Social Lending. Whats and Hows
What is social lending and how does one make money through social lending?
Social Lending as an approach of lending funds to individuals is in direct competition with banks as of today. Banks have been traditional institutions to lend funds to general public for centuries. They dominated lending arena generally garnishing fairly high returns on issued loans. But with development of social internet communities and technology things have changed.
Social Lending or Peer-to-Peer Lending allows anyone to act as a lender eliminating banks out of the transaction, circumventing their traditional role, and making it possible for an individual to turn profit as any bank would lending to general public.
But what even better is that Online Peer-to-peer or social lending allows individuals and companies to conduct their business as lenders and as borrowers alike around the world in a continuously growing number of countries.
The idea of Social Lending is not new and originates from credit communities that were formed by people to help lead better quality life way back in history.
Private social lending models failed before in part due to poor tracking systems employed, but with progress of technology and lending business private social lending became internet peer-to-peer lending with much better chances for success, and has already proven to be profitable for individual as well as corporate lenders and borrowers.
So, how does one make money in social lending today?
Internet peer-to-peer lending and borrowing is possible through online social lending vendors, or also known as hubs, utilizing “online marketplace” and “family and friends” social lending models. These vendors provide services that connect borrowers and lenders in P2P settings where lending and borrowing is fast, efficient, legally arranged and profitable for lenders and helpful for borrowers.
You can explore the list of vendors below or keep reading for more in depth explanation of Social lending vendors: their models and their niches
Prosper - You can bid on loans with as little as $50. If you decide to become a borrower you can create a listing of as high as $25,000
Lendingclub - You can start lending to individuals with as little as $25. The site is younger than Prosper, but it is quickly gaining the ground.
Zopa - Has a little bit of a different social financing approach form the two above. You can invest in a type of what I call a “Social CD” that works like a bank certificate of deposit. You pick the rate and borrowers you would like to help.
