Peer Lending Lessons From the Dating World – Lending Club CEO Interview

Bill Griffeth interviewed Renaud Laplanche the CEO of Lending Club on CNBC’s Power Lunch yesterday – Video.

Laplanche answered questions on how peer to peer lending sites have lower overhead than traditional banks and how they’re able help borrowers and lenders find better rates than they could get at a bank.

Peer Lending & the Economy
Griffeth made two comments that I thought were particularly interesting. At the very end of the interview he mentioned that you tend to get a lot more economic bartering and peer to peer interaction as the economy slows down.  As we’ve seen economic growth take a hit lately, that may drive more people looking for money to sites like Prosper & Lending Club, especially as financial institutions tighten credit standards.

Peer Lending & Dating
The second comment Griffeth made was that peer to peer lending seemed kind of like a dating service for money.  I had to chuckle thinking about in these terms. Here are some peer lending “dating” tips:

-You can recover from getting your heart broken with a loan default but it will definitely make you gun shy.

-Playing hard to get by chasing good quality loans is a good thing.

-If none of your friends are dating a borrower, there’s probably a reason why.

-You may go on 10 good dates but that one bad one ending in default can really ruin the whole lending experience.

-Don’t court a lender unless they’re ready for long term commitment. You shouldn’t be wooed by high interest rates into one night stands with high risk borrowers, you’ll regret it in the morning.

What are some more dating tips for person to person lenders?

Ben Edwards, the founder of Money Smart Life, saved up enough to buy a Nintendo back when he was 12 years old. When he used the money to buy shares of Wal-Mart stock instead, he knew he wasn't like the other kids... His addiction to personal finance has paid off for his family and now he's helping you to afford the life that you want. Check him out on the web at Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook.

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