Social lending cuts out the banks

From FT: "Poor savings rates and a growing mistrust of high street lenders are prompting more consumers to bypass banks and do business with one another via peer-to-peer (P2P) websites." - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/852a2ae0-d00f-11e1-a3d2-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz21HW4hEQK

The growth of P2P lending is a sign that people are trying to seek alternative means to borrowing money than from the high street banks.  This is where individuals will offer to lend money to borrowers via an investment club - usually on-line. This growth is due to a combination of mistrust and the fact that the banks tend to be too demanding in their criteria for 'safe' lending - never mind the so-called casino mindset of the so-called investment banks.

Some of the main P2P investment clubs are:

• Ratesetter - 
• Thin Cats (editor: ha, ha) - 
• Zopa - 
• Funding Circle - 
• Squirrl - 
• Seedrs -