P2P Banking
Exchanges where peers can lend and borrow money from each other, without the intermediary of banks.
See the entry on P2P Exchanges
Examples
See also Kiva and Moneytwins
Commentary
From a banking/business commentator at http://bankervision.typepad.com/bankervision/2006/09/peerless_bankin.html
"what will determine the success of P2P is whether they can recruit enough sophisticated investors to fund their loans. According to this report, only about 30% of loans get funded at present on Proper.com. And it does demand a sophisticated investor: practically everyone I've spoken to - incredibly, this includes some bankers are well - fail to understand that Prosper and Zopa are just like banks in that they enable risk to spread across a portfolio.
In other words, the thing that has to be determined is if there are enough people with money to spare, an understanding of the economics of risk, and a willingness to try an innovative model to make the whole P2P thing fly.
Because if borrowers find their loans aren't getting funded, sooner or later they'll stop asking for loans." (http://bankervision.typepad.com/bankervision/2006/09/peerless_bankin.html)
More Information
3-part commentary on peerless banking at http://profitdesk.com/content/2006/08/09/peerless-banking-part-1/
For updates, see the P2P-Banking tag at Delicious