Prosper.com, a company which operates a peer to peer lending marketplace, announced on Monday that it now has more than 1 million users on its website.
The company allows members on its website to lend money to one another in a process known as peer to peer lending. People that want to borrow money using the site post a profile and a loan request for a specific amount and purpose. Other members on the site that hope to make use of their idle cash can opt to partially fund the loan and receive their share of the borrowers payments and interest as the borrower repays their loan.
“It’s pretty incredible that 1 million people — a population greater than our headquarters city of San Francisco — have engaged with Prosper,” said Chris Larsen, CEO and co-founder of Prosper, which began facilitating loans in 2006. “Peer-to-peer lending represents the future of consumer lending, and the tipping point into the mainstream is within reach.”
Prosper.com has raised $57.7 million in venture capital and has facilitated more than $205 million in loans amongst its members.
According to the company, “Prosper is America’s largest peer-to-peer lending marketplace with over 850,000 and $185 million in loans. It pioneered peer-to-peer lending, which allows people to invest in each other in a way that is socially and financially rewarding. Prosper’s auction model provides an open and transparent way to get a personal loan or invest in loans on terms that are favorable to everyone involved in the transaction. People and institutions list and bid on loans using Prosper’s online auction platform. Borrowers can list loan requests between $1,000 and $25,000 on Prosper and set the maximum rate they are willing to pay an investor for the loan, and tell their story. People and institutional investors register on Prosper as lenders, then set their minimum interest rates, and bid in increments of $25 to $25,000 on loan listings they select. In addition to criteria commonly used by institutional lenders, such as credit scores and histories, Prosper lenders can consider borrowers’ personal stories, endorsements from friends, and community affiliations. “
