Prosper Appoints Risk and Analytics Chief

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Prosper.com, the world’s largest peer-to-peer lending marketplace according to Deutsche Bank Research, today announced former Capital One Executive Jim Catlin has been appointed Executive Vice President of Risk and Analytics. Jim Catlin brings Prosper over 16 years of experience in the consumer financial services industry, with a proven track record in credit risk management and overall line of business leadership.

“With the appointment of Jim Catlin, Prosper is tapping into the brain trust behind Capital One’s success in fundamentally transforming consumer finance using sophisticated data analytics and risk modeling techniques to drive performance driven growth,” said Chris Larsen, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Prosper. “Having a best in class leadership team is critical to seizing the enormous market opportunity before us, and Prosper has the deepest bench in the industry.” According to a recent Gartner Research report, by 2013, peer-to-peer lending will soar at least 66 per cent to $5 billion of outstanding loans.

“Prosper is shaking up consumer lending for the good of borrowers and investors, and I am thrilled to be joining that effort at such a formative time,” said Jim Catlin, Prosper’s newly appointed Executive Vice President of Risk and Analytics. “Prosper’s commitment to transparency and consumer empowerment make it a beacon for the financial services industry.”

Prior to joining Prosper, Mr. Catlin worked as an independent consultant to QED Partners, a private investment fund founded by Nigel Morris, co-founder of Capital One and Prosper Board member.

Prior to his work with QED, Mr. Catlin served in a variety of leadership capacities during his fourteen year tenure at Capital One Financial Corporation. In his most recent post at Capital One, he served as Assistant Chief Credit Officer responsible for the credit risk management of a $70 billion portfolio of businesses, including Capital One's U.S. credit card, installment loan, small business, and point-of-sale businesses, as well at its Canadian business. Prior to that role, Mr. Catlin was a leader in the development of Capital One's European business. During his tenure in Europe, Mr. Catlin launched Capital One's business in Italy as Country Manager responsible for all strategic, financial, marketing, credit, and operational aspects of the business. He also built and led Capital One's underserved credit card business in the UK, growing it from initial testing to become the leading underserved credit card business in the UK.

Mr. Catlin graduated with a B.S. in Commerce with specializations in finance and marketing from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia.

About Prosper

Prosper is America’s first and the world’s largest peer-to-peer lending marketplace with over 900,000 members and $188 million in loans. It pioneered peer-to-peer lending, which allows people to invest in each other in a way that is socially and financially rewarding. Prosper's auction model provides an open and transparent way to get a personal loan or invest in loans on terms that are favorable to everyone involved in the transaction.

People and institutions list and bid on loans using Prosper's online auction platform. Borrowers can list loan requests between $1,000 and $25,000 on Prosper and set the maximum rate they are willing to pay an investor for the loan, and tell their story. People and institutional investors register on Prosper as lenders, then set their minimum interest rates, and bid in increments of $25 to $25,000 on loan listings they select. In addition to criteria commonly used by institutional lenders, such as credit scores and histories, Prosper lenders can consider borrowers' personal stories, endorsements from friends, and community affiliations.

Once the auction ends, Prosper takes the bids with the lowest rates and combines them to facilitate the funding of one simple loan to the borrower, and then issues what are called "Notes" to all the winning bidders. Prosper handles all on-going loan administration tasks including loan repayment and collections on behalf of the matched borrowers and investors. Prosper members are then able to trade Notes with other members on the Folio Investing Note Trader platform, provided by Foliofn Investments, Inc. Follow Prosper on twitter @prosperloans.

Notes offered by Prospectus.