Posts Tagged ‘Auto Loan’

Peer to Peer Lending: Discretionary Investing

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Kyle Gentile asked:


Peer to peer lending is often considered riskier than other forms of investment. Looking at peer to peer lending sites like Lending Club, they state the risk of investment is at your own risk and if you are not able to loss your money don’t invest. This is stated on their prospectus with the SEC and this represents the worse case scenario for investors. This admission is often enough to scare the majority of people away. So why is peer to peer lending so risky and if it so risky why are people still lending?

The overall risk is based in the nature of the loan issued. It is unsecured. Meaning, it has no real collateral backing the loan as in an auto loan or mortgage. There is only a promise to pay the loan by the borrower. This is not the only type unsecured loan today. Every credit card and store credit is an unsecured loan. These loans or lines of credit carry a high rate of interest due to the fact they are unsecured. The same is in true of peer to peer lending.

How is peer to peer lending different than a credit card? There time period to pay off the loan or maturity. Loans are usually over a three year period. The borrower pays installments and not minimums. The goal is to completely pay off the loan by the term.

So how risky are the loans? They often carry the same risk that credit cards and other types of unsecured debt. The risk is always present of non payment or late payment, but many steps are taken by lending institutions to reduce this risk.

First, the qualifications for borrowers are clearly stated and include a credit check. The institution reviews the credit history, utilization, credit score and several other factors as well as employment to assign the borrower’s loan a grade. If a person does not meet loan standards they are rejected. These are often posted for investors to review. This provides reassurance that the institution is doing its job. Second, the pertinent information from the background and credit check is posted with the loan request. Lenders are allowed to review this information and make their own decision as to whether to invest or not. Third, lenders are not required to invest in just one loan. Lenders can take their capital and spread it out among several loans. This has the effect of diversification and helps to further reduce risk to the lender.

So why are people investing in peer to peer loans? The returns are high. A site like lending club list a return in the range of 6% to 19% depending on the loan funded. This is an extremely high rate of return and is far better than other investments. Secondly, the default rate is low. Lending club is currently listing defaults of 120 plus around 2%.

The risk is always present, but the right steps need to be taken to avoid them. Find a reputable site for peer to peer lending. They make sure the proper background checks are performed and reject the borrowers that are too high of a risk. A lender should diversify their holdings of loans to further reduce their exposure to risk. For most lenders, the returns out weigh the risk and make it a feasible investment.



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Peer to Peer Lending: an Emerging Industry

peer to peer lending
Kyle Gentile asked:


For individuals seeking a loan for the reasons of debt consolidation, auto loan, student loan, small business loan or any other personal loan, there is a new option of funding through peer to peer lending. This option is relativity new and has become a completely separate industry. It is growing at a fast pace and for many people find it services a need not easy filled by other options.

The idea is based in person to person lending and is much like lending family members or a friend money. The bank involved acts to connect individuals who want to engage in lending or borrowing. For the borrowers, the bank helps find lenders. For the lenders, it does all the due diligence on borrowers such as a credit check and handles collection of payment. The credit checks have the purpose to reduce risk to the individual lenders and assign a max amount the borrower can get and sometimes the interest rate on a loan.

Why do borrowers love peer to peer lending? There are several benefits. The first reason why, it is most commonly used is debt consolidation. It often gets a lower rate than other forms of consolidation and at the term of the loan the debt is completely paid off. The second reason is it is easy to seek funding. If trying to start a business, a business loan is very difficult to get from your local bank and if denied the person has to go bank to bank. With peer to peer loans, lenders often find you. There is a bit of selling your loan in the market place, but it is available for funding to thousands of potential lenders. Third, the interest rate is often lower than other forms of personal loans. Peer to peer loans reported by Lending Club, a peer to peer lending site, have an interest rate starting at 6%. This depends on your credit standing. In comparison, a credit card is usually around 10% to 20% interest and can go as high as 30%. Furthermore, the rate is set and not subject to change like a credit card.

Why do lenders love peer to peer lending? The biggest reason is return. The rate of return, reported by Lending Club, ranges from 6% to 19%. This is extremely high rate of return in any investment. The second reason is actions taken to reduce default by peer to peer websites like Lending Club such as the initial credit screening. They list the default rate at just above 2%. This is low considering these loans are unsecure, meaning there is no collateral backing the loan. To further curb the risk, lenders are not allowed to fund just one loan with their capital. They must spread it out among several loans as to diversify their risk.

There are several other reasons and many could be personal to the individual lender or borrower as to why people love peer to peer lending. Its history is relatively short and for the most part unknown. The trend of growth in peer to peer lending will not slow for sometime as more people discover this alternative method of investment and credit.



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