The Deerfield Beach, Fla., company has struck a deal with LitFunding Corp. to provide marketing to its large customer base, directing potential loan customers to Easy Money Express, which LitFunding recently acquired.
IBD plans to provide consumers with a debit card system for funding the loans, which provide short-term cash advances, or "payday” loans, at higher interest rates.
The LitFunding deal is the second move this year by IBD, which is trying to shore up its third-party processing business with flagship iBill. In March, IBD hired Arizona-based Etelegate to handle its online processing services.
IBD owns a 35 percent stake in Penthouse and an 18 percent share in ITVN, which markets XTV, an adult Internet-protocol network.
Calls to IBD President Gary Spaniak went unreturned Thursday.
IBill’s parent has been scrambling to quell legal action by unpaid webmasters in the past year and is disputing a default on a loan from investment bankers IIG Trade Opportunities Fund. In a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company reported slightly more than $50 million in total assets set against more than $52 million in liabilities.
Las Vegas, Nev.-based LitFunding, also a public company that trades over the counter, recently bought Easy Money Express, which processes loans that are directly deposited into consumer's checking account and debited automatically the next payday.
Up until now, LitFunding’s primary business has been advancing loans to plaintiffs who are in litigation. The company, which started as RP Entertainment in 1996, reorganized under Chapter 13 in 2004.
LitFunding CEO Morton Reed was unavailable for comment but said in a statement, “We are extremely excited about finalizing the agreement with IBD and its potential to launch our payday advance business.”
With the partnership, iBill’s parent is to provide Internet advertising as well as email and direct mail communication with its vast customer list it has acquired through the years.
In a previous interview with XBIZ, Spaniak said that iBill since its inception “has less than 10 million unique customers.”