When I first heard of prosper.com I was immediately intrigued and even thought quasi-conspiracy theories as I’d never heard of it before. Based off their website they have had their share of press in Forbes and Business Week, however I’m surprised there isn’t a “word on the street” pulse. Then again, the topic of credit can be kind of dicey.
Prosper.com takes lending and credit to the next level by using a little bit of trust and truly opening up the market via the Internet. Simple- I need some money, you lend it to me, and I pay you back in installments with interest added based off a credit rating. What’s different this time is say I want $10,000. Instead of going to a bank or a credit card company, at Prosper.com you post what you need and it’s possible 200 different people are going to lend you $50. It’s very interesting and entertainingly voyeuristic to see what people are asking for. There’s the debt-laden person with terrible credit, all the way to the young startup who has a business plan together.
There’s also a flipside to all this. Now you can loan people money, at a $50 minimum, and check this…….collect the interest.
