Payment news reports on the prospects for this new space reported yesterday.  The unique challenges referred to are criminals and con-men, who will undoubtedly attempt to take advantage of these unique offerrings.

Payments News: Online Banking Report Studies Prosper.com Person-to-Person Lending – March 28, 2006

Presuming Prosper and/or Zopa make it through these unique challenges, the report predicts that within five years the total market for person-to-person lending in the U.S could surpass 100,000 loans annually, worth more than $1 billion.