Print

[Investar]

Has anyone computed the next drop dead date?

Ball park is April, 2011. The last round of funding was enough to last a year based on current burn rate then. Those 12 months will have ticked away by April. Cost structure has changed very little in the interim.

[SLN]

I agree with Investar. When I looked at their 3rd qtr financials it looked like they had enough cash to last through April or May. They will need either another VC injection then or they will be shopping themselves around to be bought. They likely already know whether there is more funding available from the VC's, so I am guessing part of these changes might be because a fixed rate model might make them a more attractive acquisition target.

Here is my out of left field guess. Intuit buys Prosper in the first half of 2011. It would fit in nicely with Mint.com and give their many small business customers access to funding. All the regulatory work is done and they have some pretty deep pockets. Any thoughts?

BTW, getting back to the topic of this thread. Originations are back over $200K for the last two days.

[TotoMMB]

Here is my out of left field guess. Intuit buys Prosper in the first half of 2011. It would fit in nicely with Mint.com and give their many small business customers access to funding. All the regulatory work is done and they have some pretty deep pockets. Any thoughts?

I don't know. It seems like too much bank-y stuff for Intuit. Mint is really just a data aggregator (and ad platform). I'd say a bank buys Prosper for cheap, shuts it down and now has financial data and e-mail addresses for 1M potential new customers. The loans can be transferred into the banks own product. Essentially, this wuold be the long-awaited and oft-promised JDB.

[Urbi_et_Orbi]

Prosper getting ready to reel-em-in in January...with incentive for BORROWERS.

http://blog4deals.com/2010/12/30/50-rebate-for-borrowers-prosper-marketplace-inc/

$50 Rebate for Borrowers – Prosper Marketplace Inc
Deal: Borrowers get a $ 50 rebate on any loan where the request is posted by January 31, 2011

Deal Category: 50 Dollar Borrower Rebate

Deal Types: personal loan, debt consolidation, rebate

Valid: 12/27/2010 through 01/31/2011

Please Note: To qualify for the promotion, the borrower must create a listing for a loan on the Prosper website by January 31, 2011 and that listing must result in a loan. The borrower must respond by clicking the Get Rate Now button from the landing page to be eligible for the promotion.The $ 50 rebate will be given as a credit against your second loan payment. This promotion cannot be combined with any other promotional offer from Prosper.

http://www.prosper.com/prm/borrower_50percent.html?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=SAS&refac=SAS&refmc=SAS&refd=creative:rebate&SSAID=408014&refd=aff:408014

[AiriusTorpora]

Prosper getting ready to reel-em-in in January...with incentive for BORROWERS.

http://blog4deals.com/2010/12/30/50-rebate-for-borrowers-prosper-marketplace-inc/

$50 Rebate for Borrowers – Prosper Marketplace Inc
Deal: Borrowers get a $ 50 rebate on any loan where the request is posted by January 31, 2011

Deal Category: 50 Dollar Borrower Rebate

Deal Types: personal loan, debt consolidation, rebate

Valid: 12/27/2010 through 01/31/2011

Please Note: To qualify for the promotion, the borrower must create a listing for a loan on the Prosper website by January 31, 2011 and that listing must result in a loan. The borrower must respond by clicking the Get Rate Now button from the landing page to be eligible for the promotion.The $ 50 rebate will be given as a credit against your second loan payment. This promotion cannot be combined with any other promotional offer from Prosper.

http://www.prosper.com/prm/borrower_50percent.html?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=SAS&refac=SAS&refmc=SAS&refd=creative:rebate&SSAID=408014&refd=aff:408014

Woohoo! Let's get a $50 rebate on a loan that has 3.5% in origination fees! That is a winner

[Xenon481]

Prosper getting ready to reel-em-in in January...with incentive for BORROWERS.

http://blog4deals.com/2010/12/30/50-rebate-for-borrowers-prosper-marketplace-inc/

$50 Rebate for Borrowers – Prosper Marketplace Inc
Deal: Borrowers get a $ 50 rebate on any loan where the request is posted by January 31, 2011

Deal Category: 50 Dollar Borrower Rebate

Deal Types: personal loan, debt consolidation, rebate

Valid: 12/27/2010 through 01/31/2011

Please Note: To qualify for the promotion, the borrower must create a listing for a loan on the Prosper website by January 31, 2011 and that listing must result in a loan. The borrower must respond by clicking the Get Rate Now button from the landing page to be eligible for the promotion.The $ 50 rebate will be given as a credit against your second loan payment. This promotion cannot be combined with any other promotional offer from Prosper.

http://www.prosper.com/prm/borrower_50percent.html?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=SAS&refac=SAS&refmc=SAS&refd=creative:rebate&SSAID=408014&refd=aff:408014

What if I payoff the loan the very next day? There isn't a 2nd payment....

Or more likely, what If a borrower never makes a 2nd payment? Or they make 2 payments but not a 3rd?

[Senator]

Woohoo! Let's get a $50 rebate on a loan that has 3.5% in origination fees! That is a winner

http://www.prosper.com/help/topics/other-fees.aspx

Prosper Rating   Closing Fee
AA:   0.50%
A, B   3.0%
C-E:   4.5%

So, if you're AA the rebate would wipe out the fees in a $10K loan.

[Xenon481]

Woohoo! Let's get a $50 rebate on a loan that has 3.5% in origination fees! That is a winner

http://www.prosper.com/help/topics/other-fees.aspx

Prosper Rating   Closing Fee
AA:   0.50%
A, B   3.0%
C-E:   4.5%

So, if you're AA the rebate would wipe out the fees in a $10K loan.

Hmmm....

Maybe I should get a $1k loan and pay it off as soon as I get the rebate.........

[Senator]

Maybe I should get a $1k loan and pay it off as soon as I get the rebate.........

That should net you $35-$40 free money.

[pioneer11]

Maybe I should get a $1k loan and pay it off as soon as I get the rebate.........

That should net you $35-$40 free money.

Now they will be looking for us.

[Senator]

Now they will be looking for us.

Prosper would do well if they had borrowers of the caliber of those who post here. 

[havastat]

Essentially they're lowering their origination fee but waiting a payment to give a rebate. I realize it's possible to get something for nothing for an AA borrower with a 1K loan, but it's probably not worth it. Each query lowers ones credit score. For an AA-level borrower, anything lowering ones score is going to be noticable. A hit on ones credit score is likely to end up costing one well above the few bucks one would get here. So it wouldn't be worth it unless the borrower actually wants the loan anyway.

[ira01]

Each query lowers ones credit score. For an AA-level borrower, anything lowering ones score is going to be noticable. A hit on ones credit score is likely to end up costing one well above the few bucks one would get here. So it wouldn't be worth it unless the borrower actually wants the loan anyway.

One inquiry for a AA borrower is likely to only be a few points hit on the credit score -- which won't cost them anything, since there is no interest rate difference between, say, 810 and 805.  If I wasn't banned from Prosper, I would do it.

[no-whammies]

I think the minimum loan amount has increased to 2K, so...

AA 10 + -50 = -40
A-B 60 + -50 = 10
C-E 90 + -50 = 40

Only the AA borrowers will see a return for origination.  And since you must make interest payments
Returning AA borrowers, one year term (6.65%) = 21.88
First-time AA borrowers, one year term (7.00%) = 23.04

-40 + 21.88 = 28.12 NET -or-
-40 + 23.04 = 26.96 NET

[kenL]

I think the minimum loan amount has increased to 2K, so...

For all loans, or just to qualify for the bonus?

Either way, I think its a smart idea to increase the minimum to 2k.
I think servicing a bunch of 1k loans is more trouble than its worth.