Some financial-technology lenders are in the process of bankification, with both models seeming to be working for investors right now.
Home-improvement lender GreenSky ’s agreed-upon sale to Goldman Sachs is the latest in a series of similar moves for nonbank lending companies. Several notable digital lending companies that began with some form of partnership, wholesale funding or marketplace model are in some stage of shifting into a banking model. LendingClub acquired Radius Bancorp and became a bank, and SoFi Technologies is seeking to become one. Square now has its own banking license that it can use to issue business loans.