No Bank Needed: Peer-to-Peer Lending is here to Stay!

Membership in peer-to-peer lending groups is climbing fast, and so is the money involved. As quoted in the Washington Post, Celent, the Boston-based research firm, expects such loans to grow to $5.8 billion in 2010. Technology will dramatically transform the banking industry - however, the world's poorest will still be left behind. It is estimated that the industry needs $250 billion to get capital to all the poor people who need it. And, of the 400,000,000 people living outside a banking system, hundreds of millions will soon be crossing the digital divide. This represents an extraordinary opportunity to pioneers in social entrepreneurship. Philanthropist.org provides a marketplace of investment opportunities where socially minded investors can choose entrepreneurs to sponsor, while monitoring returns with social and financial impact. Social Investing, Peer-to-Peer Lending, Micro-Finance, Micro-Credit, Social Venture Capital, Online Giving, and Micro-Philanthropy all blur the line between investing and giving towards a cause.