<commit_before>---

layout: post
title: 'Revisit: social (p2p) lending'
excerpt: ''
legacy: true
author:
  name: <NAME>
  twitter: creeme
  bio: Cofounder and COO of Trabian
  image: authors/trey.png
comments:
  - author: <NAME>
    body: "Hi,\r\n\r\nJust found your blog and site.  Love the design, love the content.\r\n\r\nQuickQuestion: Do you know of anyone/anything that is the CU equivilant of eTrade.com?  I.e X is to eTrade what CUs are to Banks....\r\n\r\nThanks in advance.\r\n\r\n-bruce boston\r\nQuidStreet.net"
    date: 2006-04-15T17:55:51.000Z
  - author: <NAME>
    body: >-
      Bruce,



      Tough question!  There's really not a perfect solution to _x_ : ETRADE ::
      credit unions: banks.



      It's difficult because you have to look at the difference between credit
      unions and banks first.  I'm probably oversimplifying this, but the "credit
      union difference" is as follows: credit unions are non-profit
      organizations.  They're democratically governed cooperatives where each
      member has one and only one share of ownership in the credit union, no
      matter the size of his/her deposits.  Credit unions have volunteer boards
      of directors, and members are able to join credit unions because of
      a common bond they share (living in the same community or working for
      a certain company, for example).



      Based on my understanding, however, credit unions aren't able to directly
      provide certain investment services due to regulatory restrictions.



      ETRADE offers investment products and their banking products through two
      separate but affiliated companies.  If you're referring to their role as
      a discount stock brokerage, I'm not aware of a non-profit existing in this
      space.



      The closest answer might be *credit union-provided brokerage services
      : ETRADE :: credit unions : banks*, as there are investment services
      offered by many credit unions through partnerships. "CUNA
      Mutual":http://www.cunamutual.com, for example, partners with many credit
      unions to offer investment products through CUNA Brokerage Services, Inc.



      Perhaps some of our other readers could provide more insight?
    date: 2006-04-17T12:05:04.000Z
  - author: VSelfridge
    body: "If CUSO Financial Services is your credit union's Broker/Dealer - eVision would be your online \"self-directed\" investing application.\r\n\r\nMore on CUSO Financial Services:\r\nhttps://ola.orcasnet.com/cuso/newsite/\r\n\r\n"
    date: 2006-04-18T21:16:06.000Z
  - author: VSelfridge
    body: "A longer version of an Information Week May 22nd edition article appears on InformationWeek.com at http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=4TAKFH2THKCP4QSNDBCCKH0CJUMEKJVN?articleID=187203312\r\n\r\nArticle touches on both comapnies' plans to \"introduce APIs so programmers can integrate social finance with social networking.\"  \r\n\r\nInteresting."
    date: 2006-05-24T22:10:38.000Z
  - author: VSelfridge
    body: "Looks like Prosper.com is starting to get some media attention...\r\n\r\nA CUNA article:\r\nhttp://www.cuna.org/newsnow/06/system052406-9.html?ref=hed\r\n\r\nAnyone here tried these services yet personally - as a lender or borrower? I'm curious about the user experience..."
    date: 2006-05-25T13:21:31.000Z
---

<p><img src='/images/legacy/zopa_logo.gif' class="right"/>It&#8217;s been a couple of months since I wrote about <a href="http://www.prosper.com">Prosper</a> or <a href="http://www.zopa.com">Zopa</a>, and I&#8217;ve got a good reason for a quick revisit.  After I responded to a comment on the <a href="http://www.opensourcecu.com/articles/2006/02/06/social-lending-arrives-in-us">Social lending arrives in US</a> post, I did a quick <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&#38;lr=&#38;rls=GGGL%2CGGGL%3A2005-09%2CGGGL%3Aen&#38;q=p2p+lending&#38;btnG=Search">search</a> to dig for any recent developments in this very young space.</p>
<p>From an important <a href="http://www.paymentsnews.com/2006/03/online_banking_.html">Payments News post</a> about an <a href="http://www.onlinebankingreport.com/resources/news_detail.html?eid=30&#38;PHPSESSID=200603280359261356104124">Online Banking Report</a> on Zopa and Prosper:</p>
<blockquote><p>Presuming Prosper and/or Zopa make it through these unique challenges [named in the report], the report predicts that within five years the total market for person-to-person lending in the U.S could surpass 100,000 loans annually, worth more than $1 billion.</p><p>The report is a must-read for any financial services executive involved in consumer credit and loan originations. The consumer behavior seen in this particular niche has broad ramifications even for the most traditional lender.</p></blockquote>
<p>This is the direction in which the web&#8217;s moving, friends.  Blogs/RSS; sites like <a href="http://www.myspace.com">myspace</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org">Wikipedia</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com">YouTube</a>, <a href="http://www.kiva.org">Kiva</a>, <a href="http://www.flickr.com">flickr</a> ... the list goes on and on and on.  It&#8217;s the social web and expect the shift to carry over into how consumers interact with their financial institutions.</p><commit_msg>Added excerpt and removed irrelevant comment thread<commit_after>---

layout: post
title: 'Revisit: social (p2p) lending'
excerpt: This is the direction in which the web's moving, friends. It's the social web and expect the shift to carry over into how consumers interact with their financial institutions.
legacy: true
author:
  name: <NAME>
  twitter: creeme
  bio: Cofounder and COO of Trabian
  image: authors/trey.png

---

<p><img src='/images/legacy/zopa_logo.gif' class="right"/>It&#8217;s been a couple of months since I wrote about <a href="http://www.prosper.com">Prosper</a> or <a href="http://www.zopa.com">Zopa</a>, and I&#8217;ve got a good reason for a quick revisit.  After I responded to a comment on the <a href="http://www.opensourcecu.com/articles/2006/02/06/social-lending-arrives-in-us">Social lending arrives in US</a> post, I did a quick <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&#38;lr=&#38;rls=GGGL%2CGGGL%3A2005-09%2CGGGL%3Aen&#38;q=p2p+lending&#38;btnG=Search">search</a> to dig for any recent developments in this very young space.</p>
<p>From an important <a href="http://www.paymentsnews.com/2006/03/online_banking_.html">Payments News post</a> about an <a href="http://www.onlinebankingreport.com/resources/news_detail.html?eid=30&#38;PHPSESSID=200603280359261356104124">Online Banking Report</a> on Zopa and Prosper:</p>
<blockquote><p>Presuming Prosper and/or Zopa make it through these unique challenges [named in the report], the report predicts that within five years the total market for person-to-person lending in the U.S could surpass 100,000 loans annually, worth more than $1 billion.</p><p>The report is a must-read for any financial services executive involved in consumer credit and loan originations. The consumer behavior seen in this particular niche has broad ramifications even for the most traditional lender.</p></blockquote>
<p>This is the direction in which the web&#8217;s moving, friends.  Blogs/RSS; sites like <a href="http://www.myspace.com">myspace</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org">Wikipedia</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com">YouTube</a>, <a href="http://www.kiva.org">Kiva</a>, <a href="http://www.flickr.com">flickr</a> ... the list goes on and on and on.  It&#8217;s the social web and expect the shift to carry over into how consumers interact with their financial institutions.</p>
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