August 7, 2013.

Consumers Find Investors Eager to Make 'Peer-to-Peer' Loans

Winston examined the four slips of paper which he had unrolled. Each contained a message of only one or two lines, in the abbreviated jargon----not actually Newspeak, but consisting largely of Newspeak words----which was used in the Ministry for internal purposes. They ran:

SAN FRANCISCO____At the new headquarters of Prosper Loans Marketplace Inc., the mission was spelled out on a whiteboard: "NEED $28,676,530.13."

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That is how much more Prosper wanted to lend to consumers by the end of June to hit a $30 million target. The twist: The money would come mainly from individual investors who trawl the company's website looking for borrowers willing to pay them attractive returns.

With a faint feeling of satisfaction Winston laid the fourth message aside. It was an intricate and responsible job and had better be dealt with last. The other three were routine matters, though the second one would probably mean some tedious wading through lists of figures.

Prosper and a bigger competitor based a few blocks away, Lending Club Corp., dominate an obscure corner of the financial-services sector called "peer-to-peer" lending, in which consumers bypass banks altogether to borrow money from other individuals. It is part of a shadow-lending system that has thrived since the 2008 financial crisis caused many banks to tighten their credit standards.