To the regular readers of this blog, I would be interested in the answer to a simple survey question:
Describe the market for social lending?
I will be most grateful for all contributions using the comments below, and any perspective is welcome. I will summarise the results in a future post.
Technorati tags: social+networks, social+lending
Bankwatch 
I think the initial market is for ‘experienced’ borrowers with clean/good credit ratings. (The ones the banks want).
Why?
because they can get a cheaper rate, and have a good record of not defaulting.
as for lending, I see it being marketed as a low/medium risk investment for the general public. And regular funds are used to securitizing products which this social lending can be seen as. (as long as the process that people like Zapo use are sound)
I see several segments:
1. Borrowers who can’t get a loan from a bank for whatever reason, but are willing to pay a higher rate to get a loan from social lenders (probably less than the loansharks!)
2. Borrowers who, for whatever reason, are disenfranchised from banks, and want to strike back by buying products that don’t involve them.
3. Experienced borrowers, especially internet-saavy ones – who have good market information and are able to spot a good deal when they see one.
J.