by Tricia
If you haven’t heard about Prosper yet, it’s a people to people lending site. If you need money – it’s a way to get it. If you have money – it’s a way to help someone out and make some money from the interest the borrowers pay.
All and all, I think the site was started with a great thing in mind.
I’ve been curious about it because I have been trying to get the balance off of Credit Card #2 so I can transfer it back on for a lower rate (the rate is currently 16.49%). I tried going to a bank once for a loan, and that didn’t work. Could something like Prosper work for me?
As of this moment, there are not many people with funded loan requests. And those with funded requests appear to have the lower debt to income ratios (less than 20%). My ratio is 52% and I think that would be too high for lenders to even take a second glance at me. I can’t blame them – I know if I had money to lend, I would fund loans of people that I felt would pay back. The harsh reality is that a higher ratio means you are more likely to default.
It will be interesting to see if the site will gain more attention and possibly more loans will be funded for those with a ratio similar to mine. I think for now I will pass on the possiblitiy of using Prosper, but I will keep a watchful eye on the site’s progress. Who knows – maybe in a few years I can be on the Lender’s side of the site 🙂
For more reading, there is an article in the Wall Street Journal written by someone who is lending money to others via Prosper.
Have you tried calling your lender and saying “This 16.49% you are charging me is ridiculous. I get 5-10 offers for lower rates every week. Lower my rate or else I will surf my balance to another card and you will never make any more money from me again.” What harm could it do? 🙂
I have tried calling them a few times. Quite a while ago (probably around 3 years ago) – that worked and my interest rate was lowered to 7.9%. But then it kept going up and up. I’ve called to inquire, and they just said it was because of interest rates going up in general. And now – they will not budge. I think they realize that my balance is too high and I no longer get offers for lower rates 🙁
I do plan on calling them again now that the balance has been reduced quite a bit in a short amount of time. Perhaps now they will budge 🙂
Good luck, Tricia! Rumor has it that threatening to surf your balance to another card works wonders. They don’t know that you don’t have another offer standing by. 🙂 And with a big interest rate like 16.49%, they don’t want to lose you as a customer. 🙂 Report back! 🙂
16.49 is definatly a rip off. No need to be shy.
Put all of your cash into paying off your CC and sell all of your junk on ebay/craigslist. After your utilization % drops you might have better luck getting a different card and rolling the balance over.
BTW, as far as I know prosper doesn’t verify income.
Actually Prosper does verify income…sort of. They ask for W2s and/or a pay stub. At least they did for me.
I think Prosper could help ya out. I’m thinking of doing the same thing for my credit card debt. I also want to get funding for some business ventures.
I wrote an article about it yesterday, I’ve also done an interview with Prosper. Come check ’em out. 🙂
Keep us updated if you decide to try it out. I have been thinking of joining from the lending side. I figure it could make some decent returns and help some people out.
If I do decide to join I think I will just do a few hundred over many loans while I get a feel for it. The site and idea is kinda new so I’m sure alot of others, like me, are weary of putting alot of money in or loaning to people that appear they may default.
I will keep everyone updated. I am still thinking about doing it as part of my balance transfer scheme. Basically, getting all of the money off of Credit Card #2 just to transfer it back on at a lower rate. Now when lenders read what I will be doing, would they still be interested in funding me for a month of interest?
I still need to investigate the charges I will incur with using Prosper and have to see if it is worth it to go for it. I’ll be keeping an eye on you Tim to see how it goes for you (hopefully well!).