Consumer lending

Evidence that the credit characteristics of online installment borrowers at the time of repayment are consistently worse than at the time of borrowing should be a sobering thought for lenders that have not been fully tested in a credit downturn.

More stringent underwriting is the likely reason banks and credit unions are seeing relatively low levels of delinquencies on car loans to high-risk borrowers.

Consumers who have borrowed from online lenders owe more and have lower credit scores than similarly situated consumers who have not used online lenders, according to a study released Thursday by the Cleveland Fed. The provocative findings seem likely to spark intense debate.

Dinesh Chopra is online bank's first-ever chief strategy officer.

The firm outlined a plan in September to generate $5 billion in additional revenue over the next three years, with more than 40% of that coming from lending.