Lending Club Passes the Quarter-Billion Dollar Mark in Personal Loan Originations

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Lending Club (http://www.lendingclub.com), the leading platform for investing in and obtaining personal loans, announced that it has passed $250 million in total loan originations. The platform continues to break monthly loan origination records with 1,556 loans totaling $17.5 million originated through LendingClub.com for April 2011(i).  Lending Club has also won the Webby Award for the best Banking/Bill Paying site, beating out big name institutions like US Bank and JPMorgan Chase.

"The inefficiencies of the traditional lending market have driven more and more people to the Lending Club platform," said Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche. "Borrowers and investors alike find the transparency, ease-of-use, great rates and returns an attractive alternative."

Lending Club connects investors with creditworthy borrowers, eliminating the cost and complexity of traditional bank lending to offer investors better returns and borrowers better rates. Since 2007, the platform has generated a 9.65 percent Net Annualized Return(ii) and investors on the platform have received more than $21 million in interest(iii).  Since inception, borrowers have saved approximately $5 million in interest on an annual basis(iv) on the more than 26,000 loans issued through the platform.

It was also announced today that Lending Club is the winner of the 15th Annual Webby Awards in the Banking/Bill Paying category. The Awards, hailed as the "Internet's highest honor" by The New York Times, are given annually to the best of the web in a variety of categories. Over 10,000 entries were received from 60 countries to gain recognition for websites, interactive advertising & media, online film and video, and mobile & apps. This is the second time Lending Club has been awarded a Webby, originally receiving the award in 2008. This year Lending Club joins big-name winners including Groupon, Mint, Zillow, Pandora, National Geographic, Angry Birds and Dropbox and celebrity sites from Conan O'Brien, Zach Galifianakis and Snoop Dogg. Winners will be honored at the 15th Annual Webby Awards on June 13, 2011 in New York City.

About Lending Club

Lending Club is the leading 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 is an award-winning concept that has been previously recognized in 2010 as the Best Investment website by WebAwards, one of the 20 "Breakthrough Ideas" by Harvard Business Review, 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 and 2011 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.

(i) All loans issued by WebBank, an FDIC insured Utah-chartered industrial bank.

(ii) NAR calculated as of May 3, 2011, and is based on the return of the entire platform since inception, your returns may vary. Currently only residents of the following states may invest in notes: CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, KY (accredited investors only), LA, ME, MN, MO, MS, MT, NH, NV, NY, RI, SC, SD, UT, VA, WA, WI, WV and WY.

(ii)Total interest paid to investors calculated as of April 29, 2011.

(iv) Based on the difference between total interest calculated on a 36 month amortization schedule at 10.34% (Lending Club's two week average interest rate for 36 month loans as of April 29, 2011) and 13.44% (rate based on "all accounts assessed interest" as reported in the FRB G19 release on April 7, 2011) of for all loans issued since inception to April 29, 2011.

SOURCE Lending Club