Australian peer-to-peer lending company SocietyOne is shaking up its ranks as it approaches a lending milestone this week. The company appointed Mark Jones (pictured) as its new CEO, weeks after founder and former CEO Jason Yetton stepped down.
Jones, who has been with SocietyOne since February 2018, most recently served as chief financial officer and commercial director of SocietyOne. Prior to that role, he worked at WestPac for just over four years, serving in capacities including CFO to Director of Divisional Partnerships. Jones also brings experience from his tenure at Barclays and Citibank.
SocietyOne is celebrating its sixth anniversary this month, just as the company approaches $500 million in total lending since its product was launched in 2012. Since that time, SocietyOne has matched 20,000 customers with $480 million in loans from investors on its platform. The company anticipates it will surpass $500 million in September.
“The last 12 months have represented another year of growth, transformation, and progress,” said Jones. “We have seen continued growth in lending with more than $150 million originated since our fifth birthday.” Along with the boost in lending, Jones attributes the growth to an improvement in margins and disciplined cost management.
Additionally, Jones highlighted SocietyOne’s recent milestones:
- Closed a strategic investor capital raise in January 2018
- Appointed Simon Farrell as Chief Technology Officer and Ross Horsburgh as Chief Credit Officer
- Launched a new personal loan offering through mortgage brokers
- Ranked by The Australian Financial Review as #37 of the Top 100 Most Innovative Companies for 2018
“The next 6 months will be another exciting period of growth and innovation,” said Jones. Over the next two quarters, SocietyOne will improve the customer experience, build its brand, develop new investor tools, and create new partnerships.
SocietyOne presented its P2P lending platform at FinovateAsia 2012 in Singapore. The company offers borrowers personalized repayment programs with lower interest rates than major banks. Users can borrow between $5,000 to $50,000 for unsecured, personal loans for two, three, or five year terms.