Issue Brief Examines Peer-to-peer Lending Model

The U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy has released a new issue brief entitled Peer-to-Peer Lending: A Financing Alternative for Small Businesses. Peer-to-peer lending (P2P) is an alternative funding model in which individual investors provide small sums as personal loans to individuals via Internet platforms.

In this brief, Research Economist Miriam Segal builds upon existing research and discusses the emerging funding option by explaining the investment model, comparing it to traditional small business financing options, and presenting implications regarding the future of peer-to-peer lending.

While the brief outlines scholarly research on various sources of capital, this report also gives the research economist, the potential investor, and the small business owner, the most up-to-date information on different opportunities for accessing capital in today’s economy.

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