Press Room

Upgrade, Inc., a consumer credit platform that offers affordable personal loans and personal credit lines with credit monitoring and education tools that help consumers better understand their credit, announced today it closed its inaugural securitization of personal loans. Upgrade Receivables Trust 2018-1 (“UPGR 2018-1”) issued approximately $282 million in notes to nearly 20 banks and asset managers.

This transaction marks the inauguration of Upgrade’s securitization program, designed as a quarterly issuance program. Credit Suisse and Jefferies acted as joint lead underwriters, and Upgrade served as sponsor, servicer and administrator for the transaction.

“We’re thrilled with the success of this inaugural transaction. Our securitization program is designed to provide liquidity and a lower cost of funds to our loan buyers through a standardized issuance program,” said Renaud Laplanche, co-founder and CEO of Upgrade. “We believe this rated securitization program is the ideal complement to our marketplace approach whereby banks and asset managers can buy consumer loans and personal credit line balances on an on-going basis.”

The Upgrade Receivables Trust securitization was rated by Kroll Bond Rating Agency, Inc. and includes $184.5 million of Class A notes rated "A (sf)", $32.1 million of Class B notes rated "BBB (sf)", $28.0 million of Class C notes rated "BB (sf)" and $37.5 million of Class D notes rated “B (sf).”

Upgrade has raised $142 million in equity capital and facilitated over $1 billion in loans since launch in April last year. The company’s continued product innovation includes the recent launch of its Personal Credit Line and the expansion of Credit Health, Upgrade’s unique suite of credit monitoring and education products.

About Upgrade

Upgrade is a consumer credit platform that offers affordable personal loans and lines of credit with credit monitoring and education tools that help consumers better understand their credit. Upgrade employs over 300 team members and is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with an operations center in Phoenix, Arizona and technology centers in Chicago, Illinois and Montreal, Canada. Upgrade does not facilitate loans to residents of Connecticut, Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, Vermont and West Virginia. All loans originated through the Upgrade platform are issued by WebBank, Member FDIC. More information is available at: https://www.upgrade.com.