loanDepot Moves Beyond Mortgages Into Personal Loans

Emerging-Growth Lender Heads into Consumer Lending Leveraging Robust Consumer-Direct Marketing Engine, 8,000+ Daily Consumer Connections, Expertise in Originations to Servicing

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loanDepot, LLC

Sep 03, 2014, 06:00 ET

IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- loanDepot LLC, one of the fastest-growing nonbank lenders in the nation, today announced plans to begin offering personal loans in early 2015. The move marks the first milestone in the company's strategic plan to enter and redefine the consumer lending category as the premier national lender of choice.

Tim Li appointed general manager, consumer lending at loanDepot, one of the fastest growing nonbank lenders in the nation. loanDepot plans to begin offering personal loans in early 2015. (PRNewsFoto/loanDepot LLC)

loanDepot, one of the fastest growing nonbank lenders in the nation plans to begin offering personal loans in early 2015. (PRNewsFoto/loanDepot LLC)

"Today, fewer consumers are looking to national banks for loans, and there's no national nonbank consumer lender serving our nation's consumer's financing needs," said Anthony Hsieh, loanDepot chief executive officer and chairman. "loanDepot is uniquely positioned to expand into consumer lending, and personal loans will be our first offering in this growing category. Our lending technology, consumer-direct marketing platform that facilitates over 8,000 meaningful interactions every day, and the ease in which we can offer additional products to our current borrowers makes this move a natural extension of the loanDepot brand.

"While mortgage lending remains the heart of our business, our vision has always been to build a national consumer lending brand committed to delivering a full spectrum of loan products. It's an exciting era of change in the lending industry and loanDepot will be leading the way."

Similar to peer-to-peer lending, loanDepot will empower consumers to quickly apply for personal loans and make installment payments online. Borrowers will be notified of approval status within seconds, and fast fundings for approved borrowers are expected to occur within one business day. Loans will be fully amortized with funding levels up to $35,000. FICO scores on approved borrowers are expected to average at 700.

"Since our launch in 2010, loanDepot has aggressively grown market share and expanded origination channels in contracting market conditions. We're once again ready to drive growth. This time it will be through an expanded array of products that integrates us further into the financial lifecycles of borrowers who will soon turn to us for mortgage and consumer lending products."

As part of today's announcement, loanDepot also announces the appointment of Tim Li as General Manager, Consumer Lending.

"I'm excited about joining loanDepot because I believe the company is leading the industry in innovation and serving consumer needs," Li said. "Research shows our borrowers are interested in consumer loan products backed by loanDepot. I'm looking forward joining the company and building upon the success of the brand."

Li brings a wealth of experience in consumer and small business lending, mathematical engineering and credit risk analysis to the company. Prior to joining loanDepot, Li served as senior vice president, consumer insights at Think Finance, where he is credited with implementing the industry's first cross-bureau credit risk score, fraud solutions using social media, and implementation of big data analytics. Prior to that, Li served as vice president, risk director at JP Morgan Chase where he introduced identity authentication and emerging credit attributes. Li also served as a mathematical engineer for Intel, and more recently as chief risk officer for Quick Bridge Funding. He is also a former member of the Experian Fraud Advisory Board.

Li earned a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering from San Jose State University and a Master of Science in Operations Research Engineering from the University of Southern California. He is a winner of the Intel Supply Chain Excellence Award in 2005 and an accomplished conference speaker.

"Tim has an outstanding background in consumer and small business lending that will help us execute upon our mission of being consumer's lender of choice," said Hsieh. "We're very excited to welcome him to the loanDepot team."

ABOUT LOANDEPOT
Launched in 2010, loanDepot LLC, is one of the nation's fastest growing non-bank lenders in the country with Retail, Consumer Direct, Wholesale, Affinity and Servicing operations. loanDepot LLC operates under the brand names of loanDepot.com, imortgage and LDWholesale, and maintains dual corporate headquarters in Foothill Ranch, CA and Plano, TX. loanDepot LLC is licensed in all 50 states, generates loan production from four web centers, employs 2,800 people that includes 900 licensed mortgage bankers, and operates 80+ imortgage branch locations across the nation. loanDepot is an approved seller and servicer for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae. loanDepot.com, LLC, NMLS # 174457 Learn more at loanDepot.com.

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SOURCE loanDepot, LLC