Lending Club continues to grow its newly-launched auto refinance product and is investing $5 to $10 million in its expansion, Chief Financial Officer Tom Casey said during the company’s fourth quarter earnings call yesterday.
Although originations and revenue from auto refinance were not specifically broken out in the report, Casey said originations are still “not meaningful in the grand scheme of things,” since launching the program in October. However, “the bigger driver is really the level of investment,” he added.
The program is currently in 26 states, and Lending Club has previously stated it plans to be operating nationwide by the end of the year. The next several months Lending Club will focus on streamlining the product before “beginning marketing in earnest,” Scott Sanborn, president and chief executive, said on the call.
The rollout will be gradual and measured, both geographically and across the credit spectrum, Todd Denbo, the company’s vice president of consumer lending, told AFN in November.
Early customer feedback has been positive, and refinancing is saving consumers an average of 2.5% off of their rate, or $1,200 in savings over the life of the loan, Sanborn added.
