If you’re a borrower who’s looking to get a personal loan that’s potentially cheaper than at banks or loan companies, or if you’re an investor who’s interested in a new way to invest in short term instruments, you may be interested to know that there’s a particular service that allows both borrowers and investors to help each other out via a special network, called a peer to peer lending network.
The idea is to match borrowers and lenders/investors without the need for a “middleman”. We’ve covered this type of service in a lot of past articles, such as in this Lending Club review. But I’d like to mention another well known company in this space that is offering some cash bonuses for its members: Prosper has a few ongoing promotions right now.
There are three ways to earn cash bonuses with Prosper:
1. Prosper.com: $50 Cash Bonus To Open A New Account
While you can open an account with Prosper as a borrower or lender, only lenders (or investors) qualify for the $50 sign up bonus. All it takes is that you sign up for a Prosper lending account and fulfill two bids on Prosper loans, after which they’ll deposit $50 in your account. Here’s are some basic requirements to get you going:
- Provide your driver’s license.
- Provide your bank account information.
- You have to reside in one of these states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming
At this time, investing in peer to peer lending is only available in certain states as it is a regulated investment activity and requires scrutiny by the state government before it’s permitted. In due time, it is expected that residents from all the states will eventually be able to participate in this form of investing.
Historically, returns through Prosper have been attractive, where you may earn from 7% (for lower risk loans) to 13% (for higher risk portfolios) annually. Note of course that there are risks associated with all investments, including this one, so do your due diligence before participating in the network.
2. Earn a Cash Rebate Based On Your Investment Amount
As a lender you can also earn a cash rebate between October 12, 2009 and November 15, 2009. You’ll need to successfully bid on loan listings that result in funded loans. Once you’ve made your investments in these loans, you’ll receive the following rebates based on the amount you invest:
- Investing $1,000 to $4,999 will get you a 1% cash rebate deposited into your account.
- Investing $5,000 or more will get you a 2% cash rebate deposited into your account.
These deposits will take place by December 4, 2009.
3. Earn a $100 Referral Fee
There’s also a “refer a friend” program wherein you can receive a cash bonus of $100 for any new borrower you refer to Prosper. Any Prosper member, whether you’re a borrower or lender, can participate in this program.
- To become a lender (or investor), check out this link.
- To become a borrower, check out this link.
For more information on the topic of peer to peer lending and other companies involved in this space, here are a few articles for your perusal:
- $25 Lending Club Sign Up Bonus
- Lending Club Return On Investment
- Personal Loan Interest Rates from Lending Club
- Stock trades: Free stock trades from Zecco, Cheap stock trades from TradeKing, Stock news and Investment info at INO TV Free, No cost Trend Analysis for stocks
- Earn top returns: FNBO Direct [1.90%], HSBC Direct [1.65%], WTDirect [1.76%], E*Trade Bank [0.95%], ING Direct [.25% to 1.65%]
- Cash bonus: Discover More [$50], American Express [$25], Lending Club [$25]
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Are they just looking for investors, it seems like it?
Prosper.com, Lending Club and all these lending networks are always looking for both investors (lenders) and borrowers to join their networks. What I’ve described here are special promotions to benefit lenders, although these networks are also open to those seeking to take out loans.
Prosper’s “refer a friend” program is something that both borrowers and lenders can benefit from if they so wish. Refer a borrower to their network and you get $100.
I really feel that peer-to-peer is a great model, as eliminating financial institutions is something I’d love to see happen. The less control the big banks exert over one’s existence, the better. We all know they are not on our side, and developing systems that take them out of the loop is critical for future sustainability.
Suppose, i am a borrower and looking to get a personal loan then how much amount i can get?
Propser is fantastic! I’ve been using it as a lender for over 4 years – since when they first started. It is a great way to earn a higher return on your money – but you do need to remember that people do default on their loans.
The awesome thing with lending money is that people are paying back the principal and interest at the same time. So, before the loan is paid back, you can lend the money back out that you have received. So, say you have an initial investment of $100, you can start by lending $25 to four people, then as the money comes in, start lending in increments of $25!
Robert
That’s pretty cool, as I’ve recently been looking into those streams of revenue myself and have noticed that middleman costs rate as one of the worsts (or at least most annoying). $50 isn’t a bad incentive either!