LightStream is an American online lender that is a division of
Truist Bank
Truist Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company was formed in December 2019 as the result of the merger of BB&T (Branch Banking and Trust Company) and SunTrust Banks. Its b ...
. Truist was formed in December 2019, as the result of a “merger of equals” between
SunTrust Bank
SunTrust Banks, Inc. was an American bank holding company with SunTrust Bank as its largest subsidiary and assets of US$199 billion as of March 31, 2018. The bank's most direct corporate parent was established in 1891 in Atlanta, where it was ...
(of which LightStream was a division) and
BB&T
BB&T Corporation (previously known as the Branch Banking and Trust Company) was one of the largest banking and financial services firms in the United States, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In 2019, BB&T announced its intentions to merge ...
.
Debuting in March 2013, LightStream is a financial services technology company that provides
unsecured, personal loans to people with good
credit rating
A credit rating is an evaluation of the credit risk of a prospective debtor (an individual, a business, company or a government), predicting their ability to pay back the debt, and an implicit forecast of the likelihood of the debtor defaulting.
...
, through a digital process.
Predecessor companies histories
PeopleFirst Finance LLC
PeopleFirst was established in 1995, by founders Gary Miller and Dave G. Zeller, who had backgrounds in the auto finance and banking industries. Based in San Diego, California, the company began offering direct-to-consumer auto loans through the internet in 1997. People applied online and when approved, quickly received a so called "Blank Check" loan by mail. By 2003, PeopleFirst had grown to be the nation's largest online vehicle lender.
Capital One
Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company specializing in credit cards, auto loans, banking, and savings accounts, headquartered in McLean, Virginia with operations primarily in the United States. It is on the list o ...
purchased PeopleFirst in 2001. In 2003, the PeopleFirst brand name was changed to Capital One Auto Finance.
FirstAgain
FirstAgain was started by the founders of PeopleFirst along with W.R. (Randy) Ellspermann. Launching in 2005, FirstAgain expanded its online financing to include purposes beyond vehicle loans, giving unsecured loans for practically any purpose to consumers with excellent credit. This has since been adopted by others in the fintech industry.
SunTrust Bank
SunTrust Bank
SunTrust Banks, Inc. was an American bank holding company with SunTrust Bank as its largest subsidiary and assets of US$199 billion as of March 31, 2018. The bank's most direct corporate parent was established in 1891 in Atlanta, where it was ...
purchased FirstAgain in 2012. It was rebranded and launched as LightStream in 2013.
References
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Financial technology companies