Lending Club Bets on Auto Loan Refinance

Lending Club is after a new market now – the $40 billion auto loan refinancing market.

The marketplace lender is offering loans in the range of $5,000 – $50,000 with APRs ranging from 2.49 percent to 19.99 percent for terms up to 72 months. The product, initially available only in California, will be launched nationwide in 2017.

With the auto loan debt market hovering near $1 trillion, Lending Club is after the $40 billion refinance market. The lender said that consumers pay 200 bps higher while getting their car financed through car dealers and is confident that its refinancing product, priced 1% – 3% lower than competition may save consumers an average of $1,350 over the tenure of the loan.

It hired Todd Denbo, a former Wells Fargo executive with 17 years of experience in credit card and auto loans to head the project. The company is targeting borrowers with a FICO score of 640+, who have made a minimum of three on-time payments.