VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Mar 16, 2015) - Grouplend, Canada's first marketplace lender for consumers, is further honouring its commitment to giving Canadians a better way to borrow by lowering interest rates for creditworthy borrowers by up to 4%, resulting in an average savings of more than $1,100 on most three-year loans. Having recently surpassed the $30 million mark in loan applications, the company has been able to refine its proprietary credit algorithms to reduce costs, and is passing those savings on to customers.
"With unprecedented demand for our fast, convenient and cost-effective borrowing platform, we're excited to announce that we're making our rates much more precise, much more personalized and much more affordable for Canadians," said Kevin Sandhu, Grouplend's CEO.
The recipe for the change boils down to one crucial ingredient: data. The proprietary algorithms at the core of Grouplend's product get smarter as more data is fed into them. With over $30 million in applications, the company has been able to sharpen its knives, cutting rates in the process, in order to give Canadians an even better way to borrow.
Grouplend employs modern technology to analyze data at a faster pace than traditional brick and mortar institutions, providing a much more affordable and convenient banking experience. Using their computers, tablets or mobile devices to log on to Grouplend.ca, Canadians can apply in minutes and receive a personalized quote in seconds for loans up to $30,000, with the entire application and approval process often taking less than a day. The company's business model not only eliminates costly overhead like bank branches and legacy systems, but it also optimizes interest rates and tailors them specifically to each individual borrower.
"This announcement is an affirmation of Grouplend's value proposition and business model," said Sandhu. "The more applications we receive, the more powerful our technology becomes. It gets better at determining optimal interest rates. It gets better at fraud detection. It learns how people are using the platform. We now have a highly refined sense of who our customers are and how to better service them, whether by evolving our existing products or introducing new ones."
The majority of Grouplend's customers have taken out loans to pay off credit card debt or other higher interest loans. Credit card users in Canada typically pay around 20% or more on their balances, compared to Grouplend's rates of 6.3%-17.5%. With non-mortgage debt in Canada hovering above $28,000 on average per person, the opportunity to consolidate debt at a materially lower rate has been welcomed with open arms by many Canadians.