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Australian Lending Hub aims at real-time verification

wiseclerk

Lending Hub – an australian p2p lending site, which says it will launch in August or September 2008, has set an ambiguous aim: processing borrowing and lending applications in real time.

The Lending Hub system will check and process a borrowing application within less than a minute (assuming you have a traceable credit history and have provided all required information). Now instead of waiting at a bank or searching for your nearest branch we’ll be able to process your details in less time than it takes to grab a coffee!

If we require any physical documents (e.g. payslips or bank account statements) you can upload a scan directly to your Lending Hub account. No need to mail us anything (unless you really want to of course).

As do most p2p lending services, Lending Hub will not charge a fee for early repayment of loans, which it says is an advantage over most other lending services in Australia.

Lendinghub will be regulated under the Uniform Consumer Credit Code legislation.

You can also read a guest article by Ivan Martelli, Director of Lending Hub

Peer to peer currency exchange PeerFX to launch soon

wiseclerk 3 Comments

PeerFX.com a p2p currency exchange that wants do to away with high margins and fees banks charge when exchanging currencies, announced to launch on August, 1st. Users will be able to change US and Canadian Dollars directly (USD, CAD).
Watch a video of the funding. The founders Robert Dunlop and Florence Leung gave away a 51% percent stake of the company for 250,000 CAN$ seed funding.

Personally, I am not convinced by the business model. For consumers there are less and less needs to actually exchange currencies in advance. You can nearly always pay with plastic. In Europe the realm of the Euro is expanding. And several European banks allow their account holders to withdraw cash from any ATM (of any bank) worldwide fee-free.
But maybe the situation is different between the US and Canada. What is your opinion on this, dear reader?

Zopa UK plans Young Market to target young borrowers

wiseclerk 1 Comment

Zopa UK said it will introduce 'Young Markets' (Young36 and Young60) specifically for borrowers aged 20 to 25. The need for this arises from the fact that currently many applications are turned down – not because the borrowers have any negative marks on their credit history – rather they don't have sufficient history of debt.

Zopa will still check borrowers in this age group (identity, fraud, affordability, adress and employment). As long as they have no history of bad debt they will be approved for borrowing on the Young Market. 

The new young market segment will allow Zopa to advertise the service focussed on young borrowers, which are internet savvy and open to the p2p lending concept.

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