How online lender AvantCredit is using technology to make loans directly. In total, the direct financing firm has committed to $500 million for attaining new customers and expanding its portfolio of products, AvantCredit said. AvantCredit, which offers installment loans and lines of credit to borrowers just below prime at higher interest than ordinary rates, said it has grown since its January 2013 launch from three employees to about 500 and has issued more than $400 million in loans in the U.S. and the U.K. Next up is expanding to other countries and adding other products in 2015, said co-founder and CEO Al Goldstein. AvantCredit makes loans directly, using algorithms to assess risks and evaluate customers in real time for tailored unsecured installment loans of up to $20,000.

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