Peer-to-peer lending and social lending in Germany clearly on the rise of social lending or peer-to-peer loans subject to a steady growth in Germany since its introduction in 2007. With increasing importance of the Internet and the share of social lending on the world’s financial transactions, including also the personal loans, will continue to increase in the coming years at least with the decline in the current low interest rate environment. In the peer-to-peer loans, referred to often as social lending, banks or other credit institutions remain generally completely sidelined. Special features of this type of personal loan is the purchase or sale of loans between two private individuals, as well as the Internet as almost exclusive trading platform by creditors and debtors. Also in lending by one or more individuals to small businesses, especially if they have their seat in the third world, spoken by the social lending, so the “social bond”. It is in this case a personal loan, which Creditors are more charitable reasons and the profit has only a subordinated role. The development and prospects of social lending are to assess very positively.
This applies to both worldwide as also specifically for the market in Germany, where the German-speaking area is still a comparatively has limited market share. Particularly in Austria, the legal situation regarding peer-to-peer loans which are transmitted over the Internet, is still very unclear why appropriate platforms in the past were given no permission from the Finanzmarktaufischt. For the first time, personal loans were introduced in 2005 over the Internet then exclusively in the UK and with a total turnover of around US$ 120 million. The United States, Germany and Asia followed in the following years, so that the development of the social lending or peer-to-peer loans with a total turnover of 270 million US dollars almost exploded in 2006 and each more than $ 500 million in the following years. She noticed much Gartner study considers possible a global potential of up to $ 5 billion per year in the social lending and already predicts the reaching of this mark for the year 2013. In Germany of a comparatively safe legal situation, where the usual principles of personal loan apply subject to social lending or peer-to-peer loans. Creditors and debtors arbitrarily set the level of interest rates for the loan and are bound by no special formality.
It is however recommended that the credit agreement to safeguard the interests of both parties will be notarized ideally, but at least complies with standard bank. In addition, the credit interest rate may exceed maximum double the value offered by banks. Since the social lending and other personal loans but anyway the social component in the foreground, so both creditors deemed liable to benefit from it, is such personal loans by individuals already elected a loan interest, the between the credit interest on the savings account and the Bank Loan interest rates moves. Corinna Friedrich born Wan
