Over the next few years, Upstart (UPST 2.17%) has an aggressive growth strategy. In this video clip from "The Future of Fintech" on Motley Fool Live, recorded on June 30, Fool.com contributors Matt Frankel and Lou Whiteman outline some of the new loan areas that are slated to be part of the online lending platform's expansion.
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Matt Frankel: So, this is a big part of the bull case. They have the auto loans already about to roll out, and they are planning on entering two more markets over the next couple of years. You mentioned the small business loan that they said is going to roll out by the end of 2022. Hopefully, you guys can see that slide, OK?
Lou Whiteman: Yeah.
Frankel: I tried to show it in the way that it doesn't show everything else I'm doing on the screen at the same time, so I don't block the screen again. But the Small Business, a big market, $644 billion market. Everyone knows the mortgage market is absolutely huge. They say they're going to get into that by the end of 2023.
My question to you, and I'm curious as to what you think about this if with all the uncertainty and the reduced appetite for investor loan demand, do you think they're going to go ahead and get into the small business lending market and the mortgage market that quickly?
Whiteman: I understand your concerns or I think it's a fair question, and I think it might be best for them to go slow. Small business loans scare me if I'm honest with you.
I like the personal lending market better simply because the business loans that are easy are very, very competitively priced and the business loans that aren't so easy, a company I love to talk about on here the Live Oak Banks (LOB -1.72%) of the world, where the competitive advantage is it's not an algorithm, it is just understanding a really weird business. The business loan market, I'm not as excited about that as they are, mortgage, I think, is more of an opportunity.
I love the auto market, frankly, the auto refinance market. In a world where auto refinance is simple, is an algorithm, is a click, I think that's a massive opportunity there, so I would rather see them probably slow their wheels a bit on some of this stuff, as a bull just because yes if in an uncertain market, why not slow down? Or why not focus on getting the few things right. There's plenty of growth opportunities in the markets they are already in.
