LendingClub introduces mapping, top lenders list
In an email announcement that went out to active lenders last week, LendingClub previewed a couple of new upcoming features.
First, LendingClub will start mapping borrower and lender activity on a map by user zip code. For borrowers, loan amounts and interest rates will be displayed. For lenders, portfolio amounts (capped at $10k) will be displayed. LendingClub competitor Prosper once displayed borrower city and state on all listings, but removed the city name (unless the borrower opted to display it) after getting privacy complaints from borrowers. This also caused a huge uproar from lenders, who felt like critical information was being removed from listings. Hopefully LendingClub has plans for allowing borrowers and lenders to opt out of this potential exposure of address information.
Second, LendingClub will start displaying the top 3 lender portfolios at any given time. This will be a nice feature that gives new or existing lenders the ability to see what’s working well on LendingClub and what’s not. It’s curious that they aren’t planning to display more than 3 lender portfolios, though.
Here’s the full text of the email:
Dear Lender,
We are writing to let you know about two upcoming Lending Club features that will be of particular interest to lenders.
First, we plan to display a map on the website that will show member (i) zip codes, (ii) loan amounts and interest rates in the case of borrowers and (iii) total portfolio amounts (capped at $10,000) in the case of lenders.
Second, we are adding a portfolio ranking section that shows the returns and amounts of the top 3 performing portfolios at any given time.
In both cases, we will be displaying members’ screen names.
As part of our commitment to your privacy, we therefore want to make sure that all of our lenders are as anonymous as they would like to be. There are a few lenders who chose screen names that match or closely match their real names (e.g., “JohnQSmith”). If this is the case for you, we would like to give you the opportunity to change your screen name now, so that your privacy will be protected once we go live with these features.
If you would like to change your screen name, please respond to this email with your desired new screen name by Monday, September 10th. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding the new lender features, or if you need more information.
Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,
Patrick Gannon
Senior Vice President
Lending Club