Prosper Marketplace and People Capital have announced that the two companies formed a new referral partnership in which both companies will provide each other referral leads when their counterparts service might be better suited for the borrower.
Under the new agreement, borrowers that are looking to get education loans from Prosper Marketplace but are turned down will be sent over to People Capital’s Lending Exchange. People Capital will also refer borrowers that are looking for non-education loans to Prosper’s peer-to-peer lending marketplace.
People Capital CEO Tom Shelton said in a statement, “People Capital’s singular focus on student loan financing allows us to provide a range of tailored solutions for students who are not able to benefit from Prosper’s offerings.” He continued, “We will offer these borrowers access to tax-efficient, long-term, as well as short-term loans, and dedicated student lending credit metrics through our proprietary Human Capital Score. Ultimately, this agreement will insure that borrowers will find the proper fit when investigating People Capital and Prosper’s peer-to-peer loan lending solutions.”
Prosper Marketplace is likely getting the better end of the deal. The company wouldn’t make money from borrowers that can’t get through the funding process anyway, so the company isn’t out on any revenue for referring those customers to People Capital. Prosper will also benefit by getting free leads from People Capital.
However, this is not to say that People Capital is getting a bad-deal either. People Capital will benefit by getting free referrals from its much larger counter-part and does not make non-education peer-to-peer loans, so referring those loans to Prosper will not cut into the company’s revenue.
