Prosper: A New Way To Loan & Borrow
October 25, 2006 |
If you thought it wouldn’t get easier to obtain a loan today than it was to do in the ’90s, well, here’s something that might change your mind: Prosper.
Like LendingTree by with something of a social-networking twist, Prosper allows lenders and borrowers to operate through a single channel, and since its launch in the first quarter of 2006, it has garnered a membership body of roughly 90,000 and has seen $18m change hands from loaner to loanee. For 8 months of work, it sounds like the folks over at Prosper are onto something.
Begun by Chris Larsen, Prosper allows big and small to get familiar with one another, though the little guy on either end of the spectrum is usually the type to use the site’s services. The group running the show pay the rent via the fees accrued through a successful transaction (1% from borrowers/0.5% from lenders). All in all, it looks to be an easy, honest, and secure operation, one I wouldn’t hestitate to join.
