Prosper.com Lending Volume Increases by 65% in October

Peer-to-Peer lending firm, Prosper.com, has announced that its new loan volume had increased by 65% during the month of October.

During the month of September, the company originated $1,222,378 in new loans. That number increased to $2,011,723 in the month of October.

The company’s increase in loan growth can be attributed in part to a major advertising campaign that Prosper.com is currently running. They have launched a significant online banner campaign and have even been advertising their services on CNBC.

During the period, Prosper.com also launched a new affiliate program that allows bloggers and webmasters to generate revenue by referring borrowers and lenders to the site. Website owners can earn between $75 and $100 for every borrower referred and $45 to $55 for every investor that’s referred, depending on the volume of referrals.

Although the increase in loan originations was significant, it’s still not anywhere close to the average new monthly loan origination amount that Prosper.com had before running into legal issues with the SEC. For example, in June of 2008, Prosper.com had originated $8,263,991 in new loans.

In response to the loan growth, Chris Larsen, CEO of Prosper Marketplace, said “We’re steadily ramping loan volume back up, and continue to be pleased with the number of high credit quality borrowers turning to Prosper.” Larsen continued, “Loan volume was up 65% over September, and the average credit score of funded borrowers was 715 in October.”