Category: Social Lending

Social Lending2 Comments

P2P loans going unfunded is a temporary situation

Colin Henderson

 James note this stat, that 70% of P2P loans go unfunded, courtesy of the excellent Deutsche Bank research. That’s quite a different play to Prosper and Zopa. In those cases, a large percentage of loans go unfunded. According to Deutsche Bank, as many as 70% of total loan requests don’t lead to a transaction. Source: BankerVision: Forget anonymity in peer-to-peer lending First off, I would note from my own observation that many loans while not funded first time around are funded on 2nd and 3rd attempts.  This is symptomatic of this growing service, as both borrowers and lenders get used to … Continue reading P2P loans going unfunded is a temporary situation

Social Lending

Want to Loan Me Money? Here’s a Picture of My Dog | Washington Post

Colin Henderson

 Jim from NetBanker is quoted in this quite comprehensive article on Prosper with real customer examples provided. When you have a brand-new ecosystem like this, you don’t know how much fraud can come into play,” said Jim Bruene, editor of Online Banking Report. Source: Want to Loan Me Money? Here’s a Picture of My Dog. – washingtonpost.com The fraud aspect is outstanding, and the other thing I felt the article didn’t really get into is the social aspect. Lenders are encouraged to protect themselves by lending small amounts to many borrowers with different risk levels so if one defaults, the … Continue reading Want to Loan Me Money? Here’s a Picture of My Dog | Washington Post

Social Lending, Social networks3 Comments

A Tale of Two Lenders

Colin Henderson

Fascinating article comparing the genesis, and evolution of Prosper and Kiva. There are dramatic similarities, and differences. It is not surprising that Prosper’s reach is so much broader than Kiva’s. In its first seven months, Prosper’s 100,000 registered users have made $22 million in loans, averaging about $5,000. Kiva’s 15,000 lenders have made $1.2 million in loans, with an average loan size of $500. That translates into success for both companies, whose founders agree that there is room in the wide-open field for both models. Says Kiva’s Shah: “Right now there are so few people doing this and it’s so experimental, … Continue reading A Tale of Two Lenders

Open Source Banking, Social Lending, Social networks5 Comments

Social Investing – stockpickr.com

Colin Henderson

Continuing with the theme of social financial services, here is a new one, picked up from tehcmeme tonight.  Its a unique approach to investing sites, and is more akin to wesabe (personal finances social site), than any other investing site.  Stockpickr lets you input your portfolio, then points out others who have similar portfolios, and the degree of similarity. But that’s where it stops …  after reading the early promise from the usual press release the result is disappointing: the forum is quite disjointed from the portfolio’s – the forum is just that – another forum functionality- there is an … Continue reading Social Investing – stockpickr.com

Social Lending, Social networks

The Perfect Community: Disciplining the eBay user

Colin Henderson

I have been reflecting more on the power of internet community, and why it works.  I came across this publication, that I need to track down “Jarrett, K. (2006); “The Perfect Community: Disciplining the eBay user” I located this quote of Dr Kylie Jarrett.  It is both compelling, and unique.  Jarrett argues that the efficacy of schemes such as eBay resides in their endeavour to produce the autonomous subject whilst simultaneously inspiring sanctioned behaviour through instilling the values of the community within the mindset of members (Jarrett, 2006) eBay is maintaining that sanctioned behaviour successfully, and how that can be … Continue reading The Perfect Community: Disciplining the eBay user

Social Lending, Social networks

"There is no demand for messages" | Doc Searls

Colin Henderson

 Every once in a while Doc comes up with memorable statement and this is the best one for a while.  THERE IS NO DEMAND FOR MESSAGES Let me see a show of hands: who here wants a message? Right: none. And who wants to shield themselves from messages they don’t want? Exactly: everybody. TV advertising has negative demand. It subtracts value. Source: The Doc Searls Weblog : Sunday, December 17, 2006 This ties nicely to Shel’s overview for his new book. …..  It explains why power is shifting from large organizations into self-organizing communities and why businesses and public officials … Continue reading "There is no demand for messages" | Doc Searls

Social Lending3 Comments

Zopa communication to lenders is pulled from the blog

Colin Henderson

UPDATE: Dave and Thomas responded and fixed what turns out was caused by a technical glitch! Well done Zopa! _______________________________________ ORIGINAL POST: This post showed up today at 2:33pm EST in my Google Reader, but now is “Error 404 – Not Found” at the Zopa blog. Rule #1 …. if you don’t like your post, deleting it is too late, even a few seconds after you publish, because of syndication and RSS feeds – better to live with it, and provide a correction. By the way, I thought it was a nice clear post, well worded, and see no issue … Continue reading Zopa communication to lenders is pulled from the blog

Social Lending, Social networks

Prosper releases new API tools

Colin Henderson

 Thanks to David for pointing out this new feature at Prosper.  These API’s provide download of detailed data on statistical information at the site.  This is a very positive thing, and will encourage Groups as well as external sites to provide value added analysis.  Build graphs and trends of listing rates Use bidding patterns to determine the best lending strategies Compare groups using your own research # Create a loan portfolio analysis tool Monitor changes to the marketplace over time Explore our dynamic marketplace offline using your own tools Source: Tools – Prosper While this sounds technical, in reality it … Continue reading Prosper releases new API tools

P2P Lending, Social Lending, Social networks

Could P2P lending have the perfect opportunity in Australia?

Colin Henderson

In response to Charis post, I would be more inclined to think that the credit bureau system down under precisely supports P2P lending, particularly with the Prosper model. Prosper is in essence eBay for loans, so its focussed on the reputational value of members, and the community advice, groups etc to ensure loans losses are minimised. Lack of adequate Bureau reporting would provide an additional competitive advantage P2P lending. This might be a hindrance for Zopa, who take on the risk assessment on behalf of their members. Lack of positive information, would require them to rethink their approach used in … Continue reading Could P2P lending have the perfect opportunity in Australia?