Marketplace lending platform DirectMoney delivered a monthly record in loan settlements in March due to strong broker uptake.
The fintech, which provides peer-to-peer personal loans, settled $1.92 million in loans over the month, surpassing its previous monthly record of $1.5 million settled in January 2016. Over the March quarter, $4.71 million of loans to 219 borrowers were settled, a 48% increase on the prior quarter. Since DirectMoney’s inception in October 2014, the lender has written $15.65 million of loans to 810 borrowers with an average interest rate of 12.7%.
DirectMoney chief executive Peter Beaumont has attributed brokers to the marketplace lender’s substantial growth. “DirectMoney’s market visibility continues to grow both directly with consumers and through third party channels. The growth opportunity is best highlighted by the fact we have agreements with an initial ~350 accredited brokers out of ~4,500 brokers that are affiliated with our broker aggregator partners,” Beaumont said. “Growing the number of brokers that originate DirectMoney loans is an ongoing focus for our team.”
In regard to credit quality, less than 1% of the $9.3 million loans written in FY2016 have late payments exceeding 30 days, according to the lender.
DirectMoney’s Board of Directors has some pedigree, as it includes Stephen Porges, Executive Chairman (prior to joining DirectMoney, he was Chief Executive Officer of SAI Global and CEO of Aussie Home Loans); Christopher Whitehead, Non-Executive Director (previously the CEO of Credit Union Australia and Bank West-Retail) and Craig Swanger, Non-Executive Director, (was Executive Director of Macquarie Global Investments).