Prosper – P2P Lending
July 22, 2010mike Comments OffMany people have heard the buzz around peer to peer lending. In light of the recent economic climate many people have had a difficult time getting funds the traditional way (ie: banks) so they have turned to the internet (like they have for shopping, socializing, and news) for a solution.
The solution is the Napster or Limewire of borrowing. Prosper (there is also Lending Club and Kiva).
I have personally both lent and borrowed money from Prosper so let me tell you a little about my experience.
First lending, easy as pie. Enter your personal and bank info, confirm it, may a deposit into Prosper, get started.
I have both used the Automated Plans (easy as pie) and individual investments (have gotten outbid, but got the hang of it). With investment amounts as low as $25 its a very neat idea.
On the borrowing side, they run your credit, give you a score, confirm you address, checking account and drivers license (I had a lot of fun with that as the New York State drivers license is FAR from photogenic).
I followed their recommendations for the interest rate and loan amount and in a day I was fully funded. I left it running a little longer to see if I would be bid down (eBay style) and then, closed the bid.
Once I sent all the documents mentioned above, a few emails exchanged, one phone call and I had the funds deposited in a few days.
Pretty easy if you stick with it, and now I have been able to pay off a credit card and have a lower rate on a 3 year loan.
Happy funding.