I’ve already spoken a bit about the concept of microfinance. For those of you who love the thought of lending, but don’t really appreciate the collection part of the process, this is the site for you.

Check out Prosper. It’s the modern day version of organized borrowing and lending, and it really works like a song. You can browse all the listings, check credit ratings, investigate, and search. Eventually, you’ll find the person(s) that you’re willing to lend money to and voila!, you post your bid. The interface is easy and pretty understandable. It even offers tools to automate the lending process so that you can spread your risk by credit type, amount, and return.

And remember that this is P2P, so the peer that lends can be the peer that borrows. Meaning, you can borrow money as well!

Of course, you have to build your rating and feedback, as well as your profile. But this is a great tool for those willing to take the time to scope out their lending and/or borrowing activities and take an active role in that research process.

As long as you don’t see any defaults, the rest is as easy as sliced bread! Just sit back and relax. Even if there is a default, Prosper gives you the option to use one of its contracted collection agencies. Not that you should ever count on seeing that money, of course

For some more detail on the site, check out The 3rd World View…