ILPA and CLA Partner to Promote Innovative Lending Practices for Small Businesses in the U.S. and Canada

WASHINGTON, D.C. AND TORONTO, Aug. 21, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - The Innovative Lending Platform Association (ILPA) and the Canadian Lenders Association (CLA) today announced a partnership to support innovative services and access to capital for small businesses in the United States and Canada. 

Based in Washington, D.C., the ILPA is the leading U.S. trade organization representing a diverse group of online lending and service companies serving small businesses. United by a shared commitment to the health and success of small businesses, the ILPA and its members are dedicated to advancing best practices and standards that support responsible innovation and access to capital for small businesses. 

Based in Toronto, the CLA supports the growth of companies in the Canadian market that are in the business of lending, and providing other means of credit, to small businesses and individuals, by providing its members with tools to innovate and to foster safe and ethical lending practices.

The first priority of the two organizations is to adapt The SMART Boxtm, the ILPA's small business model pricing disclosure, to the Canadian market. The SMART Box focuses on empowering small businesses to better assess and compare finance options. The CLA will make this standard available to its members. 

"The CLA is committed to bringing innovative and responsible solutions to small businesses and individuals throughout Canada," said Gary Schwartz, President of the CLA. "We believe that cross-border partnerships with industry thought-leaders like the ILPA will increase the awareness and adoption of innovative digital lending platforms in Canada."

"We are excited about this opportunity to expand ILPA's mission. We will work closely with the CLA to advance best practices and standards to support responsible innovation and access to capital for small businesses in the Canadian market," said Chris Walters, Executive Director of the ILPA.

The SMART Box is a first-of-its-kind model pricing disclosure and comparison tool launched by the ILPA in partnership with the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO), the leading advocate for microbusiness in the United States. The SMART Box was created in response to a need for common verbiage and standardization in pricing disclosure in small business finance. It includes clear and consistent pricing metrics, metric calculations, and metric explanations to help small businesses understand and assess the costs of their small business finance options. The SMART Box was developed in consultation with key small business stakeholders, including lending platforms, policymakers, not-for-profit organizations, small business owners, and small business advocates. It is available for broader adoption by lending platforms. More details can be found at: www.innovativelending.org/smart-box/

About the Canadian Lenders Association

The Canadian Lenders Association (CLA) supports the growth of companies in the Canadian market that are in the business of lending, or providing other means of credit, to small businesses and individuals by non-conventional or innovative means to exchange ideas and explore ways of improving the sector;  encourage principled and professional practices by innovative lenders; educate the public at large about innovative lending;  encourage individual potential borrowers to be informed about the appropriateness of innovative lending to the borrowers' circumstance; and to advocate on behalf of, and represent the interests of innovative lenders: www.cla-apc.org

About the ILPA 

The Innovative Lending Platform Association (ILPA) is a leading trade organization representing a diverse group of online lending and service companies serving small businesses. United by a shared commitment to the health and success of small businesses in America, the ILPA is dedicated to advancing best practices and standards that support responsible innovation and access to capital for small businesses. The ILPA, in partnership with the Association for Enterprise Opportunity, launched a model small business pricing disclosure called SMART (Straightforward Metrics around Rate and Total cost) Box. The SMART Boxtm is focused on empowering small businesses to better assess and compare finance options. Additional information about the ILPA and the SMART Box initiative are available at: www.innovativelending.org

SOURCE Innovative Lending Platform Association (ILPA)