Peer-to-peer lending continues to spread across the globe. We previously covered pioneers Zopa (UK) and Prosper (US), as well as German Smava and Dutch Boober.
Recently, the concept was spotted in China. Smava's Chinese cousin PPDai—look closely and you'll spot a family resemblance in the design department—is currently in closed beta and will officially launch later this month. P2P lending enters a very different market in the People's Republic, where personal credit ratings are virtually non-existent, making lending to strangers riskier business. Which is why PPdai won't be taking on loans and 'reselling' them to lenders. Instead, PPdai primarily aims to standardize and facilitate loans between family and friends, which are more common in China than personal loans from banks.
On a side note: acknowledging that trust is a key issue, another 'bankless banking' venture that's moving swiftly is Lending Club. Just 6 weeks after launching, Lending Club has facilitated over USD 250,000 in loans. What makes Lending Club different? Starting with Facebook, it latches on to an existing social network to leverage human connections that are already in place: "We believe that person-to-person lending will gain faster adoption in an environment where people feel connected to one another." More updates to follow as P2P lending develops!
Website: www.ppdai.com — www.lendingclub.com
Contact: ppdai.service@gmail.com — contact@lendingclub.com
Spotted by: Claus Lehmann
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Just to note: we published an interview with Jack Gu, CEO of PPdai, on July 5. Interview can be seen at www.sociallendingwatch.com
- Team SLW
Another new p2p lending player is GlobeFunder.
Read an interview with the GlobeFunder CEO here:
http://www.wiseclerk.com/group-news/countries/us-interview-globefunder-to-take-p2p-lending-global/
I just wanted to make you aware the the P2P reveloution has gone down under. www.fosik.com.au has been quietly developing a service to assist the Australian consumers through social lending manage the $40 billion they have on debty on credit cards.
Thanks for the comments.
We agree with you that we are facing big challenge due to lack of crediting system. On the other hand, it can be a good thing which make us think harder & more creative, trying to seek a new way to make up for it, eg, we will build a lot of social features.
Currently PPdai primarily aims to standardize and facilitate loans between family and friends, and PPdai will also research a lot on P2P lending in the specific environment.
GlobeFunder.com will be launching in the United States in October! Please visit our latest interim website to sign up and learn more about www.globefunder.com
We anticipate entering several Latin American and Asian countries during 2008.
Stay tuned!
The GlobeFunder Team
Somehow I just found out about PPDai. It is now my favorite P2P lending site, hands-down. I'm so curious about their market statistics...!
If PPDai has any sort of data exports or the like I would love to see them for comparison - has anyone done a comparative study of the performance we've seen so far in the various international P2P markets? If anyone has any idea, or has data, please let me know at my Peer-to-peer lending Blog...
I have found two other US based sites that are Prosper competitors - www.loanio.com and www.fundmynotes.com.
I haven't heard much about either of these aside from them being developed. I'd like to see what these new companies offer.
Also in China its worth looking at www.51give.com
Thanks for mentioning Lending Club. We have gained considerable traction in the past few weeks.
Rex Dixon
Director of Social Media Content
Lending Club - http://blog.lendingclub.com
Rex Dixon | July 9, 2007 7:02 PM