LC rate was about 14% (average according to their terms) - they've since sent me mailers offering 8% or lower, not including the origination fee which was in the $400-500 range. This was on the 36-month loan that was paid off in 25 months so I'd have to do the math to tell you how much interest I actually paid.
Credit cards were 28.99% and 24.99%, so even with the origination fee quite a bit of savings.
Is that a US thing? I have several credit cards, yet the interest rates tend to "only" be around 10-13% on them (not that I use the actual credit part -- I pay them off each month).
You think that's bad? Interest rates on credit cards here in Uruguay are insane if you don't pay them in full, from 42% to 99%. Inflation is about 10%, so they're ridiculously profitable.
Of course, like a good 3rd world country, we have massive defaults about once a decade, so that wipes out most of the profits for the CC companies.
A startup called TuTasa is trying to build a South American LendingClub, but I don't think they're taking off yet:
Note the "default risk" part of that. I had a credit card that was at a very reasonable interest rate, then due to a series of unfortunate events, I missed a payment.
The interest rate immediately shot up to >25%, and I was told it wouldn't come down for more than a year.
Credit cards were 28.99% and 24.99%, so even with the origination fee quite a bit of savings.