Lending Club Partners With BancAlliance, a National Consortium of 200 Community Banks

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Lending Club (NYSE: LC), the world's largest online marketplace connecting borrowers and investors, today announced a new partnership with Alliance Partners, which manages the BancAlliance network, a national consortium of community banks. Through this partnership, members of BancAlliance will be able to offer access to co-branded personal loans to their customers through the Lending Club platform, as well as purchase certain of these consumer loans and others for their portfolios. This program is designed to give community banks and their customers access to the benefits of the Lending Club platform's low cost of operations paired with the banks' low cost of capital to help drive down the cost of credit for consumers.

Brian Graham, CEO of Alliance Partners, said, "We founded BancAlliance as a collaborative solution to empower community banks to compete, together, in attractive lending markets that are typically controlled by the biggest banks.  Community banks deliver extraordinary service and high customer satisfaction locally but often lack the economies of scale of the largest banks. This partnership with Lending Club is another way in which BancAlliance gives community banks the tools they need to serve their customers more fully, in this case by expanding their consumer loan offerings."

BancAlliance was founded in 2011 as a collaborative solution for community banks to enable them to access attractive lending markets that are typically dominated by larger banks. It comprises community banks in 39 states, ranging from $200 million to $10 billion in assets. In aggregate, BancAlliance would rank fourth in branch count among all U.S. banks and 14^th in assets. 

Renaud Laplanche, founder and CEO of Lending Club, said, "Community banks are the lifeblood of American communities. This program will help them level the playing field with national banks by offering affordable, consumer-friendly loans to their customers. We're excited to make Lending Club's low cost of operations available to community banks, for the greater benefit of their customers."

Mark Pitkin, President & CEO of BancAlliance member Sugar River Bank, commented, "By partnering with Lending Club through BancAlliance, our bank can offer access to a responsible product to our customers while at the same time acquiring assets with which we are very familiar and that offer higher returns than many alternatives.  As a former regulator, I also appreciate having access to the legal, regulatory, compliance and credit experts at BancAlliance that helped us vet the Lending Club program." 

All loans made by WebBank, a Utah-chartered Industrial Bank, Member FDIC.

About Lending Club
Lending Club's mission is to transform the banking system to make credit more affordable and investing more rewarding. The company's technology platform enables it to deliver innovative solutions to borrowers and investors. Lending Club has been prominently recognized as a leader for its growth and innovation, including being named one of Forbes' America's Most Promising Companies three years in a row, a CNBC Disruptor two years in a row, a 2012 World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, and one of The World's 10 Most Innovative Companies in Finance by Fast Company. Lending Club is based in San Francisco, California. More information is available at https://www.lendingclub.com. Currently only residents of the following states may invest in Lending Club notes: CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, KY (accredited investors), LA, MA, ME, MN, MS, MT, NH, NV, NY, RI, SD, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, or WY.

About BancAlliance
The BancAlliance network is a shared lending platform in service to its community bank members. Our mission is to enable our members, the banks that direct our activities, to prudently diversify into high-quality loans in a manner consistent with the highest commercial and regulatory standards – without changing the nature or mission of the traditional community bank. BancAlliance has member banks located in 39 states. Learn more at www.bancalliance.com.

About Alliance Partners
Alliance Partners is an asset management and advisory firm focused on helping regulated financial institutions and other investors optimize their asset strategies and build more profitable and more balanced loan and investment portfolios. Learn more at www.alliancepartners.com.

Some of the statements in this above are "forward-looking statements." The words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "project," "will," "would" and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. The Company may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Information in this press release is not an offer to sell securities or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.

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.

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SOURCE Lending Club

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