FinTech Lending and Bank Credit Access for Consumers.

This article investigates how peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, a form of financial technology (FinTech) lending exemplified by the Prosper Marketplace platform, affects consumers' subsequent access to bank credit. Using detailed application-level data and a regression discontinuity design based on a 70% investor funding threshold for loan approval, the study finds that banks increase revolving credit limits for consumers who obtain P2P loans, particularly for those more likely to be credit constrained. This effect is not fully explained by debt refinancing or changes in credit scores but is stronger when P2P lenders use soft information unavailable to banks, suggesting that information spillovers from FinTech lenders to banks improve credit access. The findings imply that FinTech lending can alleviate information frictions in consumer credit markets and serve as a certification mechanism that complements traditional bank lending without evidence of excessive borrowing or higher default risk.