If you're in need of money and it's too small an amount to request from the typical sources (banks, credit cards etc.) or your credit rating simply isn't good enough, where else can you turn? Why, the Internet of course! P2P lending is one of the those growing areas of the Internet that it is quite likely most readers of this blog will not yet have engaged in - Do of course comment on your experience here if you have. In a nutshell, P2P lending sites connect people with money to spare with those who need it. Usually the person who needs it will give some in-depth description of how much they need, what they need the money for, how long they will take to pay it back and what level of interest the lender can expect. While there isn't much data on the industry (especially in China), it is interesting to note that Prosper.com claims on their front page to have funded loans of US$178,000,00. China has a few of its own micro-lending communities, including PPDai (拍拍贷) and Qifang (齐放). These two sites differ in slightly different ways. PPDai focuses on the fast repayment with high interest, while Qifang is about lending money to those who need help paying for their education. To find out more about PPDai, read China Web 2.0 Review has interviewed PPDai's CEO. Techcrunch has a pretty in-depth look at Qifang here. Inspired by Virtual China's post on the two companies.
