• Roundup of Social Lending News – February 18, 2012 – Every Saturday I bring you the latest news from the world of peer to peer lending. These are the best of the news articles and blog posts from around the web that I shared on Twitter this past week. We have an interesting collection of articles for you to read this weekend. Lending Club is featured in…
• Seasoned Loans for Lending Club Investors – One thing I really appreciate about Prosper is their promotion of seasoned loans over the current ROI. When you buy a note, 5 payments must be missed for the loan to be charged off. In the mean time that note has no impact on your ROI in a negative way. As a result it can artificially inflate your…
• Celebrate! We’re Turning 6. Your 2nd Loan Payment Is On Us! – We’re turning 6! List a loan on our special day and we’ll make your second payment for you.
  It was six years ago that we at Prosper.com set out to provide people a better way to borrow–through peer-to-peer lending. To mark our anniversary, we have a special gift for you! If you post for a…
• Delving into Lending Club’s Latest Financial Statements – Yesterday Lending Club released their latest 10-Q filing that they are required to submit every quarter to the SEC.  This filing is for the 4th quarter of 2011, Lending Club’s fiscal 3rd quarter. These filings contain a great deal of information, most of which is superfluous to the average investor. There are a few things…
• Crowdcube Celebrates First Birthday – Crowdcube Infographic – British P2P Equity marketplace startup Crowdcube celebrates its first anniversary (Happy Birthday from P2p-Banking, too ). Lately Crowdcube picked up speed substantially in attracting more and more startups pitching for funding. While investors are currently very selective in what to fund, the volume funded has shown nice growth too. The following infographic by Crowdcube…
• P2PXML.com Has Launched – I’ve started to roll out most of the work that’s been done on P2PXML. It’s still very much a work in progress, but there is enough of a scaffold in place to help people who want to process data start. I’ve created one client library for PHP, and there is another developer who is exploring…
• A Look Back at Prosper 1.0 – How Relevant are the Numbers? – Prosper launched with great fanfare back in 2006. For the first time in this country individuals could act like a bank and earn money from lending to their fellow Americans. Little did anyone know what would happen over the next three years. It sounded like a great idea at the time I am sure –…
• Roundup of Social Lending News – February 11, 2012 – Every Saturday I bring you the latest news from the world of peer to peer lending. These are the best of the news articles and blog posts from around the web that I shared on Twitter this past week. The last few weeks have seen several articles about p2p lending pioneer, Zopa, in the UK. Some of…

This article (This Week in Peer to Peer Lending: 2/19/2012) was originally developed by and is property of Peer to Peer Lending News. Checkout P2P Lending News for the latest social lending, microfinance and financial innovation news.

Here’s the text:

(EDGAR Online via COMTEX) –

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Consolidated Operations

In addition to historical information, this quarterly report contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed in the following “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Consolidated Operations” as well as in Part II Item 1A “Risk Factors.” Actual results could differ materially. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to; the level of demand for our products and services; the intensity of competition; our ability to effectively expand and improve internal infrastructure; and adverse financial, customer and employee consequences that might result to us if litigation were to be initiated and resolved in an adverse manner to us. For a more detailed discussion of the risks relating to our business, readers should refer to Part II Item 1A found later in this report entitled “Risk Factors,” as well as the “Risk Factors” section of the prospectus for the Notes dated August 15, 2011, and filed with the SEC, as may be amended or supplemented from time to time. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, including statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future, which speak only as of the date of this quarterly report. We assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Overview

We are an online financial platform. We allow qualified borrower members to obtain loans (which we refer to as “Member Loans”) with interest rates that they find attractive. From the launch of our platform in May 2007 until April 7, 2008, our platform allowed investor members to purchase assignments of Member Loans directly. Since October 13, 2008, investors have had the opportunity to purchase Member Payment Dependent Notes (which we refer to as the “Notes”) issued by us, with each series of Notes corresponding to an individual Member Loan originated on our platform. The Notes are dependent for payment on the related Member Loan and offer interest rates and credit characteristics that the investors find attractive. The vast majority of Member Loans originated since October 13, 2008, have been financed by Notes. Since November 2007, we have also financed portions of certain Member Loans ourselves using sources of funds other than Notes, with the intent and ability to hold these loans for the foreseeable future or to maturity. We receive the same terms on Member Loans that we finance as the terms received by other Note investors.

All Member Loans are unsecured obligations of individual borrower members with fixed interest rates, three-year or five-year maturities, minimum amounts of $1,000 and maximum amounts up to $35,000. The Member Loans are posted on our website, funded and issued by WebBank, an FDIC-insured, state-chartered industrial bank organized under the laws of the state of Utah, at closing and immediately sold to us after closing. As a part of operating our lending platform, we verify the identity of members, obtain borrower members’ credit characteristics from consumer reporting agencies such as TransUnion, Experian or Equifax and screen borrower members for eligibility to participate in the platform and facilitate the posting of Member Loans. Also, after acquiring the Member Loans from WebBank, we service the Member Loans on an ongoing basis.

We were incorporated in Delaware in October 2006, and in May 2007, began operations as an application on Facebook.com. In August 2007, we conducted a venture capital financing round and expanded our operations with the launch of our public website, www.lendingclub.com. The Company established a wholly-owned subsidiary, LCA, a registered investment adviser, in October 2010 for the purpose of expanding the pool of investor capital to invest in Notes and similar obligations. The Company established the Trust, a Delaware business trust in February 2011 to acquire and hold Member Loans for the sole benefit of investors that purchase Trust Certificates (Certificates) issued by the Trust and related to the underlying Member Loans. The Certificates may only be settled with cash flows from the related Member Loans held by the Trust consistent with the member payment dependent design of the Certificates; Certificate holders do not have recourse to the general credit of the Company or other investors.

In February and March 2011, LCA became the general partner in two investment funds that were formed to enable accredited investors to invest in Certificates. As of December 31, 2011, the lending platform has facilitated 42,535 member loans since our launch in May 2007.

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We have been operating since December 2007 pursuant to an agreement with WebBank. WebBank serves as the lender for all member loans originated through our platform. Our agreement with WebBank has enabled us to make our platform available to borrower members on a uniform basis nationwide, except that as of December 1, 2011, we do not currently offer member loans in Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota and Tennessee. We pay WebBank a monthly service fee based on the amount of loan proceeds disbursed by WebBank in each month, subject to a minimum monthly fee.

We have a limited operating history and have incurred net losses since our inception. Our net loss was $2,867,100 and $9,320,135 for the three and nine months ended December 31, 2011. We earn revenues from fees, primarily loan origination fees charged to borrower members, investor servicing fees and, beginning in 2011, management fees charged to limited partners in two private investment funds that purchase Trust Certificates (Certificates). We also earn net interest income on Member Loans on our balance sheet. To date, we have funded our operations primarily with proceeds from our venture capital financings, our credit facilities and debt and equity issuances, which are described under “Liquidity and Capital Resources”. The remaining borrowing capacity under our non-revolving credit facilities is zero. Over time, we expect that the number of borrower and investor members and the volume of Member Loans originated through our platform will increase, and that we will generate increased revenue from borrower origination fees, investor service fees and management fees.

Our operating plan allows for a continuation of the current strategy of raising capital through debt and equity financings to finance our operations until we reach profitability and become cash-flow positive, which we do not expect to occur within the next twelve months. Our operating plan calls for significant investments in sales, technology development, security, loan scoring, loan processing and marketing before we reach profitability.

From inception of the Company through December 31, 2011, we have raised approximately $78.8 million through preferred equity financings. Our last series of preferred equity financing was on July 28, 2011, when we raised approximately $25 million from the sale of 7,027,604 shares of our Series D convertible preferred stock. On August 31, 2011 we raised approximately $1 million from the sale of 281,104 additional shares of our Series D convertible preferred stock. See Note 14 – Subsequent Events for additional shares of Series D convertible preferred stock that were issued in January 2012.

Significant Accounting Policies and Estimates

The preparation of our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires us to make certain judgments, assumptions, and estimates that affect the amounts reported in our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. We believe that the judgments, assumptions and estimates upon which we rely are reasonable based upon information available to us at the time that these judgments, assumptions and estimates are made. However, any differences between these judgments, assumptions and estimates and actual results could have a material impact on our statement of operations and financial condition. The accounting policies, which are more fully described in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements, reflect our most significant judgments, assumptions and estimates and which we believe are critical in understanding and evaluating our reported financial results include: (1) revenue recognition;

Member Loans at Fair Value

We have elected fair value accounting for the vast majority of Member Loan originations since October 13, 2008, including all Member Loans originated since October 1, 2011, and all related Notes. The fair value election for these Member Loans and Notes allows symmetrical accounting for the timing and amounts recognized for both expected unrealized losses and realized losses on the Member Loans and the related Notes, consistent with the member payment dependent design of the Notes. All of our Member Loans are unsecured but the gross potential credit risk to the Company from Member Loans is significantly mitigated to the extent that loans are financed by Notes or Certificates that absorb the loans’ credit losses pursuant to the member payment dependency provision.

Absent the fair value elections for both Member Loans at fair value and Notes, Member Loans held for investment would be accounted for at amortized cost and would record loan loss provisions for estimated expected losses, but the related Notes also accounted for at amortized cost would recognize losses only when and in amounts actually realized, thereby resulting in a mismatch in the timing and amounts of loss recognition between a Member Loan and related Notes, which is not an appropriate representation for instruments that are designed to have linked

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cash flows and loss realization. The loan origination fees for Member Loans at fair value are recognized as interest income at the time of the loan origination. The costs to originate Member Loans at fair value are recognized in operating expenses as incurred. Interest income on Member Loans at fair value is recorded as earned. The remaining Member Loan originations have been accounted for at amortized cost as explained more fully below.

When we receive payments of principal and interest on Member Loans at fair value, we make principal and interest payments on related Notes, net of any applicable servicing fee on the payments received on the Member Loans at fair value. The principal payments reduce the carrying values of both the Member Loans at fair value and the related Notes. When explicit servicing fees apply, we do not directly record servicing fee revenue related to payments on the Member Loans at fair value. Instead, we record interest expense on the corresponding Notes based on the post-service fee interest payments we make to our investor members which results in an interest expense on these Notes that is lower than the interest income on the Member Loans at fair value.

We include in earnings the estimated unrealized fair value gains or losses during the period of Member Loans at fair value, and the offsetting estimated fair value losses or gains attributable to the expected changes in future payments on Notes.

At December 31, 2011, we estimated the fair values of Member Loans at fair value and their related Notes using a discounted cash flow valuation methodology. The estimated fair values of Member Loans are computed by projecting the future contractual cash flows to be received on the loans, adjusting those cash flows for our expectation of defaults and losses over the life of the loans, and discounting those projected net cash flows to a present value, which is the estimated fair value. Our expectation of future defaults and losses on loans is based on analyses of actual defaults and losses that occurred on the various credit grades of Member Loans over the past several years. The discount rates for the projected net cash flows of the Member Loans are our estimates of the rates of return that investors in unsecured consumer credit obligations would require when investing in the various credit grades of Member Loans.

Our obligation to pay principal and interest on any Note is equal to the pro-rata portion of the payments, if any, received on the related Member Loan at fair value, net of any applicable servicing fee. The effective interest rate associated with a Note will be less than the interest rate earned on the related Member Loan at fair value when an explicit servicing fee applies. At December 31, 2011, the discounted cash flow methodology used to estimate the Notes’ fair values uses the same projected net cash flows as their related Member Loans, adjusted for any applicable servicing fee. The discount rates for the projected net cash flows of the Notes are our estimates of the rates of return that investors in unsecured consumer credit obligations would require when investing in Notes with cash flows dependent on specific credit grades of Member Loans, servicing included.

For additional discussion on this topic, including the adjustments to the estimated fair values of Loans at fair value and Notes at fair value as of December 31, 2011, as discussed above, see Results of Operations – Fair Value Adjustments on Member Loans at Fair Value and Notes at Fair Value, and Note 5 – Member Loans at Fair Value and Notes at Fair Value.

Member Loans at Amortized Cost

The loan origination fees for Member Loans at amortized cost are deferred at origination and, with the related deferred loan origination costs, are amortized to interest income over the contractual lives of the loans using a method that approximates the effective interest method, which loans currently have original terms of 36 or 60 months. We record interest income on Member Loans at amortized cost as earned. Loans reaching 120 days delinquent are classified as nonaccrual loans.

We may incur losses if the borrower members fail to pay their monthly scheduled loan payments. An allowance for loan losses applies only to Member Loans at amortized cost and is a valuation allowance that is established as losses are estimated to have occurred at the balance sheet date through a provision for loan losses charged to earnings. Realized loan losses are charged against the allowance when management believes the uncollectability of a loan balance is confirmed.

The allowance for loan losses is evaluated on a periodic basis by management, and represents an estimate of potential credit losses based on a variety of factors, including the composition and quality of the Member Loans at amortized cost, loan specific information gathered through our collection efforts, delinquency levels, probable expected losses, current and historical charge-off and loss experience, current industry charge-off and loss

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experience, and general economic conditions. Determining the adequacy of the allowance for loan losses for Member Loans at amortized cost is subjective, complex and requires judgment by management about the effects of matters that are inherently uncertain, and actual losses may differ from our estimates.

Our estimate of the allowance for loan losses for Member Loans at amortized cost is developed by estimating both the rate of default of the loans within each credit score band using the FICO credit scoring model, a loan’s collection status, the borrower’s FICO score at or near the evaluation date, and the amount of probable loss in the event of a borrower member default.

Effective October 1, 2011, we revised the accounting policy for Member Loans to elect the fair value accounting option for all Member Loans originated on and after October 1, 2011. Prior to October 1, 2011, Member Loan originations financed by Notes were accounted for at fair value and Member Loan originations financed by us via sources of funds other than Notes were accounted for at amortized cost. As a result of the election of fair value accounting for all prospective loan originations, there were no new Member Loan originations accounted for at amortized cost after September 30, 2011.

Results of Operations

Revenues

Our business model consists primarily of charging fees to both borrower members and investor members for transactions through or related to our platform. During the three months ended December 31, 2011 and 2010, we originated $86,864,381, and $37,670,650 of loans, respectively, on our lending platform, an increase of 131%. During the nine months ended December 31, 2011 and 2010, we originated $211,422,101 and $102,843,500 of loans, respectively, on our lending platform, an increase of 106%.

Upon issuance of a loan, the borrower member pays a fee to us for providing the services of arranging the Member Loan. The loan origination fee charged to each borrower member is determined by the credit grade of that borrower member’s loan and as of December 31, 2011, ranged from 1.11% to 5.00% of the aggregate member loan amount. The loan origination fees are included in the annual percentage rate (“APR”) calculation provided to the borrower member and is subtracted from the gross loan proceeds prior to disbursement of the loan funds to the borrower member. The loan origination fees are recognized in interest income as described above in Significant Accounting Policies and Estimates.

Investor members that purchase Notes pay servicing fees to us on the payments for the related Member Loans and maintaining account portfolios. Beginning in March 2011, we began charging limited partners in two private investment funds (Funds) monthly management fees that are based on the month-end balances of their partners’ capital accounts. These management fees, which are charged in lieu of servicing fees on the Certificates purchased by the Funds, are recorded in other revenue.

To a lesser extent, we also generate revenue from the net interest income earned on Member Loans at amortized cost that we finance with sources of funds other than Notes.

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Net Interest Income
The following table summarizes interest income, interest expense and net
interest income as follows:
September 30,September 30,September 30,September 30,
Three Months Ended December 31,Nine Months Ended December 31,
2011201020112010
Interest income:
Member Loans at fair value:
Interest income$8,191,032$3,349,664$19,460,367$7,855,636
Origination fees3,738,3121,399,5689,122,4494,066,478
Total interest income, Member Loans at
fair value11,929,3444,749,23228,582,81611,922,114
Member Loans at amortized cost181,291187,605524,819637,945
Cash and cash equivalents4,5379,98114,57926,783
Total interest income$12,115,172$4,946,81829,122,214$12,586,842
Interest expense:
Notes:
Gross interest expense$8,076,114$3,349,664$19,291,665$7,855,636
Interest expense reduction for servicing
fee(275,582)(209,646)(783,341)(426,720)
Net interest expense, Notes7,800,5323,140,01818,508,3247,428,916
Loans Payable:
Interest expense29,019167,047143,719567,631
Amortization of loan discounts20,93967,81178,056217,479
Total interest expense, Loans Payable49,958234,858221,775785,110
Total interest expense$7,850,490$3,374,876$18,730,099$8,214,026
Net Interest Income$4,264,682$1,571,942$10,392,115$4,372,816

We had net interest income of $4,264,682 and $1,571,942 for the three months ended December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively, an increase of 171%, and $10,392,115 and $4,372,816 for the nine months ended December 2011 and 2010, respectively, an increase of 138%. The main drivers of our net interest revenue are the loan origination fees we collect from borrower members and, to a lesser extent, the servicing fees we collect from investor members. Loan origination fees are a function of the volume of Member Loans originated and the average fee charged to the borrower members.

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The following tables present the average balances of interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities, the components of interest income, interest expense, and net interest income for the three and nine month periods ended December 31, 2011 and 2010.

September 30,September 30,September 30,September 30,September 30,September 30,
Average Balance of Interest-Bearing Assets & Liabilities, Yields and Costs
Three Months Ended December 31, 2011Three Months Ended December 31, 2010
EstimatedInterestAverageEstimatedInterestAverage
AverageIncome /Yield /AverageIncome /Yield /
Balance 1(Expense)Cost 2Balance 1(Expense)Cost 2
Interest-Earning Assets:
Member Loans:
Member Loans at fair value, principal balance$268,496,373$8,191,03212.10 %$117,463,562$3,349,66411.31 %
Member Loan at fair value, origination fees3,738,3121,399,568
Member Loans at fair value, interest and fees268,496,37311,929,34417.63 %117,463,5624,749,23216.04 %
Member Loans at amortized cost2,945,232181,29124.42 %6,696,226187,60511.12 %
Cash, cash equivalents & restricted cash31,032,7374,5370.06 %19,777,8799,9810.20 %
Total Interest-Earning Assets$302,474,34212,115,17215.89 %$143,937,6684,946,81813.64 %
Interest-Bearing Liabilities:
Notes at fair value, principal balance$265,928,486(7,800,532)11.64 %$117,395,672(3,140,018)10.61 %
Loans payable1,040,842(49,958)19.04 %4,834,868(234,858)19.27 %
Total Interest-Bearing Liabilities$266,969,328(7,850,490)11.67 %$122,230,540(3,374,876)10.95 %
Net Interest Income$4,264,682$1,571,942
Net Interest Spread 34.22 %2.68 %
Net Interest Margin 45.59 %4.33 %

1. The estimated average balance represents the average of the month-end balances from the beginning through the end of the period.

2. Yields and costs are annualized based on actual number of days in the period.

3. Net interest spread equals the difference between the yield on interest-earning assets and the cost of interest-bearing liabilities.

4. Net interest margin equals net interest income divided by average interest-earning assets, annualized.

The yield on average interest-earning assets rose 2.25% to 15.89% for the three months ended December 31, 2011, from 13.64% for the same period in the preceding year primarily due to the increase in the proportion of balances in higher-yielding Member Loans relative to the balances in low-yielding cash and cash equivalents, and to a lesser extent, the 1.59% increase in the average yield on Member Loans at fair value to 17.63% from 16.04%, which was attributable to increased origination fees in the current quarter and a 0.79% increase in the average interest rate on Member Loans at fair value in the current quarter relative to the same quarter in the preceding year. The cost of average interest-bearing liabilities increased 0.72% to 11.67% for the three months ended December 31, 2011, from 10.95% for the same period in the preceding year as the decline in the proportion of balances in higher-cost loans payable only partially offset the 1.03% increase in the average interest cost of Notes to 11.64% from 10.61%. As a result of the factors described above, the net interest margin for the three months ended December 31, 2011, rose 1.26% to 5.59% from 4.33% for the same period in the preceding year.

We originated $86,864,381 and $35,144,975 of Member Loans at fair value in the three months ended December 31, 2011, and 2010, respectively, an increase of 147%, and we collected origination fees on those loan originations of $3,738,312 and $1,399,568 in those periods, respectively, an increase of 167%. The average loan origination fees were 4.30% and 3.98% of the principal amount of loans originated in the three months ended December 31, 2011, and 2010, respectively. The increase in the average loan origination fee in the current period was primarily due to an increase in the origination of certain five year loans that carry higher origination fees than three year loans of the same credit grade.

This article (Lending Club Issues New 10-Q Form) was originally developed by and is property of Peer to Peer Lending News. Checkout P2P Lending News for the latest social lending, microfinance and financial innovation news.

Here’s the press release:

BOSTON, MA, Feb 01, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — National Family Mortgage, America’s premier peer-to-peer lending solution for home loans between relatives, today announced that it has passed $20 million in total mortgage loan originations. Since National Family Mortgage launched to the public in November 2010, its innovative peer-to-peer lending platform has helped thousands of families across America achieve their financial goals, protected their personal relationships, and saved them millions of dollars.

“National Family Mortgage’s incredible success in 2011 proves that Americans are committed to beating a broken banking system,” said Timothy Burke, CEO and Founder of National Family Mortgage. “Our determined customer base has recognized the win-win value of our platform, and we look forward to accelerated growth in 2012.”

Benefits For Lenders

– BETTER RETURNS: Invest in family and earn more interest than from a
bank. Reinvest a steady monthly revenue stream however desired.
– STRONG PROTECTION: Registered security. Prevent legal, estate, and
gift tax issues. Protect the interests of other family members.
– FLEXIBILITY: From down payment loans to 100% financing or refinancing,
to home improvement loans.
– CLEAR EXPECTATIONS: Protect relationships and help loved ones succeed.

Benefits For Borrowers

– LOWER RATES: Borrow from family and save tens of thousands of dollars.
Lower interest, no points, low fees, and tax deductible.
– EASIER QUALIFYING: No red-tape.
– BETTER DEALS ON HOMES: Buyers with secure financing can often close
quickly and negotiate better deals on homes.
– BUILD FAMILY WEALTH: Beat the bank and keep interest in the family.
Protect relationships and keep things business like.

Since launching in November 2010, National Family Mortgage has helped

families across the US keep over $10 million of interest within their own families — bypassing a broken banking system. Average loan terms since inception are 3.58% fixed, 22 years, zero points. Optional loan servicing program collects and credits monthly payments, issues year-end tax forms, and protects family relationships.

“National Family Mortgage’s innovative solutions to the financial crisis have clearly struck a chord with consumers,” said Burke. “Our simple, transparent platform has empowered borrowers and lenders alike to get a better deal and to keep money where it belongs — with their own family.”

About National Family Mortgage National Family Mortgage is an online peer-to-peer lending company committed to offering consumers alternatives to traditional and costlier forms of home financing. National Family Mortgage has developed a safe and easy way for families to structure home loans with their relatives — thereby helping people arrange affordable loans, while reducing tax issues, protecting relationships, and keeping money in the family. With interest rates that are typically lower than rates charged by a bank, National Family Mortgage allows consumers to take major steps toward achieving the dream of home ownership with help from family, while saving thousands of dollars.

National Family Mortgage Press Contact:
Jeanne Kleinberg
781.269.5478
Email Contact

http://www.twitter.com/FamilyMortgage

This article (National Family Mortgage Hits $20 Million Loan Volume) was originally developed by and is property of Peer to Peer Lending News. Checkout P2P Lending News for the latest social lending, microfinance and financial innovation news.

The company issued the following press release:

SAN FRANCISCO, CA–(Marketwire – Feb 2, 2012) - Prosper.com, a peer-to-peer lending marketplace for personal loans and investments, announced today that it has funded more than $300 million in P2P consumer loans since inception. The company also announced that it funded a record $10.8 million in loans in January alone. This latest monthly milestone continues a streak of 12 consecutive months of record growth, a 178% year-over-year increase in personal loans funded.

“Our record growth is a true testament to our category-best seasoned returns for lenders,” said Chris Larsen, Prosper’s chief executive officer and co-founder. “Investors are turning to us for ourhigh-yield returns and our transparent, trusted marketplace. We look forward to continued growth in 2012.”

Highlights for January 2012 include:

• Record monthly origination volumes of $10.8 million;
• 14% monthly growth in originations from December 2011;
• 11.4% compound monthly growth rate over the last 12 months;
• Borrower listings increased 30%;
• Growth achieved while maintaining strong risk return metrics: average credit score of 724(2) and estimated loss of 5.69%¹ while delivering a 10.46%¹ ROI.

Prosper is the only P2P lender to report seasoned and audited returns. Seasoned returns are a more conservative and accurate indicator of returns, reflecting a loan or portfolio of loans that has matured enough for the performance to have stabilized. This return is thought to more accurately reflect the true underlying return of the asset.

Prosper contracted Ashland & Partners to conduct a comprehensive audit of its individual loans and operational infrastructure. The independent audit represents a first in P2P lending, setting the stage for full transparency and return on investment (ROI) verification. Ashland examined a specified Schedule of Performance for the Prosper All Rated Notes by Vintage Month Performance Record for the period July 1, 2009 through September 30, 2011.

Debt consolidation, home improvement and small business-related loans remain the leading loan categories on Prosper.com. To learn more about Prosper’s lender returns and competitive personal loans, visit www.prosper.com.

About Prosper
Prosper Marketplace Inc., a peer-to-peer lending marketplace that brings together creditworthy borrowers with individual and institutional investors, allows people to invest in each other in a way that is financially and socially rewarding. Individual and institutional investors invest in minimum increments of $25 on loan listings they select. In addition to credit scores, ratings and histories, investors can consider borrowers’ personal loan descriptions, endorsements from friends, and community affiliations. Prosper handles the servicing of the loan on behalf of the matched borrowers and investors. Prosper was co-founded by Chris Larsen, co-founder of E-LOAN. Prosper has raised $83.85 million in venture capital and is backed by financial and technology luminaries including, Tim Draper of Draper Fisher Jurvetson; David Silverman of Crosslink Capital, Accel Partners; CompuCredit; Omidyar Network; Capital One Co-founder Nigel Morris of QED Investors; Court Coursey of TomorrowVentures; Larry Cheng of Volition Capital.

Notes offered by Prospectus.

(1) Seasoned Return and annual loss rate calculations represent historical performance data for the Borrower Payment Dependent Notes (“Notes”) issued and sold by Prosper since July 15, 2009. To be included in the calculations, Notes must be associated with a borrower loan originated more than 10 months ago; these calculations use loans originated through February 28, 2011. Our research shows that Prosper Note returns historically have shown increased stability after they’ve reached ten months of age. For that reason, we provide “Seasoned Returns”, defined as the Return for Notes aged 10 months or more. To calculate the Return, all payments received on borrower loans, net of principal repayment, credit losses, and servicing costs for such loans, are aggregated and then divided by the average daily amount of aggregate outstanding principal. To annualize this cumulative return, it is divided by the dollar-weighted average age of the loans in days and then multiplied by 365. Returns have been audited by a 3rd party for all data through September 30, 2011. Seasoned Return is not necessarily indicative of the future performance on any Notes. The annual loss rate represents the actual losses on Notes. To calculate the annual loss rate, the net credit losses corresponding to eligible Notes are aggregated then divided by the average daily amount of aggregate outstanding principal for such loans. To annualize this rate, the cumulative number is divided by the dollar-weighted average age of the loans in days and then multiplied by 365. The forecast loss rate represents the Estimated Annual Loss Rates we provided for the borrower listings corresponding to the Notes included in the calculation of annual loss rate. All calculations were made as of December 31, 2011.

(2) Average Experian Scorex PLUS credit score of loans originated on the platform from July 15, 2009 through January 31, 2012. The average is weighted by the originated dollar amount of the loan.

This article (Prosper hits $300 Million Loan Mark) was originally developed by and is property of Peer to Peer Lending News. Checkout P2P Lending News for the latest social lending, microfinance and financial innovation news.

• Roundup of Social Lending News – February 4, 2012 – Every Saturday I bring you the latest news from the world of peer to peer lending. These are the best of the news articles and blog posts from around the web that I shared on Twitter this past week. Last week, I included in this column an article by This is Money about Zopa in the UK…

This article (This Week in Peer to Peer Lending: 2/12/2012) was originally developed by and is property of Peer to Peer Lending News. Checkout P2P Lending News for the latest social lending, microfinance and financial innovation news.

The company issued the following press release today:

Düsseldorf, 7. February 2012.  auxmoney.com, Germany’s largest internet platform for peer-to-peer loans, is delighted to announce that more than 1.7 million euros of private loans were successfully funded on auxmoney’s proprietary lending platform in the month of January. It was the first time in the company’s 5-year history that the loan book grew by more than one million euros in a single month. Two recently introduced product innovations delivered a “double-whammy” impact, catapulting auxmoney into the top tier of Europe’s leading players in peer-to-peer lending.

January’s loan volume reached a total of 1,740,900 euros, a level more than twice as high as that achieved in December 2011 (765,400 euros). In fact, it appears that the January financing volume on auxmoney.com was higher than that of any other peer-to-peer lending platform in Continental Europe.

Since the launch of auxmoney.com in early 2007, more than 5,500 private loans have been successfully financed by private individuals – an aggregate loan volume of more than 22 million euros. The record result of January 2012 demonstrates the dynamic and continuing growth momentum of auxmoney.com.

Product initiatives continue to drive auxmoney.com

In December 2012, the company launched the “private-to-private car loan” facility which enables borrowers to purchase cars with a secured loan financed on auxmoney.com. The car serves as collateral in connection with this loan. This contributed meaningfully to the increase in lending volumes on auxmoney.com.

The company also recently introduced the “stop at 100%” function which enables borrowers to accelerate the funding of their loan projects. This equally proved to be highly popular within auxmoney’s client base.

Philipp Kriependorf, managing director of auxmoney.com, said:

“The stellar growth of our platform in January is to a large extent the result of the two recently introduced innovations. auxmoney is constantly breaking new ground, making it easier for borrowers to access the funds they require, simultaneously making peer-to-peer loans an increasingly popular asset class for investors. Our proven ability in adapting our product offering to our market’s evolving needs will keep us on our fast-track growth path for the years to come. I believe auxmoney is well on track towards becoming the largest peer-to-peer platform in all of Europe.”

This article (German P2P Lender Auxmoney Sees Growth) was originally developed by and is property of Peer to Peer Lending News. Checkout P2P Lending News for the latest social lending, microfinance and financial innovation news.

February 2012 marked a strong month for my peer-to-peer lending portfolio.

Lending Club:

My Lending Club account now has a balance of $96,806.35 and I’m currently earnings a net annualized return of 13.58%. I had three new notes go into default during the month of February, which did not have a significant effect on my net annualized return (NAR). My NAR actually went up a by 0.37% since last month. This is almost certainly the calm before the storm. I know that as my portfolio ages that more loans will go late and default, lowering my rate of return.

I didn’t place any new money into my Lending Club portfolio last month, and don’t anticipate doing so for some time.  I did make an additional deposit of $7,400 into my Prosper account though

Prosper:

My Prosper account now has a balance of $18,226.67. I currently have 79 notes in my portfolio that have an average note age of 46 days. Prosper currently reports that my average rate of return is 16.73%. This number appears great on face, but really is meaningless since the average age of my notes is only 46 days old.

At this point, all of my notes are current, but I don’t expect that to be the case over the next several months. I am investing in riskier loans on Prosper and will likely see higher defaults as a result, but am getting much higher interest payments as a result.

One big difference between my Lending Club account and Prosper account is the size of my notes. There aren’t very many notes on Prosper that meet the relatively strict criteria that I use to select notes. As a result, I’m using a note-size of$200.00 for the notes that I’m most interested in investing in and $100.00 for other notes.

I’ve also become a big fan of the ability to automatically invest in loans that meet your criteria on Prosper. This feature enables you to get in on hard to find loans and makes one’s peer-to-peer lending investment a passive growth investment. It’s certainly nice not having to log into my account on a regular basis and reinvest funds that I’ve received.

My Future Plans:

In 2011, putting money into peer-to-peer lending was one of my major financial goals. In 2012, my wife and I have other financial goals that we’ll be pursuing (paying for the second half of my graduate degree and building up some cash for a down payment on our next house). I plan on building my Lending Club account up to $100,000 and my Prosper account to $25,000 then using the income from those two investments as passive income sources to fund our other financial goals.

This article (My Peer to Peer Lending Performance: February 2012 Update) was originally developed by and is property of Peer to Peer Lending News. Checkout P2P Lending News for the latest social lending, microfinance and financial innovation news.

• Roundup of Social Lending News – February 4, 2012 – Every Saturday I bring you the latest news from the world of peer to peer lending. These are the best of the news articles and blog posts from around the web that I shared on Twitter this past week. Last week, I included in this column an article by This is Money about Zopa in the UK…
• Using Mint and Yodlee to Track Your P2P Investments – Account Tracking One feature that doesn’t exist for P2P investors is a way to track your account balance visually. There are two web applications, Mint.com and Yodlee that support the major P2P platforms and offer some augmented visualization techniques of your portfolio. Mint.com Mint.com offers support for both Lending Club and Prosper. But the two…
• Lending Club Surpasses $500 Million in P2P Loans – We all knew this was coming but this morning it became official. Earlier today Lending Club crossed over $500 million in new loans originated since they started operations in 2007. In fact, it has been quite a rapid start to the month for Lending Club with nearly $10 million in new loans issued in the first…
• Prosper Breaks $10 Million and Lending Club Keeps Rolling On – Both Lending Club and Prosper have started out 2012 strongly. In January Prosper broke $10 million for the first time and achieved an all time high in new monthly loan originations beating their previous high of $9.6 million set in May 2008. Lending Club had an amazing month with most days originating more than $2…
• Do you use Mint.com or Yodlee to track your investments? – Just a quick poll. No need to register. I am try to get a feel for how the p2p uses tools like Mint.com / Yodlee for an upcoming blog post….
• You Can Now Open a Prosper IRA – This week Prosper is set to announce the launch of an IRA option for investors. They did a soft launch of their IRA product back in November to a handful of customers but it is now available to everyone. There will likely be an announcement from Prosper on their new IRA some time this week….
• Roundup of Social Lending News – January 28, 2012 – Every Saturday I bring you the latest news from the world of peer to peer lending. These are the best of the news articles and blog posts from around the web that I shared on Twitter this past week. We have an interesting cross section of articles this week. I would like to highlight the Prosper review…
• How Do the Efforts of Prosper and Lending Club in Search Engine Marketing Compare? – Internet ventures are dependant to a certain degree to new visitors that are referred to them via search engines. A visitor that did a search on a very specific search term, e.g. ‘get a personal loan’ will have a very high chance to sign up if after that search he is introduced to the Prosper…

This article (This Week in Peer to Peer Lending: 2/5/2012) was originally developed by and is property of Peer to Peer Lending News. Checkout P2P Lending News for the latest social lending, microfinance and financial innovation news.

Both companies had a strong lending month in January. Lending Club led the way with $34.0 million in loan originations, up from $31.0 million in loan originations during the month of December. Prosper issued $10.8 million in loan originations during the month of January, up from $9.5 million during the month of December. Lending Club issued 2,602 loans to borrowers during the month and Prosper issued 1,469 loans.

On a year over year basis, Lending Club saw a 229% increase in monthly loan volume compared to January 2011, when it facilitated $14.8 million in loans. Prosper’s monthly loan volume has grown 322% on a year over year basis compared to January 2011, when it facilitated $3.4 million in loan volume.

At current growth rates, Prosper and Lending Club will hit the $1 billion mark in loan originations sometime between May and July of this year. I previously predicted that Prosper and Lending Club will hit $1.4 billion in loan volume by the end of the year.

January was a relatively slow news month for the peer-to-peer lending industry. Prosper was most active in launching a new mobile site and offering a new IRA investment option for investors.

This article (Lending Club Surpasses $500 Million in Loan Originations, Prosper Tops $300 Million) was originally developed by and is property of Peer to Peer Lending News. Checkout P2P Lending News for the latest social lending, microfinance and financial innovation news.

However, what many businesses may not realise is that equipment leasing is available for practically any asset, not just computer equipment. There are in fact countless assets that can be leased for business.

What can my business lease?

When it comes to asset and equipment finance, the requirements for leasing are:

-          The asset must be used for business purposes

-          The asset should have a clear and separate title and not be tied to its location (e.g. office fit-outs would not qualify)

-          The asset should not be a consumable (e.g. ink cartridges would not qualify)

-          The asset must not require on road registration (separate vehicle financing is available for business fleets)

This means that the list of leasable items is pretty big. Of course, bear in mind that each individual asset will need to be assessed before a lease is offered.

Consider these assets:

-          Vacuum cleaners for commercial cleaning

-          Compressed air control equipment for construction

-          Hydroponics equipment for agriculture businesses

-          Oil drilling equipment for mining

-          X-ray machines for medical clinics and hospitals

-          Laser hair removal machines for medical aesthetics clinics

-          Coin and note changing equipment for wholesalers and manufacturers

The list goes on!

How do I lease the equipment I need for my business?

If you’re looking to lease equipment for your business, the best place to start is with your equipment supplier. Many suppliers offer vendor finance programs that allow you to apply for equipment financing during the time of purchase so you can work with your trusted supplier and not have to deal with an involved application process. It’s easy to choose the equipment you need and then get approved for financing.

Alternatively, some businesses may be interested in having an approved finance amount before they start shopping. You can apply directly for asset finance and then look for the equipment you need. Some arrangements will even let you draw down on a pre-approved amount so you can bundle your equipment into one leasing arrangement.

From compressed air control equipment to oil drilling machines, what equipment will you lease for your business?

This article (Business Equipment You Didn’t Know You Could Finance) was originally developed by and is property of Peer to Peer Lending News. Checkout P2P Lending News for the latest social lending, microfinance and financial innovation news.

Social Lending Network reports that the company did a soft launch of its IRA product to a small group of customers in November, but now the account option is available to all investors. Like Lending Club’s IRA option, Prosper’s IRA will be a self-directed IRA that’s managed by a third-party. Prosper will be using Sterling Trust as its partner. Prosper has also placed a $10,000 minimum to open an IRA account.

The big question is whether or not you should use your IRA to invest in peer-to-peer lending. If you have a 401K plan or other retirement plan through your job or business and are already investing in stocks and bonds, Prosper or Lending Club’s IRA option could be a great way to reduce the taxes you pay on peer-to-peer lending. If you’re not already investing for retirement using another tax advantaged account, your IRA should probably be used for something that’s less of an alternative investment. I’m excited about the rates of return that peer-to-peer lending offers, but they have less than a five year track record. Putting money into peer-to-peer loans probably isn’t the investment that you want to bet your retirement on, at least, not yet.

Anyone interested in opening a Prosper IRA can do so at www.prosper.com/ira/

This article (Prosper Announces IRA Account Option) was originally developed by and is property of Peer to Peer Lending News. Checkout P2P Lending News for the latest social lending, microfinance and financial innovation news.

• Roundup of Social Lending News – January 28, 2012 – Every Saturday I bring you the latest news from the world of peer to peer lending. These are the best of the news articles and blog posts from around the web that I shared on Twitter this past week. We have an interesting cross section of articles this week. I would like to highlight the Prosper review…
• How Do the Efforts of Prosper and Lending Club in Search Engine Marketing Compare? – Internet ventures are dependant to a certain degree to new visitors that are referred to them via search engines. A visitor that did a search on a very specific search term, e.g. ‘get a personal loan’ will have a very high chance to sign up if after that search he is introduced to the Prosper…
• Independent Audit Confirms Prosper’s Industry-Best Returns – In this blog, Prosper announces the results of the independent audit of investor returns by Ashland LLP–the first of its kind in the peer-to-peer industry….
• Why is This E-Grade Loan Paying Just 6% Interest? – I first noticed this in one of my Lending Club accounts about a year ago. It was a C-grade loan that went from 14% and was suddenly paying 6%. I thought it must have been a mistake but when I did some investigating I discovered this 6% rate was indeed correct. How can that be?…
• Thursday’s Webinar Agenda – Remember this Thursday, the 26th, I’ll be hosting a Webinar.  If you haven’t signed up you should do so, it will be very informative! Introduction My background Nickel Steamroller – meaning / history Disclosure The Platform Import Scripts Scaling Issues Undocumented Features Costs of running NSR Tools LendStats approach to finding ROI Statistics Finding meaning filters…
• The Lending Club Secondary Market Access Portal is Back – I wrote a new secondary market access portal today. I am taking a varied approach to getting the data into the system, so we’ll see how it works out. I also added the ability to export the entire secondary market for your own filtering via Excel or any other application you want that supports CSV….
• Roundup of Social Lending News – January 21, 2012 – Every Saturday I bring you the latest news from the world of peer to peer lending. These are the best of the news articles and blog posts from around the web that I shared on Twitter this past week. There was plenty of news items from the UK this week but it was a pretty quiet week…

This article (This Week in Peer to Peer Lending: 1/29/2012) was originally developed by and is property of Peer to Peer Lending News. Checkout P2P Lending News for the latest social lending, microfinance and financial innovation news.

It’s also interesting to note that the study only contains data dating back to July of 2009, when Prosper revamped its business model. Before that date, Prosper did not place stringent enough requirements on borrowers and made use of a reverse Dutch auction model which caused investors to bid each other down to the point where interest rates made little financial sense. As a result, many early investors lost money by investing in peer-to-peer loans on Prosper, resulting in a class action lawsuit against the company.

Prosper has had gotten its act together much more in the last year, but issuing dishonest, self-congratulating press releases is not a great way to inspire confidence.

Here’s the text of the release:

Independent Audit Confirms Industry-Best Returns of P2P Lender Prosper.com

Industry-first independent audit demonstrates a model for transparency in P2P lending, verifies Prosper’s industry-leading returns

San Francisco – January 25, 2012 – Following a year that ended with 178% year-over-year growth, Prosper, a peer-to-peer lending marketplace for personal loans, today announced that Ashland Partners & Company LLP has released the results of its independent audit of investor returns on Prosper.com. The independent audit represents a first in P2P lending, setting the stage for full transparency and return on investment (ROI) verification.

The report confirmed Prosper’s 10.69% annualized seasoned rate of return, net of fees, for the period of July 1, 2009 through September 30, 2011. This is the first time an accredited, independent organization has conducted a comprehensive audit of P2P lending returns.

Ashland is a leading provider of compliance consultation and verification services to the investment management community, with offices in the U.S., Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul. Ashland is specializes in GIPS verification and consultation.

“Our investors need the highest degree of confidence in the transparency, accuracy and reliability of our high-yield P2P lending returns,” said Chris Larsen, Prosper’s co-founder and CEO. “We conducted this audit because we believe that high minimum standards, full data transparency and rigorous self-regulation are critical to earning customer trust and protecting the long-term viability of this industry.”

Prosper contracted Ashland to conduct a comprehensive audit of its individual loans and operational infrastructure in accordance with attestation standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Ashland examined a specified Schedule of Performance for the Prosper All Rated Notes by Vintage Month Performance Record for the period July 1, 2009 through September 30, 2011.

Prosper is the only P2P lender to report seasoned returns, which it first reported in October 2011. Seasoned returns are a more conservative and accurate indicator of returns, reflecting a loan or portfolio of loans that has matured enough for the performance to stabilize. This return is thought to more accurately reflect the true underlying return of the asset.

On November 4, 2011, Prosper held the industry’s first P2P Lending Performance Measurement Summit to discuss the need for industry performance measurement standards in the U.S. Prosper senior executives discussed the need for rigorous analytics, full transparency of metrics and a call for seasoned returns in P2P lending. Prosper requested the audit by Ashland Partners & Company to establish the first set of P2P lending standards.

“Prosper is committed to regular audits of its returns to verify our performance and continue to earn the trust of our investor community,” said Joseph Toms, chief investment officer of Prosper. “As the peer-to-peer lending industry continues to experience such dramatic growth, we look forward to continuing to set the industry standard in reliable investor returns, and transparency and accountability.”

For a full copy of the P2P lending industry’s first independent performance report or to learn more about Prosper’s lender returns and competitive personal loans, visit www.prosper.com.

This article (Prosper Hires Auditor to Confirm Investment Returns, Issues Self-Congratulatory Press Release) was originally developed by and is property of Peer to Peer Lending News. Checkout P2P Lending News for the latest social lending, microfinance and financial innovation news.

Here’s the text of the release.

OSTON, MA, Jan 24, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — National Family Mortgage, America’s premier peer-to-peer lending solution for home loans between relatives, today announced its support for SlashDeclare, a collaborative movement from innovative financial services companies wanting a more productive, fair and transparent system for everyone. The movement was recently founded by top disruptive financial services companies, Betterment, PerkStreet Financial, and BillGuard.

“We are proud to be a part of the growing SlashDeclare movement and are committed to helping bring transparency and fairness to consumers across America,” said Timothy Burke, CEO and founder of National Family Mortgage. “National Family Mortgage recognizes that high standards, full transparency, and a commitment to helping consumers find a better deal are the keys to restoring confidence in US financial services.”

To demonstrate their participation in the movement, National Family Mortgage created a SlashDeclare web page, which can be found at:

nationalfamilymortgage.com/declare

This declarations page highlights a “Customer Bill of Rights,” that National Family Mortgage believes all of their customers are entitled to, including, “a right to build your own bank.”

“Together with Betterment and BillGuard, PerkStreet is pleased to be spearheading the SlashDeclare movement in an effort to create a better financial services landscape for all,” said Dan O’Malley, CEO of PerkStreet Financial. “SlashDeclare is about reforming our industry from the inside out, and National Family Mortgage is a fantastic addition to the roster of great companies participating in this revolution.”

This article (National Family Mortgage Announces Support of “Slash Declare” Movement) was originally developed by and is property of Peer to Peer Lending News. Checkout P2P Lending News for the latest social lending, microfinance and financial innovation news.

Here’s how Michael described the webinar on his site:

I’ll be hosting a 45 minute webinar followed by a 30+ minute Q/A discussing the features and tools of Nickel Streamroller. I want to dive into the platform in-depth. We will cover everything from how to find statistically meaningful filters to some of the low level technical details. I’ll talk a little about some of the challenges I’ve had creating the system and where I see it going in the future. I hope to keep the webinar very interactive. I’ll be hosting the audio portion of it via a conference bridge so you can dial in from anywhere, even your car during rush hour traffic. I hope you join me, it should be a fun and information packed hour.

Nickel Steamroller posted an agenda for tomorrow’s webinar here.

Interested parties can register for the webinar at this link.

This article (Nickel Streamroller to Host P2P Lending Webinar) was originally developed by and is property of Peer to Peer Lending News. Checkout P2P Lending News for the latest social lending, microfinance and financial innovation news.

• Roundup of Social Lending News – January 21, 2012 – Every Saturday I bring you the latest news from the world of peer to peer lending. These are the best of the news articles and blog posts from around the web that I shared on Twitter this past week. There was plenty of news items from the UK this week but it was a pretty quiet week…
• A Snapshot of All My P2P Lending Accounts – Today, I am going to open the kimono, so to speak, and provide an inside look at all six of my p2p lending accounts. The question I get more than any other is about the returns I am getting. This is what nearly every investor wants to know. So, today I will answer that question…
• FICO vs VantageScore – Credit Scores A credit score is a metric used by companies to assess your worthiness to borrow money or your credit risk. Every time you apply for a credit card, car loan, house, or other debt, instrument lenders will request your credit score. These scores are core to the P2P lending business and essentially share…
• Adwords Marketing Activity of British P2P Lending Marketplaces – I did some research on use of Google Adwords in the online marketing strategy of Zopa, Funding Circle and Ratesetter.
  Who is most active in search engine advertising?
  I was surprised to see that Funding Circle is the most active in advertising on Google Adwords.

  The chart shows that Fundingcircle had active ads nearly the whole year, while…

• S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Index – Standard and Poors in conjunction with Experian publishes consumer default information every month. This is a fascinating source of information because it gives key indicators to America’s ability to service debt repayment. As to be expected there was a significant spike in default during the peak of the financial crisis. The good news, the default…
• Prosper Running a $1,000 Cash Giveaway – Prosper has a new promotion to start out the New Year. Just provide them with your name and email address and you will have a chance to win $1,000 cash. There is nothing else you have to do to enter. You can also increase your chances of winning by using your special referral link and getting…
• Roundup of Social Lending News – January 14, 2012 – Every Saturday I bring you the latest news from the world of peer to peer lending. These are the best of the news articles and blog posts from around the web that I shared on Twitter this past week. It seems that the mainstream media are most interested in the borrower side of p2p lending, in particular…
• Nickel Steamroller Webinar Reminder – The webinar will be hosted on anymeeting, you can sign up online now: http://www.anymeeting.com/AccountManager/RegEv.aspx?PIID=EB54DA808249 When: January 26th 7:00 PM CST…

This article (This Week in Peer to Peer Lending: 1/22/2012) was originally developed by and is property of Peer to Peer Lending News. Checkout P2P Lending News for the latest social lending, microfinance and financial innovation news.

Student Loans Are Yours for Life

One of the single most important things to be aware of is that once you take a student loan, there is no escaping it. Unlike other types of debt, such as credit card debt or personal loan debt, student loans are generally not eligible for discharge in bankruptcy. This means that once you have a student loan, it is not possible to ever get rid of it. This is true even if your circumstances change and it becomes very difficult for you to repay the loan. Unless you can show extreme undue hardship, which usually won’t happen unless you become totally and permanently disabled and unable to work, you’ll have to find some way of continuing to pay.

A Co-Signer Isn’t Always a Good Thing

Some students assume that having an adult or parent co-signer help them get their student loans is a good thing. After all, students typically don’t have a lot of credit and they may feel that they’ll be helped out by getting someone with a longer credit history to vouch for them.

Unfortunately, this only works if the parent or other adult co-signer has good credit. A bad credit score from the co-signer can make the student loan interest rate higher than it would otherwise be if the student applied on their own. Before getting anyone to co-sign for a loan, it is therefore important to make sure that person has a good credit score that will actually be helpful instead of harmful.

Greater Need Equals Cheaper Loans

Certain loans, such as government Stafford loans, have a very low interest rate and the government may subsidize that interest while you are still in school. In order to qualify for the most advantageous loans, you will need to show that you have a financial need for them. In some cases, showing a great financial need can even help you to get grants that don’t have to be paid back.

For some students, this can be a challenge because parental income is counted in determining need. Unless you are attending graduate school (instead of undergrad) or are emancipated from your parents, this means that you can be disqualified from the best aid if your parents make a lot of money.

Loans for More Than the Cost of College

Student loan companies will often be willing to lend you more than the actual cost of going to school. Payment for books and even for travel, room and board and other expenses may be borrowed. However, before you borrow more than you need, you should consider whether you want to take on the added debt burden and whether you are comfortable doing so in a student loan that you cannot ever get rid of in bankruptcy should you hit a financial bump. If you aren’t certain, click here to learn more about some loan options to help cover expenses and costs.

This article (What Isn`t Your Student Loan Company Telling You?) was originally developed by and is property of Peer to Peer Lending News. Checkout P2P Lending News for the latest social lending, microfinance and financial innovation news.

• Prosper Running a $1,000 Cash Giveaway – Prosper has a new promotion to start out the New Year. Just provide them with your name and email address and you will have a chance to win $1,000 cash. There is nothing else you have to do to enter. You can also increase your chances of winning by using your special referral link and getting…
• Roundup of Social Lending News – January 14, 2012 – Every Saturday I bring you the latest news from the world of peer to peer lending. These are the best of the news articles and blog posts from around the web that I shared on Twitter this past week. It seems that the mainstream media are most interested in the borrower side of p2p lending, in particular…
• Nickel Steamroller Webinar Reminder – The webinar will be hosted on anymeeting, you can sign up online now: http://www.anymeeting.com/AccountManager/RegEv.aspx?PIID=EB54DA808249 When: January 26th 7:00 PM CST…
• Lending Club Tweaks Marketing to Promote Range Instead of Platform Average – Anyone that runs an affiliate banner for Lending Club will notice something changed. They are re-tooling how they advertise their returns. Instead of giving a platform average they are explicitly stating a range, which is probably a more realistic way to promote the returns of the platform.  I find it interesting though that the range…
• P2P Lending Predictions For 2012 – I really like this time. The new year lies ahead with crispy, yet unknown innovations. What p2p lending developments might happen in 2012. Here are some personal opinions.
  Last year I failed big time with most of my predictions for 2012 not coming true.
  Deeper integration of mobile (probability <25%)
  Can you use a p2p lending…
• January Portfolio Update – I’ve passed the 10K mark in P2P lending, soon it will be 11K after a pending $250 deposit. It’s been an interesting ramp up.  I am invested in both platforms,  however I started off with Lending Club.  My confidence in both platforms continues to grow. I don’t have the same analytical depth in Prosper that…
• The Large Impact of Early Defaults on ROI – I have been keeping a daily track of my NAR on all my Lending Club accounts now for almost a year. I have also been doing this for my Prosper accounts since they introduced annualized return numbers back in October. During this time I have been able to observe the negative impact that defaults have…
• Taking Estimated ROI to the Next Level – I had my first defaults start to come in the last 30 days.  What’s interesting about this is how the platforms calculate the ROI…  to describe it in one word:  ”jumpy”.  Meaning, you can have a ROI that varies by more than 1% once a default happens.  If your ROI was to be plotted with…
• Roundup of Social Lending News – January 7, 2012 – Every Saturday I bring you the latest news from the world of peer to peer lending. These are the best of the news articles and blog posts from around the web that I shared on Twitter this past week. I have been offline most of this week as I traveled to Sydney, Australia (my home town) and…
• Let’s Get Real About Your New Year’s Resolution – Well, it’s that time of year again! The gym has gotten crowded and our bathrooms and kitchens are sparkling. But whether our resolutions are about health or wealth, many people will find themselves slipping off track over the next few weeks.
  So are you ready to make 2012 the year that you put your finances in…

This article (This Week in Peer to Peer Lending: 1/15/2012) was originally developed by and is property of Peer to Peer Lending News. Checkout P2P Lending News for the latest social lending, microfinance and financial innovation news.

Anyone interested in registering can do so at http://www.prosper.com/prm/payoffdebt.html. The deadline to enter is January 31^st, 2012.

Here’s the fine-print:

* NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PRODUCT PURCHASE WILL NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. INTERNET ACCESS IS REQUIRED TO ENTER. Void where prohibited. Offered and open only to legal residents of the fifty U.S and D.C., who are 18 or older at time of entry. Starts on or about 11:00 pm PT on January 12, 2012 and ends at 11:59 pm PT on January 31, 2012. Enter once each day (each an “Individual Entry”). You will also receive two Entries (each “Referral Entries”) for every entrant you refer (a “Referral Entrant”); provided, that the Referral Entrant entered the Promotion through the referral link that you received upon your first Individual Entry into the Promotion. Limit one Individual Entry per person per day. Limit twenty-five total Entries (Individual Entries and Referral Entries combined) per person. Prize (1): $1,000 (awarded in the form of a check). The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible Entries received. To enter, go to www.prosper.com/payoffdebt. Subject to these complete official rules.

This article (Prosper Holding “Pay Off My Debt” Sweepstakes) was originally developed by and is property of Peer to Peer Lending News. Checkout P2P Lending News for the latest social lending, microfinance and financial innovation news.

The company issued the following press release:

BOSTON, MA, Jan 09, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — National Family Mortgage, America’s premier peer-to-peer lending solution for home loans between relatives, today announced that company founder and CEO Timothy Burke will join a panel on the future of home financing at the upcoming Real Estate Connect 2012 Conference in New York City, New York, on Friday, January 13, 2012.

Who:

Timothy Burke, CEO of National Family Mortgage Burke has long been regarded as a consumer advocate, a peer-to-peer lending pioneer, and a disruptor of established financial service models. As the sales director of the first online peer-to-peer lending company CIRCLE LENDING (later, VIRGIN MONEY US), he was responsible for leading a team that defined the industry with over $450m in loan volume between family members and friends. This commitment to beating a broken institutional banking system and empowering consumers to efficiently build, protect, and transfer family wealth led to his founding of P2P lending website, National Family Mortgage. NFM brings a safe, easy and affordable way for families to realize the dream of homeownership, save money, reduce legal and gift tax issues, protect relationships and keep money in the family.

What: Panel discussion, “Rethinking Lending: The Future of Financing” Innovative home financing solutions are crucial to our economic recovery. While home prices and interest rates are low, banks are not lending; today’s lenders require perfect credit, strong employment history and 20% down payments. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 1/3 or recent first-time homebuyers received down payment help, usually from their parents. Meanwhile, the IRS has begun a nationwide crack-down on the widespread failure by Boomers to file required gift tax returns on intrafamily transactions. How can we ensure that today’s first-time buyers are not paying the price for yesterday’s failures by a broken banking system? Can peer-to-peer lending revive the real estate industry?

When: Friday, January 13, 2012, 9:15 a.m. EST – 9:40 a.m. EST Real Estate Connect Conference

Marriott Marquis Times Square

Produced by Inman News, Real Estate Connect is the preeminent, must attend conference that brings together the biggest names in real estate and technology to discover emerging trends and to develop innovative industry solutions for professionals and consumers.

Media attending the conference who are interested in arranging an interview with Burke should contact Jeanne Kleinberg at 781.269.5478 or at marketing@nationalfamilymortgage.com.

To learn more about National Family Mortgage’s Win-Win Mortgage please visit http://www.nationalfamilymortgage.com

About National Family Mortgage National Family Mortgage helps people structure, document, register, and manage the repayment of secure, tax-deductible mortgage loans with their relatives; in a way that is both financially and personally rewarding. Most National Family Mortgage customers are seeking to create win-win mortgage solutions and keep money in the family; borrowers access home loans with lower interest rates and origination fees than offered by most banks while lenders earn better returns than from CDs, money markets, or savings accounts. National Family Mortgages sets-up the serving of the loan to help protect relationships and make year-end tax reporting easy.

This article (National Family Mortgage CEO to Speak at Conference) was originally developed by and is property of Peer to Peer Lending News. Checkout P2P Lending News for the latest social lending, microfinance and financial innovation news.