Internet investor website

[Kuyuk]

I was over at the inlaws house for the past few days, and I was talking with the inlaw pa; and he was telling me about some website where people post bits of info about themselves along with a certain amount of financial need for an item, or a reason (school, bills, etc)... And then people who are willing to 'invest' (give money, with some hope of eventual return) to them, can, if they so choose.

It is an interesting idea, and from what he talked about, it had their credit score/history available for the people who were interested in investing, so they had the option of seeing if they are repaying their current debts first, etc.

I thought it was a pretty cool idea, and wanted to check it out. Unfortunately, I cant figure out what the name of the site is to check it out...

Anyone heard of it?

K.

[diethx]

I wouldn't give anyone access to my credit info/history/whatever for any reason at all, unless of course it were some legit creditor. (no I haven't heard of it)

[Xaerve]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person-to-person_lending

Edit: in response to diethx...

These sites actually have a great reputation of repayment and awesome systems to prevent against abuse. I really think spreading your money out, amongst many people, is the best way to help. Its more, for me, about helping the other people trying to "do" something, than making whatever interest on some small amount of money.

[Kuyuk]

thanks Xaerve.

exactly what I was looking for

[Sean of the Thread]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person-to-person_lending

Edit: in response to diethx...

These sites actually have a great reputation of repayment and awesome systems to prevent against abuse. I really think spreading your money out, amongst many people, is the best way to help. Its more, for me, about helping the other people trying to "do" something, than making whatever interest on some small amount of money.


Start by helping me brother.

[Kuyuk]

Awesome, just checked out the prosper.com, snooped around a bit on there. Looks pretty solid. Only bad part is the loans are only 3 years (which can also be good).

Checked my credit score, which was about 120 points higher than I thought; it's at 721, yay.

Oh, diethx, it doesnt give your credit info out, just your credit grade -


Here is a table that shows the equivalent credit scores for Prosper credit grades:


Here is the score breakdown from prosper.com - lets see if the imported graph works :)


Grade: AA..............A..............B..............C... ............D.............E.............HR
Score: 760and up 720-759.... 680-719.... 640-679.... 600-639.... 560-599.... 520-559

[Back]

I wouldn't give anyone access to my credit info/history/whatever for any reason at all, unless of course it were some legit creditor. (no I haven't heard of it)

I would not, could not, do it for anyone.

You are smarter than you post.

[Kranar]

This is incredible.

I hate banks and find them to be incredibly corrupt institutions so seeing open, flexible, and competitive alternatives like this is great.

[diethx]

Awesome, just checked out the prosper.com, snooped around a bit on there. Looks pretty solid. Only bad part is the loans are only 3 years (which can also be good).

Checked my credit score, which was about 120 points higher than I thought; it's at 721, yay.

Oh, diethx, it doesnt give your credit info out, just your credit grade -


Here is a table that shows the equivalent credit scores for Prosper credit grades:


Here is the score breakdown from prosper.com - lets see if the imported graph works :)


Grade: AA..............A..............B..............C... ............D.............E.............HR
Score: 760and up 720-759.... 680-719.... 640-679.... 600-639.... 560-599.... 520-559

How can you be sure that your money is going where you thought it was going, if that's the case? Credit scores won't necessarily go up or down in every circumstance.

[Methais]

Someone post on there about how they need money for a 10x weapon.

[diethx]

Maybe i'll post asking for money for 5k premium points. I really do need those. :D

[Bobmuhthol]

I don't remember my credit score, but it's higher than average and I'm a solid 5 months into being 18. I'm obviously a high risk to investors regardless of my score, so how does this site adjust for that?

[Kuyuk]

<<How can you be sure that your money is going where you thought it was going, if that's the case? Credit scores won't necessarily go up or down in every circumstance.>>

What do you mean, as an investor, how do you know the money you lent someone is being used for what they said?

Who cares, you gave them X amount of money, at Y amount of interest.. they could use it for crack, as long as they pay it back.

They(the website) give you a lot of information regarding loan defaults/late payment history of people with similar credit scores, before you invest, so you should know your odds before you invest.

Also, most people invest small amounts (50-100), so even if they do default, most people arent going to lose sleep over 50-100 bucks..

Regardless, I'm the person that will be asking for money, not giving it out, yet :)


K.

[LMingrone]

Don't trust shit like this. If it's too good to be true, it is. Maybe you found a gem, it's possible. Post the contract you signed. I make contracts for student/car/mortgage loans. There is always a loophole in there somewhere. And if it's from an online source, it's usually a ponzi scheme that will never see a return on the money. Just be careful and make sure you read EVERYTHING you sign on to.

[Ignot]

It's a good time in the economy to be lending money to people you don't know to be used on god knows what.

[Bobmuhthol]

So after revisiting this, I'm considering (and have an account but no money invested) being a lender at http://www.lendingclub.com. Some of these statistics (https://www.lendingclub.com/info/statistics.action) scare the shit out of me as a potential investor, but it seems like late/default accounts are generally on what I consider large loans -- on average, it looks like $8,000 - $12,000 remaining balance.

What say the more knowledgeable people here?

[Kranar]

It's a good time in the economy to be lending money to people you don't know to be used on god knows what.


Yeah, let's just give it to banks and let financial advisers tell us how we should manage our own money... because the fees they charge are just oh so worth it and they've done such a great job of managing peoples cash.

[Sean of the Thread]

Damn looks pretty legit.

Not a chance in hell someone would loan me money with my credit score. But who knows what seems like a lot of money to me can be pennies to others.

I just did get my student loans taking care of through the William D Ford program. Figured I had nothing to lose so why not.

[Ignot]

Yeah, let's just give it to banks and let financial advisers tell us how we should manage our own money... because the fees they charge are just oh so worth it and they've done such a great job of managing peoples cash.

You really don't know what a financial advisor does do you?

[Bobmuhthol]

<<You really don't know what a financial advisor does do you?>>

They tell us how we should manage our own money. Kranar actually knows exactly what a financial advisor does. Their services are also fee-based, so I still don't see a disconnect between what Kranar said and the truth. And, unsurprisingly, Kranar is right again in the statement that financial advisors are commonly ineffective.