Want to be a banker?

[alnorth]

Found a pretty cool-looking site and wondered if anyone had anyone had any experience with this.

https://www.prosper.com/

Apparently if you have some money you want to save for a little while, and your willing to take a bit of risk for a better return, you can loan money out to people for as low as $50 at a time along with the minimum amount of interest you want for the risk. You get to see a rough estimate of the borrower's credit score, Debt to Income ratio, and other stuff from their credit report that doesnt give away their identity.

Alternatively, if you arent bankable and need money, or have credit cards with rediculous interest rates, you can list how much you want to borrow, what interest rate your willing to pay, and then try to convince people to bid on your loan because you are such a good person who needs help and youll pay them back.

[alnorth]

Couple examples I found.

These two were able to convince enough people to fund their loans.

https://www.prosper.com/lend/listing.aspx?listingID=172793

https://www.prosper.com/lend/listing.aspx?listingID=170023

This one wasnt successful. If you cant convince people that you arent a flake, they wont fund you.

https://www.prosper.com/lend/listing.aspx?listingID=166999

The way it apparently works is an Ebay-style Dutch auction. You start off by listing your loan amount and the maximum interest your willing to pay. Lenders put up money and the minimum interest they will accept. You get 10 days to fund the loan. If it expires, the deal is off and you can try again. If your loan is funded before it expires, then lenders can still bid, and the lenders with the highest interest rates get knocked off, causing the interest rate of the loan to fall. The interest rate for the loan is whatever interest the highest winning lender wants.

Lenders get a rough idea of your credit score, and all the other dark careless secrets your credit report may hold without identifying who you are. They will ask you any question they can think of that may be a concern to decide if you are a flake or a good borrower. Borrowers who ask for too little interest or borrow too much apparently fail to get funded, and in the end the borrowers who convince the lenders they are trustworthy will win.

For reference they keep a running 30-day grid showing the average interest that is being paid by successful borrowers varying by their credit score and the amount they want to borrow.

https://www.prosper.com/lend/rates.aspx

[Adept Havelock]

Heh.

Basically, it's a "Craigsbank". Interesting notion.

[elvomito]

i like the idea. i planned on throwin a little cash in the first time i read about it, but forgot

http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=157579

[alnorth]

Hmm, I might throw 50 bucks on this one once my transfer goes through.

https://www.prosper.com/lend/listing.aspx?listingID=175193

Guy asking for 5,000 bucks to hire a lawyer so he can sue for custody of son from psycho wife who refuses to allow visitation and wants to move to another country.

Credit is shaky, but report says he doesnt have much debt and makes enough money to afford the payments.

[Simplex3]

Hmm, I might throw 50 bucks on this one once my transfer goes through.

https://www.prosper.com/lend/listing.aspx?listingID=175193

Guy asking for 5,000 bucks to hire a lawyer so he can sue for custody of son from psycho wife who refuses to allow visitation and wants to move to another country.

Credit is shaky, but report says he doesnt have much debt and makes enough money to afford the payments.
That guy doesn't need a lawyer, he needs a hit man.