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Disruptive technology has radically changed how we shop, socialize, book vacation rentals — and even how we hail a cab. Now we have another Web-based disrupter upending yet one more venerable American institution: how we secure small-business loans. Over the past two to three years, online marketplace lending (OML) — also called alternative lending — has made dramatic changes in the landscape of financing businesses. Companies like OnDeck, Kabbage, Funding Circle, CanCapital, Lending Club and dozens of others have created what amounts to a $1 trillion market, according to a recent article on TechCrunch. This doesn’t mean that OML is going to send traditional banks the way of typewriter and buggy whip makers. Your neighborhood bank branch and small-business lender still do and will have an important function to perform. But strict regulation and rigid business models within the traditional lending industry have left major gaps when it comes to funding activity in the small-business marketplace. It is in these voids that creative and aggressive entrepreneurs are finding not only amazing business opportunities, but also an entire class of customer that until now has been grossly underserved. What is online marketplace lending all about? How does it work? Why is it so attractive? Who are the customers? And why now? The answers to all these questions lie in one of those serendipitous confluences of economic necessity, technological advancement and entrepreneurial creativity that creates a paradigm shift in what we believe is possible. The result is a new model for commercial financing that may soon become the primary medium many small to medium-size companies use to secure the capital they need to grow and prosper. Over the next eight weeks, Experian® will deep dive into the State of Online Marketplace Lending, examining the lending market from all sides, piecing it together with opinions from thought leaders throughout the space and publishing our findings in a compendium ebook. Let’s begin by tracing this trend to its source. The roots of online marketplace lending It is said that the Chinese character for disaster is the same as that for opportunity. If so, then it makes sense that the disastrous Great Recession of 2008 to 2010 should serve as the crucible from which the alternative lending industry should spring. When the economy crashed in 2008, the Western financial industry responded by replacing its overly lax lending requirements with regulations and lending standards so strict that many businesses, especially younger or smaller ones, found it all but impossible to secure financing under any conditions. Having been burned by their formerly liberal attitudes, banks and other traditional lenders decided the best way to minimize risk was to avoid lending to all but their most financially secure customers. (In other words, the only way to get a loan was to prove you didn’t need one.) Enter the online marketplace lenders. OMLs — particularly peer-to-peer lenders — began to appear a year or so before the market crashed. The rise of Facebook and similar social media platforms coupled with rapid advances in Big Data management allowed those with capital to quickly qualify potential customers via the Internet and issue short-term loans without the red tape and regulations that made borrowing from banks such a challenge. "Technology is what has made online lending possible, online lenders benefit from having a much lower cost basis than banks. As a result, they can price their loans differently. And they can often make their lending decisions on the same day they receive an application.” Laura DeSoto Senior V.P. Strategic Initiatives   Once the Great Recession hit in force, small and medium-size businesses, finding that traditional capital sources had dried up like Lake Shasta in the California drought, flocked to these aggressive start-ups en masse. OML marketing messages soon became ubiquitous, ranging from 30-second radio spots to robocalls to business owners’ cell phones. Web-based payment services like PayPal began to offer their own business capital lending programs. To the surprise of the cynics, many of the new lending platforms actually worked. Businesses were able to borrow the funds they needed. Lenders enjoyed solid returns on their investments. And consumers reaped the benefits of an economy offering a broader range of goods and services. Today, OML looks like it’s here to stay — which is not to say that banks have reason to panic. “It’s important to note that many online lenders actually get their funds from traditional banks,” DeSoto stated. “Some people call OMLs ‘shadow banks’ because they’re able to use banks’ funds in ways that are not subject to all the same federal regulations.” What makes online lending “alternative” It is not just the source of the loans that distinguishes alternative lending from traditional commercial banking. The method, speed, qualifications and form of the loans themselves are also distinctive. As the name implies, online lending is done via the Internet. Borrowers need not walk into a brick-and-mortar bank to fill out reams of mind-numbing paperwork. Instead, they need only fill out a usually brief online application and attach whatever documentation the lender requires. What kind of documentation? Often, alternative lenders don’t require the detailed financial statements and tax returns commercial banks demand. Instead, a month or two of retail receipts may be all that’s necessary. This is because many alternative loans are not the long-term, interest-based instruments to which we’re accustomed. Instead, many alternative lenders use “factoring” or revenue-based lending in which they take a small portion of each sale as repayment on the loan. Steady cash flow is more important than yearly sales volume or annual profits/losses. Another popular vehicle is so-called “peer-to-peer” lending that often involves small loans of $5,000 to $50,000 with terms of just one to five years. And now that online lending has become legitimate in the eyes of many, we’re seeing loans or “working capital advances” in the millions of dollars. Like the most sophisticated banks, many OMLs — even some of the smaller ones — have access to advanced algorithms that allow them to evaluate a potential borrower’s suitability based on readily available business credit data in addition to cash flow, and activity data. But because their systems are mostly or even totally automated, OMLs can prequalify applicants in a matter of hours, if not minutes. Following prequalification, additional documentation may still be necessary before a loan is approved. Of course, the larger the loan, the more documentation lenders require. Online lending reduces paperwork, but it doesn’t eliminate it altogether. “Some companies still rely partly on manual application reviews. Some even promote their ‘live’ customer service,” DeSoto noted. “Still, it probably won’t be long before most online lending is 100 percent automated.” Are you a candidate for online marketplace lending? The ideal candidate for today’s online marketplace lending is a small to medium-size retail or commercial B2B company with a steady cash flow and a need for small, quick cash infusions to buy new capital equipment, hire new personnel or otherwise expand operations. Restaurants, retail stores, and B2B service companies like office equipment suppliers and marketing/ad agencies fit this profile perfectly. Because cash flow is essential, most marketplace lenders are not interested in financing start-ups. These are still the purview of venture capitalists. Most online lenders also are not interested in manufacturing companies that make perhaps one or two large sales every couple of months. Expanding the market, not cannibalizing it DeSoto stressed that online lenders are not taking business away from traditional lenders but are serving customers who probably would not qualify for traditional business loans. As such, they’re expanding the market, not cannibalizing it. “Most small businesses that have been in business just one or two years wouldn’t even be on a commercial bank’s radar,” she noted. “These people would otherwise have to rely on friends, family or personal credit for funds. Online lending offers opportunities that simply did not previously exist.” The role of business credit information The role of business credit information — including any history of missed payments, delinquencies, pending judgments, bankruptcies and overextended lines of credit — is obviously critical to marketplace lenders’ ability to quickly and accurately assess risk and advance capital responsibly. “Experian, the industry leader in consumer and business credit reporting, is proud of the part we play in making marketplace financing available to thousands of businesses nationwide and of the good this new and growing industry sector is doing to expand the economy” Laura  DeSoto concluded. So in summary, a few key points about online marketplace lending: Online applications usually are fast and simple and require minimal documentation Technology allows lenders to prequalify borrowers in hours, sometimes minutes Loans can be as low as a few thousand dollars or as high as several million dollars Most lenders eschew traditional long-term interest rates in favor of cash flow or other short-term repayments Prime customers are small, younger retail or services businesses with high, consistent cash flow Online lending is expanding the market, creating opportunities where none existed previously In future articles, we will dive even deeper into the world of alternative and online lending, identifying the major players, looking closer at the risks and benefits, and predicting as best we can where the industry is headed. Next week, Charles H. Green from AdviceOnLoan will join us to examine how different yet similar online marketplace lending is to traditional lending.   Related articles Just how alternative are today’s online marketplace lenders? How online marketplace lenders are changing the rules of small-business finance Self-Regulatory Program for Nonbank Small Business Lenders Top regulatory priorities for commercial lenders Playing to Your Strength - Opportunities for Regional Banks to Build Better Lending Portfolios Game Changer - How Marketplace Platforms Are Bringing Financial Institutions Back to Small-Business Lending Marketplace Matchmakers - How Loan Aggregators Bring Borrowers and Lenders Together New Frontiers - What's Next For Marketplace Lending?  

Imagine for a moment a young parent who has been laid off from their job. After months of looking for work they still have not found a job. To make ends meet they start doing landscape work for neighbors in the area, eventually jump-starting a landscaping business to provide for their family. With some hard work, they start to build up a clientele in the local neighborhood. While they are starting to get back on their feet slowly, they realize at the current rate, the business will not completely meet the needs of their young family. If they could borrow just $3,000 to buy some more mowers and trimmers, however, they could hire two friends and double the size of the business. With that in mind, let’s assume that they have a mediocre credit score, their credit card has a credit limit of $1,000 and they are maxed out. Furthermore, they don’t own a home to borrow against, and the loan size they are seeking is too small for a bank to even consider. However, if they could get a $3,000 loan, they could expand their business, create two new jobs and better provide for their family. There are folks just like the person described above all across the country looking for help. But where do they turn? Alternative financing options provide an avenue for entrepreneurs and other small business owners looking for commercial funding, who are otherwise turned down from more traditional financial institutions, such as banks and credit unions. By leveraging business credit data from credit bureaus, such as Experian, as well as other data sources, alternative financers are able to make lending decisions and extend credit to this segment of small business owners, enabling them to finance their company’s growth, ultimately stimulating the economy. One example of an alternative financer using such data to help open opportunity for small businesses is Opportunity Fund, a non-profit micro lender in California. Otherwise known as Community Development Financial Institutions, these micro lenders aim to create economic opportunity for underprivileged businesses in the U.S. And the need for these alternative financial institutions in California is critical. Despite recent upticks in our economy nationwide, things are still very tough in the Golden State. New data released by the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) show many Californians are still struggling to gain a foothold in the economic recovery. CFED’s 2015 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard ranked California 50th among all states and the District of Columbia, for its large number (15.8 percent) of underemployed workers, 49th for both its home ownership and housing affordability rates, and dead last (51st) for high school degree attainment. Source: Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) Needless to say, there are a number of small business owners in California looking for financing to help grow their business. Organizations like Opportunity Fund help these business owners find affordable funding, and educate them on what they need to know about expanding. How alternative financers are helping? Opportunity Fund CEO, Eric Weaver & Rosa Funes A prime example of how alternative finance options are helping small businesses is the story of Paradise Flowers and Gifts. In Opportunity Fund’s most recent video, CEO Eric Weaver describes first meeting Rosa Funes, and how she described her longtime love of flowers. As a loan officer at the time, Eric described going to Rosa’s home and knocking on her door. She needed $500 to start a flower business. The amount was smaller than they had ever considered, but Eric was so moved by her story and her drive that he looked at her and said “Yes”, and told her “Rosa, you have a dream, don’t stop.” Alternative finance options, like Opportunity Fund are working hard every day to help small business owners and entrepreneurs gain the financial footing they need to succeed. After all, they are the backbone of our economy. The work that Opportunity Fund and other alternative financers have done will create a powerful ripple effect to drive economic opportunity across California, and the rest of the country. It’s the perfect example of how data can be used for the betterment of society and helps these smaller entrepreneurs grow.