Saturday, Jun 14, 2008

Psst! Wanna piece of the action

cbsnews.com: More Americans Turning To New Source Of Money: Person-To-Person Lending

Justin Brown didn't think he was being extravagant when he borrowed $4,700 to buy his motorcycle. But he already owed $5,000 on his credit card and the interest was crushing. He was paying 31 percent on his credit card. And now he's paying …
"Ten percent," Brown said.
Nice idea. Would it work over here ?

Posted by angonamo @ 02:47 PM (622 views) Add Comment

10 Comments

1. whiteknight said...

of course.

Saturday, June 14, 2008 02:49PM Report Comment
 

2. Landedgentry said...

Depends on who your borrowing from, the cost-benefit analysis is how much you value your kneecaps.

Saturday, June 14, 2008 02:52PM Report Comment
 

3. Mac said...

It does. It's called Zopa and it seems to be gaining popularity.

Saturday, June 14, 2008 02:53PM Report Comment
 

4. Homeliver said...

There is an internet site that already does this.

Saturday, June 14, 2008 03:56PM Report Comment
 

5. drewster said...

There's a website called zopa.com in the UK. Typical rate is 8.6% APR on a £5,000 loan. The hard part is finding people who are willing to lend money in the first place. I certainly wouldn't lend money to my neighbour to help consolidate his loans - if he's been reckless in the past, he's unlikely to have changed his habits! What's worse than a low interest rate? Not getting your money back at all...

Saturday, June 14, 2008 04:48PM Report Comment
 

6. jimmy_joe said...

zopa.com

Saturday, June 14, 2008 04:49PM Report Comment
 

7. angonamo said...

zopa.com

Thanks guys, can honestly say that I have never heard of this site or this people to people lending before. I will have a good look round the site but I think my feelings lie with Drewsters post. Not sure if I would want to part with my hard earned with someone I know, let alone with a stranger.

Saturday, June 14, 2008 07:13PM Report Comment
 

8. whiteknight said...

peer-to-peer network and ratings

possible ability to value a network gives superior ultimate recovery of capital capability

payment periodicity is ranked ahead even in times of stress

Saturday, June 14, 2008 07:35PM Report Comment
 

9. icarus said...

Song of the great depression - Brother, can you spare a dime.

Saturday, June 14, 2008 09:24PM Report Comment
 

10. drewster said...

To be fair to zopa.com, they divide your savings across at least 50 borrowers which makes it safer. They also assign each borrower a credit rating from A* to C. This is obviously the weak point in the chain - is their ratings system any better than Moody's or S&P's ratings of subprime mortgage CDOs? No credit rating system can accurately take into account the likely economic downturn ahead.

Saturday, June 14, 2008 11:19PM Report Comment
 

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