Marketplace Lending of SMEs

Abstract

Peer-to-business lending refers to online platforms facilitating loans from individuals to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We conjecture that easy-to-understand risk ratings conveyed by the platform play a pronounced role in influencing the borrowing success of SMEs and that more sophisticated financial information and adverse selection are largely absent in these markets. We introduce a dataset of 414 SME marketplace loans and 8,236 online loan days to test these propositions. The data examined provide strong support for the importance of simple platform ratings in influencing investor behavior, while the effect of more detailed financial information is less pronounced.

Keywords: debt crowdfunding, entrepreneurial finance, digital platforms

JEL Classification: G210, G240, G320