Marketplace lending in the United States: changing patterns in access to credit through innovation

The US economy has seen the rise of new forms of credit intermediation based on emerging technologies and business models designed to meet the needs of consumers and small businesses. These new forms of digitised lending and servicing, referred to as marketplace lending, have been driven by new entrants to financial services. This paper explores the types of firms in this industry, how the market has developed, and how it compares to US banking organisations. These new digitally enabled lenders have generated significant attention despite their relatively small market footprint today. In part, this attention is driven by a recognition that many of the underlying features of these new lending models, particularly the potential to sustainably expand access to credit through new credit models and approaches to the use of data, may have widespread application across the banking and financial ecosystem.