Prosper Debuts a Peer Comparison (and Branding) Site

Bank Technology News | March, 2010

P2P lending site Prosper has developed a peer comparison-style Website in which consumers are invited to share stories about debt and strategies to reduce and curtail debt, which sometimes involve the use of Prosper.

Buoyed by recent Federal Reserve calculations that there’s $2.46 trillion in outstanding consumer debt, Prosper’s “talk about the taboo” campaign encourages users to tell their stories on the Web about how they are managing debt. The site contends that debt is one of the last remaining social taboos, but there is value in knowing how peers are tackling similar problems.

It’s also an opportunity for Prosper to market its core business of peer-to-peer lending, since some (but not all) of the stories involve using Prosper loans to help pay down debt.

For example, on one recent day, “James” compared personal finance to religion and politics as off limits topics, but then discussed how he and his wife navigated auto and credit card debt, and “stumbled onto” Prosper as a means to “get rid of debt at a lower rate.”

Another person, a mom identified as “Terie” looked into credit counseling to help manage high credit card balances and plan for the future expenses of her children, and later “turned to” Prosper to “chip away” at her debt.

Prosper’s not alone in providing peer financial comparisons as a social counseling tool. Other sites such as Mint, Geezeo and Bundle also allow consumers to discuss how they are managing personal finances; saving for college and retirement; and paying down mortgage and credit card debts.