Although Lebda did not mention it, at least one credit union has offered loans through Lending Tree in the past. In March, 2009, the then $419 million Sound Credit Union began offering home equity loans to consumers in the Tacoma, Wash. area. It was the first credit union to establish such a relationship.

The now $1.1 billion credit union only stayed on the program about a year, according to Carl Roer, vice president of lending for the credit union then and now.

“I'm not saying there was anything negative about them or that we didn't like them,” Roer explained. “We just didn't see the lift in applications we had hoped to see” from the program.

Currently, Lending Tree said five other credit unions are also partners or are on their way to becoming partners.

Lebda recounted how he started Lending Tree in 1998 when, as an accountant, he went through a very arduous and frustrating experience trying to finance his first home purchase. He concluded that consumers needed a simpler and more streamlined approach to applying for loans. That approach and the explosion of the Internet helped Lending Tree grow to $135 million in annual revenue in 2013, according to the company's SEC filings. Lending Tree has also seen its personal loan business grow by 150% since July of 2013.

He described Lending Tree's overall approach as one centered on the consumer, laying out an eventual goal of becoming a virtual marketplace for loans and finance products that consumers will be able to access from anywhere and on a variety of different platforms.

Lebda said federal regulations already cover some of the site's business and that the firm has a compliance department, even though the balance of the regulatory burden rests with the ultimate lender.

“We support common-sense lending regulations,” Lebda said, pointing out that as a consumer facing lending site, Lending Tree opposes any lending practices that hurt consumers or obscure the costs and terms of loans.