BlackRock Investing $1 Billion in LendingClub’s Marketplace

Investment management giant BlackRock has inked a new agreement with financial services company LendingClub.

This arrangement, announced in a news release Tuesday (Aug.) will see funds and accounts managed by BlackRock advisors invest up to $1 billion through LendingClub’s marketplace programs through next year.

Clarke Roberts, senior vice president and general manager for Marketplace at LendingClub, called the partnership “an exciting step forward” for his company.

“it also validates the strength of our underwriting, the effectiveness of our marketplace programs, and the trust we’ve earned as a counterparty of choice in this asset class,” Roberts said in the release. “We want to thank BlackRock for their collaboration and execution, and we look forward to growing this partnership over time.”

This collaboration comes on the heels of BlackRock’s first transaction of $100 million under LendingClub’s new LENDR (LendingClub Rated Notes) program, which closed in June. LENDR offers “multiple tranches, each with a credit rating from Fitch,” the release added.

Under the June transaction with BlackRock, all tranches were sold to funds and accounts managed by BlackRock. In all, LendingClub has sold close to $6 billion in loans through its structured certificates programs since their launch in 2023.

PYMNTS spoke in June with LendingClub CEO Scott Sanborn, who argued that as high-income Americans struggle with debt, the solution is rewarding people for using the money they actually have rather than extending more credit.

“We’re saying that if rewards are important to you, that’s great, so let’s reward you for good behavior,” Sanborn told PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster as LendingClub introduced its LevelUp Checking service.

That program offers customers 2% cash back for on-time loan payments made from the account and 1% cash back when using the associated debit card for qualifying purchases.

As that report noted, the reliance on credit is not confined to lower-income brackets, as illustrated by LendingClub’s target customer for LevelUp Checking. These are people individuals with a high FICO score, typically around 725, and a higher-than-average individual income, somewhere in the range of $125,000 to $130,000.

“these consumers often have enough money to afford things but lack the immediate cash to pay for them outright,” Sanborn said, making them more likely to carry larger-than-average car loans, student loans, mortgages and significant credit card debt.

During an earnings call last week, Sanborn said that LevelUp Checking had driven a six-fold increase in the number of checking accounts opened each day since its launch in June.

Corpay Teams With Circle to Expand Stablecoin Payments

Payments company Corpay has teamed with Circle to expand global stablecoin usage.

The collaboration involves Corpay working with a Circle subsidiary to embed Circle’s USDC stablecoin into Corpay’s cross-border pay-in and pay-out rails, the companies announced in a Thursday (Aug. 7) news release.

This will let companies “access blockchain’s 24/7 settlement and programmability,” the release added, while also offering integrated access to USDC through Corpay’s platform.

Businesses can also fund transactions in USDC (and where available, EURC) around the clock, with payouts in local currencies across more than 80 countries. And Corpay is working to allow its commercial card products — including fleet, purchasing and travel cards — to draw directly from USDC balances, the companies added.

“By working with Circle and adding USDC to our funding and disbursement capabilities, we’re giving our clients a new real-time option that complements the payment networks they already trust,” Mark Frey, group president at Corpay Cross-Border Solutions, said in the release.

“this collaboration will unlock programmable controls and 24/7 liquidity without changing the way they transact today.”

Kash Razzaghi, Circle’s chief business officer, added that the partnership, in embedding USDC into Corpay’s network, is “delivering enterprise-grade stablecoin utility across card payments and cross-border FX, all while upholding the compliance and reliability standards that global businesses demand.”

The partnership is happening at a time when, as noted here earlier this week, stablecoins are reshaping cross-border payments, a trend illustrated in earnings call commentary from companies as diverse as SoFi, Coinbase, Visa, PayPal and Robinhood.

For the better part of the last decade, that report added, cryptocurrency and traditional finance operated in parallel.

Stablecoins, which are blockchain-based tokens pegged to fiat currencies like the dollar, emerged in the cryptocurrency market as tools for liquidity and arbitrage. At the same time, banks and payment networks kept spending to modernize their legacy payment rails, with not much overlap between the two spheres.

“that separation is now collapsing,” PYMNTS wrote. “Cross-border payments represent a sprawling and inefficient market, with most transactions consisting of B2B flows. The inefficiencies in this system include multi-day settlement times, high fees, limited transparency and heavy reliance on intermediaries.”

The report added that the digital currencies provide a technical alternative that can alleviate these pain points, thanks to instantly settled transactions, lower costs, programmable transfers and global accessibility.

BlackRock Investing $1 Billion in LendingClub’s Marketplace

BlackRock has agreed to invest up to $1 billion in LendingClub’s marketplace programs, following a $100 million transaction under LENDR (LendingClub Rated Notes) in June. The partnership validates LendingClub’s financial strength and market trust. Meanwhile, Corpay and Circle expanded stablecoin usage by integrating USDC into Corpay’s cross-border payment systems, aiming to streamline global transactions.