Marketplace lender SocietyOne believes 2016 will be a breakthrough year as it aims to push past $200m in lending.
According to the lender’s latest financial update, the first week of September saw it reach the $150m lending milestone, one year after it hit the $50m mark.
Jason Yetton, SocietyOne chief executive, said the achievement over the past 12 months indicates the personal loan market is becoming increasingly open.
“We are experiencing real momentum in both demand for personal loans from consumer borrowers and the amount of money that our investor funders are now willing to advance to support those customers,” Yetton said.
“Not surprisingly, it has taken us a while to get established but following some encouraging signs in growth last year, 2016 is turning out to be a break-through year where we have started to loosen the stranglehold of the big four banks and traditional lenders on the $20bn personal loans market,” he said.
The lender has also announced a significant increase in its funding available for lending, up to $75m after sitting at $20 million at 30 June.
“We have also reached a significant step up in our available funding for lending with $75 million now committed, which is not only a record for us but also for the personal loans marketplace lending sector,” Yetton said.
“This shows that our investor funders are seeing the opportunities that now lie ahead from the opening up of this new and expanding fixed income investment asset class.”
Yetton said the strong performance of the lender recently had been driven by a strong marketing campaign across Australian television recently.
“The positive response to the new brand campaign shows Australian borrowers are looking for a better deal for personal loans than the one they are getting from the big four banks.
“Our mission is to be the leading, most trusted, people powered lending marketplace in Australia. Our proposition is simple and compelling – if you are good with credit we want to reward you with a better lending rate.”
