LendingClub has agreed to buy Radius Bancorp and its wholly-owned subsidiary Radius Bank in cash and stock deal worth $185m.

Boston-based Radius Bancorp offers checking and savings accounts online. It has more than $1.4bn in assets.

The acquisition of the online lender will give LendingClub access to a stable and cheaper source of funding.

LendingClub CEO Scott Sanborn said: “By combining with Radius, we will create a category-defining experience for our members that will dramatically enhance the resilience and earnings trajectory of our business.”

LendingClub, which is based in San Francisco, is the first financial technology company to purchase an actual bank.

It earlier revealed that it was looking to secure a national bank charter.

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Radius president and CEO Mike Butler said: “This is a perfect marriage, with LendingClub bringing the leading digital asset generation platform and Radius contributing a leading online deposit gathering platform, to position the combined company for long-term success.”

Subject to receipt of regulatory approval, the transaction is expected to be completed in the next 12 to 15 months.

Last month, mobile bank Varo Money secured approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to accept consumer deposits.

In August last year, LendingClub introduced the Select Plus Platform to offer borrowers access to sophisticated investors.

This offering allowed borrowers falling outside the current criteria of the bank lender to gain loans from sophisticated investors.