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I was just told by the Loanio CEO that barring any last second hangup to expect the launch of Loanio today.

I noticed that they have a blog too: Loanio Blog

Good luck Loanio, we have been looking forward to your launch for quite some time…

• Quick Finovate Comments -- Loanio I will have bunch more to say about finovate startup from netbanker when I have a chance to write it down in a form worthy of publishing, but felt like I should say a few quick comments about the future p2p lending upstart: Loanio. I had the pleasure of speaking......
• Loanio Launched, $25 signup Bonus to new Lenders Please pardon the semi delayed announcement.  I want to make sure that they had really launched...  Will coborrowing reduce risk?  Does platinum verification make you feel warm and fuzzy? I will be trying Loanio as I have all the other p2p lending opportunities for which I am eligible. If you......
• Tempest In a Teapot Brewing in SanFran Batten down the hatches as the rain and the wind have been making their presence felt in the 1st winter storm of the season in San Francisco. After a weeks of gorgeous weather the weather barometer started falling over the weekend. ProsperReport.com home (at least for the moment) of an......
• Zopa Guarantees Returns 5.1% But the yield is only 5.1%.  Essentially you are buying a 1 year CD in the credit union of Zopa.  Details can be found in the this Wall Street Journal article. FDIC insured guaranteed rate of return.  Yield capped at 5.1% Seems just like a credit union.  I will be glad to have......
• Pertuity Direct in the New Year In my inbox today.... Dear Friends of Pertuity Direct, As we wrap up 2008, we thought it would be a good time to check in with you and share the great progress we have made as a company. If you have been keeping tabs on the space, you know that......

I have been having an ongoing email conversation with Michael Solomon the CEO of Loanio for quite some time… In fact, he originally bought advertising on this blog over a year ago. While still hesitant to give an exact date, he told me in no uncertain terms that Loanio is in the final stages of preparing for launch and that both “final security audit and legal compliance audit” are the final hurdles to launch and both are wrapping up.

You may recall I mentioned seeing Loanio at Finovate in SF. To me their most interesting feature is the possibility a co-borrower for bad credit borrowers. I am interested in seeing the impact of the co-borrower on the fundability of bad credit loans in the peer to peer marketplace.

Tom at Prosper Lending Review has some screen shots and a writeup about the inside access he was given.

I expect after many delays that this time is for real and I for one am interested to see if the entrance of a Prosper competitor can re-energize the p2p lending space the way Lending Club and Prosper did in early 2008. Competition breeds innovation and innovation is good for consumers. Welcome Loanio I hope your launch is highly successful.

• NetBanker: Person-to-Person Lending 2.0 NetBanker has just published an online banking report: Person-to-Person Lending 2.0. He is specifically covering Prosper, Lending Club, Zopa, Virgin Money, and LoanBank. Interesting to note, he had intended to publish earlier, but news all over the p2p lending world was a regular occurrence in the 4th quarter.  Prosper announced......
• Prosper Launches Referral Program Rewards Existing Members for New Borrowers and New Lenders Prosper.com just launched a referral program rewarding existing members for referring new borrowers and new lenders.  New lenders are also rewarded for being referred with a $25 bonus.  This replaces the Group Leader match rewards, but not the payment rewards.  New borrowers brought to Prosper are are worth 0.5% of the loan value......
• RateLadder Lending Club Update Another late loan and another withdrawal.  Eagerly awaiting the end of the "quiet period."  I think competition is good for the market and at the exact moment it feels like Prosper is the loan dog (pun intended) in the p2p lending market...  Zopa provides a CD and Lending Club doesn't......
• Zopa Shuts Down US Branch Zopa, the UK based peer to peer lending company, is shutting down their US branch due as a result of toughening conditions that are currently being experienced by the US economy. Zopa provides loan services in the UK, as well as in Italy and Japan through a pure P2P style......
• Lending Club Forum Having just signed up for Lending Club, my bank account has not yet been verified.  So, I have no money to bid on listings.  What am I do do? Cruise on over to the Lending Club forum.  Read up on the community.  Discuss my upcoming lending strategy.  But WAIT! There......

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I have had several bloggers ask for advice on their listings or potential listings…  One of them even joined my group and successfully received a $25K loan at an interest rate he was happy with…

As a blogger the reputation of your blog has meaning for you both in terms of your persona, but also in real financial terms…  I have said privately, that I would lend to any blogger of 1 year duration or longer that placed their blog reputation on the line in the listing…

My offer to any blogger that has asked has been the same…  Write a listing and mention your blog and url and I will endorse and bid on your listing and offer all the tips and assistance I know how to provide in order to get your loan funded and the rate as low as possible… 

While I am still making that offer to any blogger, I thought I would share my tips for creating the best possible listing that anyone can use on prosper to get a loan.

1. There are some credit statistics that are factual and out of your control (current inquires, current delinquencies, etc.).  These are simple related to your circumstance and are difficult to adjust for your benefit by definition…  There are others that you can control namely loan amount and the related DTI.  If at all possible with your statistics that are our of your control, adjust your loan amount and there by your DTI to conform to a portfolio plan slice.  These slices are updating frequently and they can be a moving target (ask deep market… his listing went live at 3 in the afternoon and the slices were adjust that evening.)  Why? because the default portfolio plans have a lot of purchasing power…  (My own listing might have gotten as much as $12K+ in portfolio plan bids in 4 days.)
2. End your listing around 5pm est…  For whatever reason that seems to be the time when more bids are placed.  This leads me to believe this is a time of peak lender activity.
3. End you listing on Thursday (assuming normal weekend and not a holiday)…  This may no longer hold the same power as it once did (due to the $50 instant transfer for Facebook users), but the theory goes…  Any lender transfer  of money occurring between 11:01am est Friday and 11:00am Monday will result in the money being available for bidding on Thursday due to the time it takes for the transactions to clear the bank… Not everyone is a facebook user or has the Prosper facebook application installed and therefore I would still use this tip.
4. Tell you story.  Be truthful and honest and put as much detail into the story as you feel comfortable with…  An expenses breakdown and a list of income amount and sources might help with a lower interest rate.  But only provide what you are comfortable sharing.  Your listing should make sense financially, else why are you getting the loan?
5. Use a relevant picture… Do not you use a picture of someone else’s house or someone else’s blond girlfriend (hat tip to Freakonomics who says that young blond women out sell all other demographics in America).
6. Choose the right starting interest rate… Prosper now provides interest rate guidance.  Use the rate with the best chance of funding. You cannot get a loan if you listing does not reach 100% funded…  The listing will only begin to be bid lower after it reaches 100% funded.
7. Get endorsements from friends and get bids from friends who have endorsed your listing.  I had 14+ endorsements (maybe a bit of overkill) and 11 bids from Prosper friends.  I also have a number of bids from friends that are not confirmed Friends on Prosper.  Try to get at least 3 friends to endorse and bid on your listing.
8. Answer questions.  If a lender takes an interest in your listing enough to ask a question, they deserve an answer.  I answered all the questions asked.  Even the question that involved details of my financial life that I am not comfortable sharing.  I intentionally left out an income and budget breakdown from my listing. I do not recommend this if you are trying for your lowest possible interest rate.  But I simply did not feel comfortable sharing that information (perhaps to my interest rate detriment).  But even then I answer the question politely decline to answer and stating my reasons.

• Another Winning Bid Of the account value not current in loans ($272.24 or 5 possible loans) 4 loans are now pending review leaving only 1 in winning bid.  I have $300 dollars on the way to prosper, but that can take days to get there. Here is a photo of the Active Listing......
• Prosper's People-to-People Lending Market Survey SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Prosper (www.prosper.com), America's largest people-to-people lending marketplace, today introduced its first monthly People-to-People Lending Market Survey. Prosper's People-to-People Lending Market Survey will survey the marketplace each month to provide key statistics including: membership and loan volume statistics; marketplace returns; borrower rates; mix of prime, near prime and sub-prime......
• RateLadder Lauches Prosper Group Focussed on Borrower Success As a dedicated and fanatical lender I have been trying to climb up the RateLadder. Put my experience to work for you, allowing you to climb down the RateLadder and obtain the best possible loan rate for your listing. Membership and Listing Requirements How dedicated? How fanatical?   I have been......
• RateLadder Requests Prosper Loan I am requesting a Prosper Loan.  I am a AA, homeowner, verified bank account, Prosper lender with an 11K+ lending portfolio. This is my 1st foray into borrowing on a p2p website. I believe in p2p lending and with this loan I will gain a borrower's perspective. My loan matches the......
• Capacity is Not a Problem with Prosper.com -- Invest 10K in 1.5 Months on Nothing but Great Loans. I have often wondered if the large lenders have any capacity problems. That is, do they ever find it hard to find loans.  I asked pensioner that very question at Prosper Days and his response was, "I moved $750,000 into Prosper in a month and a half, so I would......

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