This online business idea made me say "Wow"
 

Zopa.com is a UK company that has created an eBay style loan exchange.

Zopa is a place where creditworthy consumers who'd like to borrow money can get together with other consumers who are happy to lend it to them. Cutting out the middleman, lenders set their own rate of return and choose which borrowers they want to lend to.

www.zopa.com


What do you think?

nice, just hope its legally ok, so can someone from say Holland borrow money from someone in Australia ?

Before looking at the site, I'm confused.

Simple concept really

People want to borrow money

People want to lend money

Zopa brings them together, no more going to banks for loans

ok answered

To be able to join Zopa you must:

1. be over 18
2. have a UK current account
3. be a UK resident
4. not be lending in the course of a business

Hmm,m creating a middle man by eliminating the middle man!

This is a very good idea.

How it's carried out and legal aside, that is.
I wonder if there will be legal issues to come?

you left out,

People like to borrow and not pay back.

Zopa handles that for the lenders

All lenders and borrowers enter into a legally binding contract with their respective borrowers and lenders. Zopa manages the collection of monthly repayments and if any of that money is not paid on time, uses exactly the same recovery processes that the high street banks use.

It's a bit like a Mafia, isn't it....

If by 'a bit' you mean 'exactly' then, yes.

uhhh.....no :ugone2far

thats asking for a scam.

Peer 2 peer loan sharking? lol

So what's their gain?

lending is really a GREAT-risk kind of biz

the joy of providing a quality service :1orglaugh

:1orglaugh

Kind of a neat idea. I think there would be some rather huge issues with it though.

Ah the joy of going out every morning with their baseball bats, to kindly ask people to return their loan! Especially in a country like the UK, where everybody is in debt. Seems like a business idea that will last forever. :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

They don't go "out every morning with their baseball bats"

They do exactly what normal banks would do with borrowers who aren't paying. They send the account to a collection agency.

Yeah I'd be weary about lending money

You're not just lending to random people.

You can choose to lend money to people who have an excellent credit rating.

I'm sure they'll also introduce a feedback system like eBay where people can leave feedback about previous borrowers. Were they good? Bad? Did they pay on time, etc...

It's definitely an interesting idea and may work. There will be some problems just as their is on Ebay but it could very well work if it's run properly.

They do an Equifax credit rating on everyone who joins

Another bonus for lenders is that you don't get charged anything. Borrowers have to pay the Zopa 1% fee.

Dangerous system i guess.

I do this once in awhile with people I know and it would be cool to have a more formal deal and more deals.

It can be a nice idea, but alot of trouble !

Last time I checked, all investments have the ability to be a lot of trouble.

It begs the question, why?

If someone is asking for a loan through that site, my brain is telling me it's because a bank won't give it to them.

How open is this to scamming? the possibilities seem endless

How are you going to get your money back if they don't pay? how do you even know the person you've lent to is who they say they are?

Where's sharky?

Maybe Joe Pesci needs a job.

:pimp

Maybe they will get a better interest rate through this site than they can get from a bank?

How do banks get their money back when people don't pay?

i think this all flys in the face of logic. if you have great credit - the bank will suck your cock if it means you will take their money. conversely, a person who is lending money should know the value of the cash, the risks etc and would not be lending money at rates lower than a bank unless he is very irresponsible. a bunch of people getting together and saying "we can do it better than Wells Fargo" is a little insane, idealistic and short sighted in my opinon.
:2 cents: :2 cents:


what i am saying is ... how is it logical that a group of people can get together and think they can loan money cheaper or better than Fanny Mae who has around $100,000,000,000.00 in loans out.

I know of business forums that are full of people that say they've been rejected by banks even though they have great credit.

But who would risk their own money lending to people they don't know for a lower interest rate than banks charge? It would be a risky and poor investment

Banks have debt collectors who charge extortionate fees (ontop of the bank's fees), they either do this inhouse or outsource it to a hired debt collection agency (I figure these are the people turned down as child supprot payment collectors).

True, you'd have legal options but it seems way too risky

What do you think Zopa has?

Maybe it will be a higher interest rate?

Maybe people rejected by banks will flock to a site like that? Maybe they will get approved for a loan, but the interest rate will be 15% whereas a person with good credit could get the same loan from a bank at 8%?

Where there is risk, there is reward.

OK, I understand what you're saying but...

There are hundreds of agencies that advertise to people who have low or poor credit rating and can't get a bank loan. If the people wanting to borrow from this website can't get one from them, do you really want to lend your money to them?

I know i'm being a bit pedantic but i'm financially anal. Everyone I hear with a bad credit rating always has some kind of story about how's it's not their fault or something happened. I'm sceptical of the kind of people who want loans but can't get them through traditional means.

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh so true.