Peer to Peer Lending and Microfinance for Solar - Lit. Review

This literature review supported the following two studies:

• K. Branker, E. Shackles & J. M. Pearce (2011): Peer-to-peer financing mechanisms to accelerate renewable energy deployment, Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, 1:2, 138-155.open accessDOI
• Kadra Branker and Joshua M. Pearce, "Accelerating the Growth of Solar Photovoltaic Deployment with Peer to Peer Financing" Solar 2011: 40th American Solar Energy Society National Solar Conference Proceedings, pp. 713-720 (2011).open access

Topical Journals[edit | edit source]

• World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development[1]
• The World Bank, Policy Research Working Paper Series
• Energy Policy
• Energy Economics
• Strategic Direction [2]

Strategic Direction is an essential management information resource for today's strategic thinkers. As a unique service, we scan through the best 400 management journals in the world and distill the most topical management issues and relevant implications for senior managers out of the cutting-edge research. We regularly present case study reviews of the Fortune 500 companies. Each briefing (no more than 2 to 3 pages long) is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the arguments in context.

• Cato Institute
• Journal of development economics
• World Development
• Journal of Banking and Finance <1
• Business and Society >1
• Policy Innovations Peer to Peer Finance

CSR Journals ranks [3]

Literature Review[edit | edit source]

Microfinance (from Wikipedia)

Person-to-person lending from Wikipedia[4]

Related page: Banking for Solar Investment - Lit. Review

Peer to peer lending

Searches[edit | edit source]

• Scholars Portal = Microfinance/micro / peer to peer invest and solar
• Google Scholar = "microfinance" and "solar",Microfinance solar "peer to peer" investing,

https://www.appropedia.org/Microfinance

Solar and Peer to Peer Lending[edit | edit source]

K. Branker, E. Shackles & J. M. Pearce (2011): Peer-to-peer financing mechanisms to accelerate renewable energy deployment, Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, 1:2, 138-155.open access DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20430795.2011.582325[edit | edit source]

This article illustrates how the guaranteed income stream from a solar photovoltaic system can be modelled as an investment and how P2P lending mechanisms can then be used to provide capital for the initial costs. The requirements for and limitations of these types of funding mechanisms for RETs are quantified and discussed and future work to deploy this methodology is described.

Reilly, B. (2009).Lending for a Cause, Bizcovering – Business and Society, July, 11th 2009][edit | edit source]

This article covers the emergence of micro-lending, those involved in micro-lending, and the good that this is doing all across the world.

Ashta, A. and D. Assadi. (2008). Do Social Cause and Social Technology Meet? Impact of Web 2.0 Technologies on Peer-to-Peer Lending Transactions (October 9, 2008).[edit | edit source]

Microcredit interest costs remain higher than those of commercial banks in spite of significant donor funds, largely owing to transaction costs relative to small loan sizes. With the rise of Web 2.0 and online social interactivity, can these transaction costs be reduced through peer to peer lending? Peer to Peer lending and Web 2.0 have two things in common. The first common denominator is that both of them are rather newcomers in their respective fields and growing fast. The second is that they are both based on mutual and social exchanges between people instead of centrally controlled communications and relationships. The main objective of this paper was to investigate whether they are integrated to support a higher level of social interactions and associations for less (transaction) costs. We find that peer to peer lending consists of diverse websites of microcredit (Kiva, Wokai), social investing (MicroPlace) as well as small loans at market rates (Prosper, Zopa, Lending Club), and even lending between friends and family members (Virgin Money). The paper studies the use of web 2.0 technologies (blogs, interactivity between lenders and buyers, peers' reviews and comments, peers communities and chats) in six such peer-to-peer lending sites. It finds that most of the peer-to-peer lenders are in fact intermediaries between the peers (lender and borrowers) and there is little direct contact between the peers. One website used none of the web 2.0 tools. None of the websites used all the web 2.0 tools. The impact on transaction costs is therefore very little.

Pritchard, J. (2005), About.com: Banking/Loans How Peer to Peer Lending Works[edit | edit source]

"In June 2009 I spoke with Renaud Laplanche about Lending Club. We talked about how the peer to peer lending service works, and what to expect going forward. A summary of key takeaways from the interview with Renaud Laplanche are below. " - see website

Solar and Microfinance[edit | edit source]

K. Branker, E. Shackles & J. M. Pearce (2011): Peer-to-peer financing mechanisms to accelerate renewable energy deployment, Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, 1:2, 138-155.accessDOI[edit | edit source]

This article illustrates how the guaranteed income stream from a solar photovoltaic system can be modelled as an investment and how P2P lending mechanisms can then be used to provide capital for the initial costs. The requirements for and limitations of these types of funding mechanisms for RETs are quantified and discussed and future work to deploy this methodology is described.

ANDREW C. REVKIN On the Energy Gap and Climate Crisis, New York Times, April 7, 2010[edit | edit source]

• Energy poverty (Climate change and energy crisis)

Breyer, C., Gerlach, A., Hlusiak, M., Peters, C., Adelmann, P., Winiecki, J., Schutzeichel, H., Tsegaye, S., Hashie, W.,Electrifying the Poor: Highly Economic Off-grid PV Systems in Ethiopia – A Basis for Sustainable Rural Development, 24th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference, Hamburg, 2009, September 21 – 25, pp 1-9[edit | edit source]

• Economics of off-grid PV in Ethiopia vs fossil fuels
• 80% of Ethiopians living in rural areas have no access to electricity
• key factors for successful PV diffusion, a solar dissemination roadmap adapted to Ethiopian needs and the fundamental impact of rural electrification with PV on sustainable rural development.
• Superb hydro and solar resources offer the chance of renewable energy supply in an economically, ecologically and socially sustainable way In Ethiopia.

Huang Liming, Financing rural renewable energy: A comparison between China and India, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Volume 13, Issue 5, June 2009, Pages 1096-1103[edit | edit source]

Abstract: This paper analyzes the current status of rural renewable energy (RRE) in China and India, develops and employs an analysis framework to study the environment, channels, instruments and innovative mechanisms of financing rural renewable energy in China and India, and makes a primary comparison.

The financing for rural renewable energy in China and India

1. 1. Financing environment for rural renewable energy
2. 1.1. China's financing environment
3. 1.2. India's financing environment
4. 2. Financing channels for rural renewable energy
5. 2.1. Government finance
6. 2.2. International funding
7. 2.3. Commercial banks and non-bank financing institutions
8. 2.4. Public stock markets
9. 2.5. Private sector finance
10. 3. Financing instruments for rural renewable energy
11. 3.1. Grants
12. 3.2. Renewable energy service companies (RESCOs)
13. 3.3. Low-interest and long-term loans
14. 3.4. Joint ventures
15. 3.5. Asset financing
16. 3.6. Venture capital/private equity
17. 3.7. Subsidies
18. 3.8. Import duty reduction
19. 3.9. Reduction in value-added tax
20. 4. Innovative financing mechanisms for rural renewable energy

P. Sharath Chandra Rao, Jeffrey B. Miller, Young Doo Wang, John B. Byrne,Energy-microfinance intervention for below poverty line households in India, Energy Policy, Volume 37, Issue 5, May 2009, Pages 1694-1712, ISSN 0301-4215, DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2008.12.039.[edit | edit source]

Abstract More than 72% of India's population resides in rural India1 and it also has a high concentration of people living under abject poverty. Of the total rural population 27.1–28.3% lives below the poverty line2 (BPL). A lack of energy-finance options is hampering the "quality of life" of the BPL community. The members of this disadvantaged household which forms 27.1% and 23.6% of the India's rural and urban population3 has no ready access to mainstream finance or know—how of sustainable energy products nor do they have access to energy service providing agency. This lack of energy-finance options has provided the marginalized population little means to break the conventional energy paradigm and the corresponding poverty cycle.

Considering the afore-mentioned problem we propose an energy-microfinance intervention or a model that encompasses two independent entities. One has an energy expertise and the other possesses finance management skills. Alternately, we also propose a special purpose entity that comprises of these two entities. This entity fosters different institutional, technical and financial engineering approaches to the provision of energy, finance and infrastructure services necessary for poverty alleviation.[5]

Microfinance models: Self help model, Grameen model. Includes energy-microfinance framework and case studies

[No articles were found that cite this article.]

Amy Feldman, Peer-to-Peer Lending for Banks, Too?, Business Week April 27, 2009[edit | edit source]

Prosper, a pioneer in connecting little lenders with little borrowers, will start auctioning off bank-originated loans, too. Prosper, the largest "peer-to-peer" lending site, is opening itself up to financial entities that want to list their performing loans and auction them off to average-Joe investors in miniature increments.

Joe Solomon on November 19, 2008,What if, for $25, you could help fund the next electric car?[edit | edit source]

One of the major challenges with this idea is that the big green technology startups - from the electric car to wind and solar power initiatives - require millions of dollars in startup capital. Compared to the average $1,000 Kiva.org proposal – it would be asking a lot more from the community to fund these projects - and things would likely get a lot more complicated. My hunch, though, is that there are a lot of smaller projects in the green space that would be fundable – (in the $500-$5000 range) and maybe the community could eventually grow to fund bigger projects.

Crabb, P. (2008). Economic Freedom and the Success of Microfinance Institutions, Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, Vol. 13, No. 2 (2008) 205–219[edit | edit source]

Abstract: This study looks at the relationship between the success of microfinance institutions and the degree of economic freedom in their host countries. Many microfinance institutions are currently not self-sustaining and research suggests that the economic environment in which the institution operates is an important factor in the ability of the institution to reach this goal, furthering its mission of outreach to the poor. The sustainability of the microlending institutions is analyzed here using a large cross-section of institutions and countries. The results show that microfinance institutions operate primarily in countries with a relatively low degree of overall economic freedom and that various economic policy factors are important to sustainability.

SEEP Network, Using Microfinance to Expand Access to Energy Services, 2007[edit | edit source]

• SEEP Network group os papers: http://web.archive.org/web/20110605234105/http://communities.seepnetwork.org:80/edexchange/node/294

Alex Counts, Using Microfinance to Ensure Sustainable Rural Livelihoods and Food Security While Mitigating Climate Change – PART II: CLIMATE CHANGE.[edit | edit source]

• only 500,000 of MFI loans for energy, fossil fuels and biomass expensive and dirty, http://microcreditsummit.org/uploads/files/GLOMCS_Plenary_Paper_V.PDF

Srinivasan, Sunderasan, "Microfinance for Renewable Energy: Financing the 'Former Poor'.", World Review of Entrepreneurship Manag and Sustainable Development 3.1 (2007):79-89.[6][edit | edit source]

Need to purchase a copy!

Abstract: Microbanking facilities have helped large numbers of developing country nationals by supporting the establishment and growth of microenterprises. And yet, the microfinance movement has grown on the back of passive replication and needs to be revitalised with new product offerings and innovative service delivery. Renewable Energy systems viz., solar home systems, biogas digesters, etc., serve to improve indoor air quality, provide superior light and extend working and study hours. Such applications are not inherently income generating and returns on such investments accrue from cost avoidance, but should qualify for microfunding, as such 'quality of life' investments, reflect borrower maturity and simultaneously contribute to MFI sustainability.

Fehr, D. and G. Hishigsuren. (2006). Raising Capital for Microfinance: Sources of Funding and Opportunities for Equity Financing, Journal Of Developmental Entrepreneurship, Vol. 11, No. 2 (2006) 133–143[edit | edit source]

On a worldwide basis, microfinance institutions (MFIs) provide financial services to the poorest households. To date, funding of MFI activities has come primarily from outright donor grants, government subsidies, and often debt capital, including debt with non-market terms favorable to the MFI. These traditional sources of MFI financing may not be sufficient to allow MFIs to provide maximum services. There is a subset of the pool of mainstream equity investors who would consider investing in MFI opportunities, even knowing that they would not expect to earn the full economic rate of return that such investments would otherwise require. However, as part of their investment evaluation process, these investors would ask: What would the market determined required expected rate of return for my MFI investment be? What return on investment (ROI) do I expect to earn on my MFI investment? Is the difference in the above two returns acceptable given my level of social motivation? How will I "monetize" my investment and when? The purpose of this article is to employ modern corporate finance techniques to address these questions.

Nova-Hildesley,From idea to impact: Funding invention for sustainability., Innovations,2006, 31–42.[edit | edit source]

A growing number of non profit and for-profit organizations are implementing a new approach to international development jointly emphasizing entrepreneurship and technology.

Itai Madamombe,Solar, Cheap Energy Source for Africa, 2006[edit | edit source]

• "A typical home system in sub-Saharan Africa costs anywhere between $500 and $1,000 and such systems typically provide enough power to light three to six rooms and power a black-and-white TV each night. But the cost is well beyond the means of most African households."
• real prices, Kenya: http://web.archive.org/web/20120324070531/http://www.sollatek.co.ke:80/static/uploads/pricelists/Kenya-Pricelist.pdf
• real prices,Tanzania: http://web.archive.org/web/20110617190929/http://www.sollatek.co.ke:80/static/uploads/pricelists/Tanzania-Pricelist.pdf
• DIY systems lower than commercial: http://web.archive.org/web/20160410161318/http://solarpowergenerators.ca/tag/solar-panels-prices-in-south-africa/

Microfinance and renewable Energy Investing in a sustainable future,I. Issue 2006[edit | edit source]

WISIONS is an initiative of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, carried out with the support of the Swiss-based foundation Pro-Evolution, to foster practical and sustainable energy projects.

Studies carried out by the United Nations (UN) show that of the 4 billion people who live on less than 1,400 USD a year, only a fraction have access to basic financial services. Microfinance is one promising way to bridge this gap. It is not development aid but self-help assistance and microfinance institutions benefit from providing micro credits.

Overview of projects, obstacles, financial issues and replicability

"Solar power takes hold across rural Sri Lanka.", Appropriate Technology 33.3 (2006):61.[edit | edit source]

Abstract:Sarvodaya Economic Enterprise Development Services (SEEDS) Ltd, who were runners-up for the Light Award, run a hugely successful micro credit scheme to enable Sri Lanka's rural poor to benefit from solar electricity. To ensure the spread of the technology SEEDS works with local solar companies, identifying potential customers and then offering and administering loans. With its micro-credit scheme, customers typically make a down payment of 15% or 20%, and pay the balance over two to four years at an interest rate of approximately 10%. The micro-hydro schemes are financed by a mix of 'sweat equity' on the part of the villagers who benefit, along with a SEEDS loan and a government grant. SEEDS have carried out surveys which suggest a reduction of around 300 litres of kerosene per household per year. This is equivalent to about 0.75 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions for each system, or 38 thousand tonnes per year for the whole program.[7]

Basu, P., Srivastava, P., Scaling-up microfinance for India June 2005, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 3646[edit | edit source]

Abstract: This paper reviews the current level and pattern of access to finance for India's rural poor and examines some of the key microfinance approaches in India, taking a close look at the most dominant among these, the Self Help Group (SHG) Bank Linkage initiative. It empirically analyzes the success with which SHG Bank Linkage has been able to reach the poor, examines the reasons behind this, and the lessons learned. The analysis in the paper draws heavily on a recent rural access to finance survey of 6,000 households in India, undertaken by the authors. The main findings and implications of the paper are as follows: India's rural poor currently have very little access to finance from formal sources. Microfinance approaches have tried to fill the gap. Among these, the growth of SHG Bank Linkage has been particularly remarkable, but outreach remains modest in terms of the proportion of poor households served. The paper recommends that, if SHG Bank Linkage is to be scaled-up to offer mass access to finance for the rural poor, then much more attention will need to be paid towards: the promotion of high quality SHGs that are sustainable, clear targeting of clients, and ensuring that banks linked to SHGs price loans at cost-covering levels. At the same time, the paper argues that, in an economy as vast and varied as India's, there is scope for diverse microfinance approaches to coexist. Private sector microfinanciers need to acquire greater professionalism, and the government, too, can help by creating a flexible architecture for microfinance innovations, including through a more enabling policy, legal and regulatory framework. Finally, the paper argues that, while microfinance can, at minimum, serve as a quick way to deliver finance to the poor, the medium-term strategy to scale-up access to finance for the poor should be to 'graduate' microfinance clients to formal financial institutions. The paper offers some suggestions on what it would take to reform these institutions with an eye to improving access for the poor.

Working Paper Series

Beck, T., Demirguc-Kunt, A. and Martinez, P.M.S. (2005) '[ Reaching out: access to and use of banking services across countries http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DEC/Resources/ReachingOutSept9.pdf.]', World Bank, September 2005[edit | edit source]

Abstract: This paper (i) presents new indicators of banking sector penetration across 99 countries, based on a survey of bank regulatory authorities, (ii) shows that these indicators predict household and firm use of banking services, (iii) explores the association between the outreach indicators and measures of financial, institutional, and infrastructure development across countries, and (iv) relates these banking outreach indicators to measures of firms'financing constraints. In particular, we find that greater outreach is correlated with standard measures of financial development, as well as with economic activity. Controlling for these factors, we find that better communication and transport infrastructure, and better governance are also associated with greater outreach. Government ownership of financial institutions translates into lower access, while more concentrated banking systems are associated with greater outreach. Finally, firms in countries with higher branch and ATM penetration and higher use of loan services report lower financing obstacles, thus linking banking sector outreach to the alleviation of firms' financing constraints.

Counts, A. (2004) 'Microfinance and the global development challenge', Economic Perspectives, February 2004.[edit | edit source]

Godquin, M. (2004) Microfinance Repayment Performance in Bangladesh: How to Improve the Allocation of Loans by MFIs, World Development, Volume 32, Issue 11, November 2004, Pages 1909-1926, via(http://web.archive.org/web/20110216071301/http://www.sciencedirect.com:80/science/article/B6VC6-4DN12J5-3/2/2f9898bfbdc4396b1e468708df03b2cc)[edit | edit source]

Abstract: The aim of this article is to produce a comprehensive analysis of the performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in terms of repayment. We focus the analysis on the impact of group lending, nonfinancial services and dynamic incentives on repayment performance. We test for endogeneity of loan size and use instrumental variables to correct for it. In the second section of the paper, we use a comparative analysis of the determinants of the repayment performance and of loan size in order to make policy recommendations on the allocation of loans by MFIs.

Robinson, M. (2001). The Microfinance Revolution: Sustainable Finance for the Poor World Bank, Washington, 2001,199-215[edit | edit source]

full book: http://www.scribd.com/doc/15739484/The-Microfinance-Revolution-Sustainable-Finance-for-the-Poor

The timing of this book is excellent it has few close substitutes in terms of its sweeping overview of the terrain, and the revolution is now so advanced that the time is right for a history, or at least a retrospective. As with any revolution, however, splits have emerged within the movement. On one side are those who argue that the way forward is to require microfinance institutions to meet the test of financial sustainability essentially,requiring these institutions to cover their costs, even if this means that the very poorest of the poor remain under-served. Against this, the poverty lending approach emphasizes the importance of outreach, especially to the very poorest borrowers, as a povertyfighting approach.

E Martinot, R Ramankutty, F Rittner, The GEF Solar PV Portfolio:Emerging Experience and Lessons, Monitoring and Evaluation Working Paper 2, August 2000[edit | edit source]

A review of projects financed by microfinance.

Cited by 20: [8]

Gallardo, Joselito, Leasing to Support Small Businesses and Microenterprises,The World Bank, Policy Research Working Paper Series: 1857, (1999)[edit | edit source]

Need to buy!

Abstract: December 1997 The Bank should maximize opportunities to expand the use of leasing as an approach to financial intermediation in Bank projects to promote the development of small businesses and microenterprises. In most developing countries, capital markets are relatively undeveloped and banks are often unable or unwilling to undertake term lending. And banks prefer to lend to larger, established businesses with well-developed balance sheets and credit histories. Operations in microenterprises and small businesses are cash-flow-oriented but rarely have organized historical financial records or the assets needed for collateral for conventional bank financing. Gallardo explores the potential of leasing as an option to expand small businesses' access to medium-term financing for capital equipment and new technology. In a lease-financing contract, the lessor-financier retains ownership of the asset, lease payments can be tailored to fit the cash-flow generation patterns of the lessee-borrower's business, and the security deposit is smaller than the equity stake required in conventional bank financing. Different types of small businesses require different financial services. It would be worthwhile to encourage development of a range of institutions using special methods to service particular market niches. Most small businesses that generate extra income for a household or employ nonfamily members need simple access to financing to augment their working capital needs. Microfinance appropriate to their needs will feature short cycles of repayment and borrowing. Other small businesses require medium-term financing to acquire the tools and equipment needed to support production growth and expansion. For these businesses, leasing is an attractive new financing option. Gallardo examines and compares the Bank's experience: Lease financing was used to promote the development of small businesses in Pakistan, as part of a microenterprise development loan project. For a Bank-supported alternative-energy project in Indonesia, a variant of lease financing-the hire-purchase contract-is being used in marketing and distribution by private distributors of photovoltaic solar home systems. Lease financing was used by Grameen Trust in Bangladesh to finance the purchase of small tools and equipment and in other countries to promote the growth of alternative energy systems. This paper-a product of the Development Research Group-is part of a larger effort in the group to identify appropriate policies for environmental regulation in developing countries. The study was funded by the Bank's Research Support Budget under the research project "The Economics of Industrial Pollution Control in Developing Countries" (RPO 680-20).

Limits of microcredit - a paper by Jean-Michel Servet [edit | edit source]

Social Entrepreneurship - Trends and News of Social Entrepreneurship Written by Cyril Saturday, 29 November 2008 10:20

microcredit is an activity that must consist in lending to the poor for a productive investment that finds solvent openings, with a return higher than the loan cost, for some beneficiaries who have managerial and technical skills.

But a calling into question of the so-called "miracle" of microfinance, and a call for a wider variety of means used. I would like to add also a complicated but exciting reflection on the proper balance between sustainability of the model and the taking into account of some "social" efficiency criteria.

Muhammad Yunus, Poverty Alleviation: Is Economics Any Help? Lessons from the Grameen Bank Experience., Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 52, 1998[edit | edit source]

... after consulting with the other members of their peer group.... Grameen Shakti and Grameen Bank will provide loans to people to buy the solar panels as...

Microfinance, technology and Sustainability Development blog[edit | edit source]

Just when it might have proved most useful, peer-to-peer lending has been severely hamstrung by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission's efforts to get a regulatory handle on the fledgling industry. With the credit crisis making it harder and harder for cash-strapped households and small businesses to get bank loans, the opportunity for creditworthy applicants to borrow up to $25,000 from strangers at slightly higher interest rates was seen as something of a godsend.

Those most in need of new renewable technologies are often least able to raise the finance necessary to fund such development. Now, a new commodities exchange scheme is bringing renewables to the South Pacific using a novel rural payment method. Binu Parthan explains how the scheme works.

Microfinance/ Peer to Peer organizations[edit | edit source]

Energy in Common[edit | edit source]

Founded in 2010. Energy In Commons launches Kiva-like platform to combat energy poverty

• "EIC works directly with microfinance institutions (MFIs) to reach their target market – the energy poor. While 150 million people are reached by microfinance, less than 1% of those families have received an energy loan. EIC makes loans of $50 to $1000 towards green energy for the energy poor, which includes fuel-efficient cook stoves, solar powered light and solar drip irrigation systems"

GreenMicrofinance Center[edit | edit source]

GreenMicrofinance Center (GMfC) is a non-profit organization. Our mission is to address climate change and environmental justice by providing education and sharing knowledge on 'microfinance and climate change' and 'clean energy for the poor'. The Center offerings include our document library, blog, and university on-line forum.

Microplace[edit | edit source]

On the impact of microplace: [9] 2006

KIVA[edit | edit source]

related page: Kiva 2005

On Kiva: [10]

Kiva is a peer-to-peer lending site that facilitates micropayment loans between citizen lenders and extremely low-income entrepreneurs in developing countries. Through Kiva's platform, anyone can loan $25 or more to support an entrepreneur and the specific progress of the loan can be tracked from initial funding to repayment. Upon receiving repayment, lenders can withdraw their funds from Kiva or lend again to another entrepreneur, thereby continuing the lending cycle.[11]

Climate Change hits Kiva borrowers in Bolivia

Arc Finance[edit | edit source]

Community Lend[edit | edit source]

Peer to peer Lending in Canada.2006

Through P2Ps, borrowers can score loans at rates lower than those offered by banks or credit cards, and lenders can make a buck by investing in a short-term loan.

" The unsecured consumer loan marketplace in Canada exceeds $100 Billion in volume every year and generates interest payments on those loans exceeding $15 Billion annually. By definition, "unsecured" loans are often small loans used for purposes like funding a wedding or paying off high interest credit card debt, for which the lender has not taken security to support the loan.

Today in Canada, this very profitable industry is also a very closed industry, with only a handful of major companies involved. This means that a very small list of banks and credit cards companies are the sole beneficiaries of one of this country's most profitable industries. "

The Microfinance Gateway[edit | edit source]

Lending Club (2006)[edit | edit source]

MYC4(2006)[edit | edit source]

Prosper (2005)[edit | edit source]

United Properity (2008)[edit | edit source]

Virgin Money (2001/2002)[edit | edit source]

Wokai (2006)[edit | edit source]

Peer to Peer lending Companies[edit | edit source]

Peer to Peer Charities[edit | edit source]

Citations[edit | edit source]

Kadra09 19:37, 23 June 2009 (UTC)