Social Lending Watch
As a sign of growing interest in ‘social lending’ and ‘p2p’ finance there is new site called ‘Social Lending Watch’. They have just re-posted our ‘p2p finance’ report (thanks) and have brought to our attention two new cool services:
Smava – a German social lending site, which seems to be a mix out of Zopa and Prosper. Interestingly so they are NOT regulated as a bank, which they clearly state in their articles of association. More about this soon.
Boober – a Dutch experiment in social lending. Looking at the site they also seem to offer an investment option. If anybody (who can read Dutch) could tell us how this works, would be great.
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Hey there, a new reader of your site.
I happen to speak Dutch, so here’s some details on Boober:
It provides p2p-lending, without the use of a bank, though Boober acts as an intermediary, processes payments, and charges a minimal fee of 0.5% p.a. or €25 minimum.
Lenders can set interest rate that they are willing to pay themselves, and it’s up to the investors to accept or decline. Investors do not need a license to take part, unless they make a profession out of it. Foreign investors are welcomed, though only if they have a Dutch bank-account. There is no maximum lending-amount.
Boober also work with 3rd parties, like EXPERIAN and INTRUM JUSTITIA, to evaluate your credit-rating. To do this, they ask for an ID and a recent proof of wages. INTRUM JUSTITIA also helps in the case of fraude and non-repayments of loans.
I hope this helps. P2P-lending was certainly a new field for me, so I enjoyed doing the research.