Neither a borrower nor a lender be

When you read “The Merchant of Venice” was it Shylock you admired? Here’s your chance to invest your money at a little higher interest rate.

Who can borrow?

Any adult US resident with credit score of 520 or higher can create a listing for a loan on Prosper. After passing identity and fraud checks, borrowers can request unsecured loans from $1,000 to $25,000 at rates they select.

Who can lend?

Any adult US resident can lend money to others on Prosper. After passing Prosper’s identity and fraud checks, lenders offer money to borrowers at rates they select.

Is it guaranteed?

All of Prosper’s loans are 3-year unsecured loans. You can protect yourself from defaults by bidding as little as $50 on each loan and spreading your risk.

Prosper, the online marketplace for people-to-people lending.

4 thoughts on “Neither a borrower nor a lender be”

Facinating. In large dollar amounts this is prohibited by securities laws, but this makes artful use of the small transaction exceptions. I wouldn’t dream of entering into this kind of transaction.

And I was just going to ask if you could lend me a couple grand.

WOW! Does anyone else think this is as scary as I do.

Andrew Tobias added this thought today:

Prosper is not an appropriate place for someone with $30,000 to invest that $30,000. But if you’re a retiree with (say) $600,000 and time on your hands, and were intrigued to put $30,000 to work at Prosper in hope of netting a better return, after bad debts, than you could from a money market fund – with the added kicker of feeling that you helped out some younger folks whose stories appealed to you – well, I can think of dumber ways to risk $30,000.

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