Articles
Peer to Peer Lending
At Last, a Bank of Your Own
SO YOU NEED A FEW BUCKS -- NOT DONALD TRUMP money, mind you, but a little mezzanine financing to pay down holiday credit-card debt or get you through tax season. Besides friends and relatives, have you ever considered your peers -- simpatico strangers on person-to-person lending sites like Prosper (www.prosper.com) or Lending Club (www.lendingclub.com)?
Will a Stranger Lend you $25,000?
How for-profit social lending marketplaces work, and why they might be worth considering to land a business loan
Finance tool follows social networking
Peer-to-peer lending catching on with investors, borrowers
Crunchless credit
Social lenders seek to take advantage of bank turmoil
Microfinance Fever
A lot of people are chasing returns in barefoot banking. Here's what you should know before you follow.
Peer-to-peer lending hits its stride
As the global credit squeeze leads banks to tighten their lending, a niche industry is emerging as the eBay of consumer loans: peer-to-peer lenders.
Online Lending gets Easier and Safer
Zopa Ltd., a United Kingdom player in the person-to-person online lending market, is starting operations in the U.S. where it will join a handful of other companies, including Prosper Marketplace Inc.'s Prosper.com, that have popularized the market in recent years.
Alternative lending sites often have good deals
You list and bid for shoes, concert tickets and even cars online. Why not loans, too?
Banking 2.0: New Capital Connections For Entrepreneurs
Credit-market carnage makes it all the more important for small businesses to understand the full range of potential sources for capital.
Microfinance Draws Mega Players
Hedge funds, VCs, and other big investors are seeing the huge profit potential in tiny loans
Social Networking helps Peer-to-Peer lending loan $300+ million in 2 years
With a slumping economy, falling dollar and banks tightening up their lending practices, consumers are finding it harder and harder to get loans at decent rates, if at all.
Looking for lenders
Peer-to-peer lending sites can offer attractive returns, but be careful
Borrowing From Peers
Getting rid of credit-card debt was an epic struggle for Liz Rizzo, a 36-year-old aspiring director in Los Angeles. But after getting a loan through a peer-to-peer lending Web site, she's now hoping to pay off that debt in four years.
Student Loans
Young doctors in debt
Chris and Meg Reis are on their way to long medical careers. Now it's time to deal with $500,000 in student loans.
College costs keep rising
The average total cost of a private four-year college rose to $32,307 for the current school year, but the rate of increase has slowed compared to public school prices, according to a report released Monday.
College prices, student borrowing up
The cost of attending college continues to climb: in-state tuition and fees at public four-year schools averaged $6,185 this year, up 6.6% from last year, says the College Board, which tracks more than 5,000 colleges and universities. The increase was slightly more than the previous year's 5.7% bump.
Private lenders have an edge in U.S. student loan market
NEW YORK: In a fierce contest to control the student loan market, the nation's banks and lenders have for years waged a successful campaign to limit a federal program that was intended to make borrowing less costly by having the government provide loans directly to students.
You don’t have to owe a lot once you're a college grad
Most students graduate from college with a lifetime of memories. Unfortunately, a lot of students also graduate with a lifetime of debt.
Loan crisis goes to college
Paying for college could get even tougher this year as smaller lenders tighten standards and raise rates. But big banks are holding the line.