Shares of Lending Club advanced 3 percent Wednesday after the company reported better-than-expected results and raised its full-year outlook as more people discover peer-to-peer lending as a cheaper alternative to a traditional bank. Peer-to-peer lending still makes up a tiny fraction of the $700 billion consumer loan market. [...] investors and analysts believe that percentage will only grow, since the interest rates Lending Club, Prosper and others can charge for their loans is significantly less than a traditional bank. Because of the intense interest in online lending industry, there has been a flood of competition from new companies and old Wall Street mainstays alike. The company's overall expenses increased sharply in the quarter from a year earlier, particularly in engineering and product development.