What is peer to peer loans? A peer to peer loan is when a regular person gives out a loan to other regular people like you and me. It's a great alternative to traditional bank loans and you may find even lower interest rates with peer to peer loans. There are many different peer to peer loan sites and many different currencies to get the loans in. For example, I signed up to a BTC peer to peer lending site with hopes of getting a loan in the cryptocurrency called bitcoins. However, the more traditional route is to get money in your home country's currency. The lender receives interest on the money he or she gives out and also benefit from knowing that they are helping someone out. They are taking a big risk, because it would be a hassle to get back the money, but with the way these sites are set up, they make it easy to identify the person, prove that they owe the money, and that their credit is up to par. Overall, peer to peer lending can be a reliable source of funding if you would like to go a different route than the traditional bank loans. I would highly suggest looking into it and hopefully you can save money on school loans or any other loan you may need. What is your take on peer to peer lending?
I wouldn't want to be the lender because no matter how much you know about someone, if they don't have the money, you can't make them pay. Most people pay back the money the borrow but supposing something happens? What if that person [God forbid] dies before paying the money they owe? How then would that money be collected? Peer to peer lending is great for the person ding the borrowing because interest rates are low but for the group lending the money — it's too risky.
I think it's awesome! I actually lend both through The Lending Club and through Kiva. TLC is mostly Americans and you can earn some interest kickback on it. Kiva is mostly international and is about funding third world countries, struggling business people/entrepreneurs/families/women/etc. Lenders don't get any interest back on these, but it has a great "feel-good" feeling to it.
I'm actually planing on joining TLC but I'm not really sure about it until you mentioned it just know. So how was it? Is there a minimum amount you can lend? I've never head of Kiva before, I'd check it out later.
I considered it once, but never invested in it in the end. I think it's generally safe as it has been around for a while. But personally I don't think the return on investment is worthwhile, and it's not as easily accessible as a standard savings account.
To much risk in this one. Unless you have money to burn I would not get into the business of lending money out to anyone.
As long as you trust the source and they are not charging you a ridiculous amount when it comes to rates then yes it could be a great option. I agree with the other people saying that I wouldn't want to be the lender because of obvious risks but for the buyer it could be good. I have actually looked into a few of these for a house but I'm still not sure if I will be going with that or a traditional loan at the moment since rates are pretty low where I live.
I think it all depends on what you think is reliable. There are many scam sites out there for "peer to peer" lending, but there are also many legit sites that offer those loans. I advise looking around and doing your research. If you don't feel comfortable when you are looking at a website it is probably because it isn't legit. The Lending Club has a lot of information on the web and there are many reviews for it.
