Prosper.com : Microcredit or SubPrime 2.0?
Web, trust, and money
Trust has been a major issue these 5 last years, and its improvment permits to largley increase the online business. People don’t fear anymore to buy and even sell on the web according to the succes of online shops and the now notorious site ebay.com.
During the same period the principle of microcredit grown up and it has been even reward by a Nobel Price for one of his upholder Muhammad Yunus. Many web sites supporting microcredit uprised. They offer the possibility to the internet users of developped countries to lend money for tiny business projects in third world countries, at very low rates.
The Web 2.0 new wave maked it more and more actual.
A new player : Prosper.com
Surfing on this new wave and on the microcredit principles (people lending money to other people in need) appear the site Prosper.com. It proposes to link loaners and lenders, and to make the business easy for both parts.
An interesting initiative… or a very self-serving interactive plateforme ?
But a little look on the site may lead to see something less sparkling than genuine microcredit. Whereas Microcredit is based on the generosity of the lenders, Prosper.com offers to lenders the perspective of making good profits. The high level of rates offered by lenders just seems like usury : nothing under 14% and sometimes offers of more than 60%!! The lenders just look for something as profit-making as the stock exchange.
Sadly, we know what it does when lenders take great risk and offer usury rates to poor people… it leds to kind of Sub Prime crisis! And for moral values and generosity: tomorow is another day.
