Accenture in cooperation with Gemius published a report (english, polish page) on the polish p2p lending market. The report looks at the parameters of the polish p2p lending sites Kokos (see our earlier interview with Kokos), Finansowo and Monetto. The report in detail shows the result of a survey of 1075 internet users on questions of various social lending aspects.
A recent Bankrate.com article gives an update on the development of p2p lending in the US.
Chris Larsen of Prosper.com sees the current financial situation as a chance for p2p lenders:
Home equity used to be the cash management tool for the credit-worthy borrower, and that has really, really dried up. In many ways, Prosper's three-year, 25,000 US$ loan is a pretty good proxy for what people were using home equity for — improving their home, starting a sole proprietorship, college costs and certainly for replacing credit card debt.
Javelin Strategy & Research is quoted that credit card debt is the main reason people want to use p2p lending:
We're forecasting that P2P lending specifically for credit card balances will grow from 38 billion US$ in 2007 to 159 billion US$ by 2012
The final advice of the article is:
Prospective borrowers and lenders would do well to thoroughly research P2P companies before jumping at the chance for a lower rate on a loan or a higher return on an investment. …
Greennote.com will offer p2p loans to help college students pay for their education. Unlike at the competitor Fynanz, at Greennote interest rates are equal for all loans - at launch 6.8%.
Greennote puts a lot of trust in students. All that's required is a school id. No credit checks.
From the Greennote Lender FAQ:
Q: Is there any collateral for the loan? Does the student go through a credit check?
No collateral is provided. This is an unsecured loan. And there is no credit check for the student. You are making this loan because you are helping your student and believe in his or her potential. It’s an investment in someone’s future. At the same time, this is not a handout and you will receive a return on your money.
However, as with any loan, there are risks involved. GreenNote cannot guarantee the repayment of any loan. If a student is unable to repay the loan and defaults after leaving school, GreenNote will provide collections services. We will report delinquencies to credit agencies, which will impact the student’s ability to get credit in the future.
The terms sound certainly attractive for students, especially for those with a low or no credit grade. Students can defer payments while in school:
Payments begin six months after the student finishes (or leaves) school. The student can also defer payments for the entire time he or she is enrolled in school, for up to a maximum of five years.
Student then have 10 years to pay back the loan. They can pay it back early any time without a penalty.
Whether this model appeals to lenders remains to be shown. A slogan on the site says: "Help students you know" - so Greennote is targeting relatives and friends who lend to students.
According to TechCrunch, Greennote raised 4.2 million US$ venture capital from Menlo Ventures and Glenbrook Partners last year.
Demand at Boober.nl is slowing. When I checked today only two loan listings were open. The following curve showing unique loan requests definitly shapes in the wrong direction. Boober lenders discus this development in this forum thread.
(Source Booberwatch.nl)
Since the launch 15 months ago, about 2.4 million Euro (about 3.8M US$) loan volume has been funded through Boober.
German Smava.de has funded about the same volume (2.3 million Euro) but after a slower start 14 months ago, lately the volume growth accelerated moderately.
(Smava loan volume, Source: Smava loan stats at Wiseclerk.com).
On Smava as well as on Boober average borrower interest rates have risen considerably since the start. This reduces the attractiveness for borrowers.
A new research report on peer to peer lending was published at VRL KnowledgeBank. The 200 pages PDF-report (table of contents), written by Ray Cain, can be purchased online. It covers the following issues:
Editor's note: This is a paid story (ad), written by a third party which I have agreed to publish, since I believe it fits the interests of the readership of this blog. I am not involved in the sale.
Company looks to sell all rights to its proprietary P2P lending technology. The company has been quietly in development for the past year, though has now decided to halt launch plans for undisclosed reasons.
The company has developed a complete P2P lending web application that will provide any aspiring P2P company with technology to support rapid deployment in any geographical market. It is based on the popular auction-style bidding format for lenders. The front end is fully branded, and sale can be made to include branding, or packaged as a white-labeled solution.
Terms of sale can be negotiated to include customization, enhancements, and project management / consulting.
This is an extremely rare opportunity to acquire the world's only out-of-the-box P2P lending system allowing the purchaser to enter the red-hot Person-to-Person Lending space.
All enquiries should be directed through the website at:
www.p2ptechforsale.com
Technical specifications, terms of sale, and all other questions will gladly be discussed under terms of a standard Non-Disclosure Agreement.
Serious enquiries only, please.
Yesterday the headline of Dutch De Financiele Telegraph read "ABN AMRO brings together borrowers and lenders". ABN Amro is a large bank in the Netherlands. The article mentioned Boober and that ABN Amro is offering a different service.
So what is ABN Amro offering? P2P lending?
Actually the service in question can be found on this page and it is a free download document that lenders and borrowers can use to agree on a loan contract between them. Other the supplying the download ABN Amro is not involved in any resulting loans. In fact the site states (in Dutch):
… The general information on this page has not been meant as a recommendation. ABN Amro will not take liability …
I guess that can be filed under marketing using the 'peer-to-peer loan' buzz or at best under customer service.
Prosper.com made the videos of the Prosper Days 2008 available. Thanks Prosper!
I will just feature one session here. In "Managing large portfolios" Adam Weyeneth, President of Fair Deal Credit talks about the issues for institutional lenders that want to invest into the asset class of p2p loans.
Link to this video and the related videos of the other sessions.
Swiss Cashare.ch recently launched as the first p2p lending platform in Switzerland. The company, owned by Michael Borter (link to German language interview) and Roger Mueller has partnered with the collection agency C&S Credit Management AG, which handles all monetary transactions.
Interest rates and loan durations are set by borrowers and lenders bid in a 14 day auction (minimum bid amount is 500 CHF which is approx 500 US$). If the loan is fully funded further bids in the remaining auction period will cause the interest rate to drop in 0.1 percentage steps, while old bids are outbid.
The fee schredule includes:
This results in borrowers having to pay even if their loan does not fund.
An unusual point in the process is that lenders have to sign a written contract for each successful bid and send it via postal mail to Cashare. That seems a bit uncomfortable to handle.
As Cashare launched only recently there currently are only 4 active loan listings.
If you have used Cashare as a borrower or lender, please share you experiences in the forum. Thank you.
CBS recently featured Prosper and Lendingclub under the headline "Beating the financial giants at their own game".
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