,000 bill consolidation loan, when my total debt is a mere fraction of that amount--and, as I've said, on 0% offers.

[tussking]

I love them! They gave me a personal loan at 8.99% and I used it to pay for child's private school. In the middle of the pandemic they called me and offered to lock me in @ 5%. What a gift!