Distributor to Invest Up to $2 Million in Personal Loans through Lending Club to Spur Sales

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Lending Club (http://www.lendingclub.com), the leading platform for investing in and obtaining personal loans, today announced that Pool Corporation (NASDAQ/GMS: POOL) will invest up to $2 million in personal loans through Lending Club during 2011 to spur pool and spa sales growth.

The decline in the housing market over the past few years has made home equity lines of credit difficult, if not impossible, to obtain, even for borrowers with excellent credit. Pool Corp's investment in low-interest, fixed-rate personal loans through Lending Club can help consumers finance home improvement projects they may have had to put on hold due to the credit crunch.

"Setting up an industry-specific financing arm is complex and generally reserved for large corporations who provide their own financing. Investing in personal loans through Lending Club is a uniquely transparent and easy way to provide financing and stimulate growth in specific industries," said Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche. "What Pool Corp is doing is a blueprint for other providers of home improvement goods and services who want to help creditworthy consumers obtain the loans they need to complete their projects. It's a clever application of our platform that can serve as a template for other industries, and we're excited to be at the forefront of innovation once again."

"We've seen firsthand how our customers, who are small pool, irrigation and landscape contractors and specialty pool retail stores, struggle due to the lack of consumer financing," said Mark Joslin, vice president and chief financial officer at Pool Corp. "We decided to take matters into our own hands and make a direct investment into the Lending Club platform to help our customers grow their businesses."  

Through Lending Club, creditworthy borrowers have access to unsecured, fixed-rate loans of up to $35,000. Borrowers seeking funding for big tasks, including home improvement projects like pools and spas, find low rates through Lending Club an attractive option. Rates range from 6.78 percent to 25.41 percent APR for creditworthy borrowers. Lending Club currently lists loans for applicants residing in 42 states, including all the largest swimming pool and irrigation markets.

About Lending Club

Lending Club is an online platform that enables the issuance of and investment in consumer loans.  Lending Club brings together investors and creditworthy borrowers -- eliminating the cost and complexity of traditional bank lending -- to offer borrowers better rates and investors better returns. Lending Club was recently recognized as one of the 20 "Breakthrough Ideas for 2009" by Harvard Business Review, has been nominated for "Top 100 Innovators" by The Industry Standard, is on the JMP Hot 100 list, and the Always On Global 250 Top Private Companies list. In addition Lending Club won the Webby Award in 2008 for the "Best Banking Website." Founded in 2006, Lending Club is headquartered in Redwood City, CA. More information is available at: http://www.lendingclub.com.

Additional information about Lending Club is available in the prospectus for Lending Club's notes, which can be obtained on Lending Club's website at https://www.lendingclub.com/info/prospectus.action

About Pool Corporation

Pool Corporation is the largest wholesale distributor of swimming pool and related backyard products. Currently, POOLCORP operates 291 sales centers in North America and Europe, through which it distributes more than 160,000 national brand and private label products to roughly 80,000 wholesale customers. For more information about POOLCORP, please visit www.poolcorp.com.

SOURCE Lending Club