Prosper.com is an American based lending platform that prioritizes its operation by connecting US consumers with a network of lenders to secure a loan. Contrary to other competing loan matching networks, Prosper focuses its operation on solely working with prospective borrowers who possess a fair to good credit history and does not accept applicants with below average credit history. For over a dozen years this seemingly legitimate loan matching service has allegedly connected hundreds of borrowers with lenders with over $10 billion borrowed to date.
While most things appear to be in order with their loan matching service, we did discover a few discrepancies that we wouldn’t expect to find amongst most corporate backed operations. Discrepancies such as possibly manipulating and fabricating fictitious consumer testimonials amongst other sites while also possessing roughly 70% negative customer feedback at the Better Business Bureau.
To extract the facts bestowed upon you throughout our honest and unbiased review we urge you to continue reading. What you learn may surprise you and prompt you to search for other trusted alternatives.
About Prosper.com
Prosper can most aptly be defined as an online loan connection service that connects consumers in need of obtaining a loan with a variety of approved lenders. Asserting their operation as America’s first lending platform with over $10 billion in funded loans to date is a bold statement proclaimed at Prosper.com and one that their operation does not appear to fully back up. Applicants whose loan request has been approved can conclude the loan application process electronically and receive their requested loans in as little as a few business days.
Prosper.com Offer & Features
Prosper supports fixed term loans that range between 3 to 5 years with APRs that vary between 5.99% to 35.99%. In addition to enforcing a high APR percentage, Prosper.com takes a cut from your approved loan amount known as an origination fee that fluctuates between 1% to 5% which is allegedly determined by your credit worthiness. Provided below is an example of what a consumer could expect to pay with an approved 5 year loan for $10,000 with a Prosper Rating of A:
- Loan Amount: $10,000
- APR: 9.88%
- Interest: 7.69%
- Origination Fee: 5%
- Received Amount: $9,500
- 60 Scheduled Monthly Payments of $201.28
- Cumulative Repayment Total: $12,076.80
- $12,076.80 (Cumulative Cost) – $9,500 (Acquired Loan) = $2,576.80 in extra fees paid
It should be clarified that Prosper is not a direct lender, just a loan connection service that helps consumers match with suitable lenders. While other review sites are disclosing that Prosper functions in capability with other lenders, according to the Prosper website, loans are made by WebBank, a FDIC member. No other mention of supported lenders are disclosed so we do not believe that there are any other approved lenders. Furthermore, Prosper enforces strict eligibility requirements which are defined below:
Eligbility Requirements
- Must be 18 years of age
- Must have a minimum credit score of 640
- Must be a US citizen or permanent resident
- Must have 2 years minimum of credit history
- Must not surpass a debt-to-income ratio exceeding 50%
Supported Loans
- Small business
- Auto and vehicle
- Special occasions
- Baby and adoption
- Debt consolidation
- Home improvement
Who is Behind Prosper.com?
Prosper.com is operated by Prosper Marketplace Inc and its wholly owned subsidiaries, Prosper Funder LLC and Prosper Healthcare Lending LLC. According to the Better Business Bureau, Prosper.com has been in operation for 12 years and has been a BBB Accredited business since November 30th, 2012. According to their BBB profile, Prosper.com is headquartered from 221 Main St STE 300, San Francisco, CA 94105-1909 and can be reached at (415) 593-5400.
Consumer Feedback
Prosper.com reflects 30 negative customer reviews out of a total of 43 filed at the Better Business Bureau while possessing 195 consumer complaints. While most of the customer reviews have gone unanswered by the Prosper support team we must recognize that Prosper.com does an effective job at finding resolutions and addressing complaints filed against them on their BBB profile. Perhaps their promptness in handling consumer complaints has reflected in them earning a composite score of 4.06 out of 5 stars at the Better Business Bureau.
Provided below is a variety of the consumer feedback we found in regards to Prosper. To investigate further into the collection of reviews and complaints regarding Prosper.com, we encourage you to visit their Better Business Bureau profile.
Prosper is very personal and easy to work with! I was shopping loans to consolidate my credit cards so I didn’t have to make so many payments and pay so much interest…I have good credit and good income, so thank you Prosper for being so reasonable!! I would recommend highly to friends and family, and would use them again in a heartbeat!
Negative My husband got a loan from prosper. I paid them off. They continued to send emails saying the he owed more money. This happened twice. They also said that our bank didn’t put the payment through. Upon contacting our bank, we were informed that the prosper never tried to take the payment. The bank threatened to sue prosper for making false accusations against them. I don’t know how the bbb can give these people an A+ when all they are doing is taking money from innocent people once loans are already paid off. This was very stressful dealing with prosper and bad cust svc.
Take CAUTION!! I received a postcard and in the middle of a remodel the low interest rate was appealing, I checked my rate and was approved for a good … The risks are too GREAT with this company…With the other reviews stating they were requested to accept and return deposit, get credit cards, this SCREAMS SCAM.
MAJOR SCAM!!!!! They told me I was approved for a loan up to $8000 all I had to do to verify was have them put money into my account from there I was to go to target put the funds on a gift card, give them the numbers and the loan would be deposited into my account….Later today I received $880 in my account but on my statement it showed as a ATM withdraw. I immediately went to my bank to see what was going on. When I got to the bank they informed me there was a claim made on my account. Turns out they called in stating they were me, said there was an atm withdraw made August 22nd that wasn’t withdrawn by me…o they temporarily made the funds available. I am now being harassed and threatened by this “company.” DO NOT FALL FOR IT!!! I will be filing a police report as well as telephone harassment.
Addressed at the top of the Better Business Bureau Reviews & Complaints section, BBB disclosed the following:
It has come to BBB’s attention that Prosper.com’s name is being used in a fraudulent manner.
In a few complaints received by BBB, complaints state loan applicants are asked to wire what is explained to be a security/insurance fee. In these cases, the loan is never received nor is any money refunded.
BBB warns against companies asking for upfront fees; although legitimate lenders may charge application, appraisal or credit report fees, the fees generally are taken from the amount borrowed. BBB also warns against wiring money or sending money orders through Western Union or making your payment to an individual rather than an organization as there are no safeguards in place.
Can Prosper.com be Trusted?
Despite some of the startling reviews and complaints we found at the Prosper BBB profile, it has come to our attention that some of the negative consumer feedback could have resulted from scammers exploiting Prosper.com. Serving as a major loan connection gateway for thousands of consumers annually, it would be unnerving if Prosper did not receive some negative reviews. While it appears efforts have been set in motion to combat this issue, we do not believe they are satisfactory enough to say the least.
Then we have to consider the composite score rendered by the Better Business Bureau, a site that is not easily duked. Unlike other loan connection services, Prosper is quite transparent and provided verifiable ownership information which goes towards building their credibility.
Perhaps if we receive some startling news in the future, we will revisit this review and render a different verdict but for the time being, we do believe Prosper to be a trustworthy loan connection marketplace, although we do feel that more trusted alternatives would suit a consumer more effectively.
Prosper.com Spec Report
- 12 years in business
- $15 fee for unsuccessful payments
- Origination fees between 1% to 5%
- Functions as a loan matching network
- Maximum debt-to-income ratio is 50%
- Applicants must have credit score of 640 or higher
- Prosper.com business started on March 22nd, 2005
- Loans requests can vary between $2,000 to $35,000
- Sachin Adarkar is listed under as the General Counsel
- Loans range between 3 to 5 years at 5.99% to 35.99% APR
- Can be reached at (415) 593-5400 or support@prosper.com
- Typically approved borrower possess 11 years credit history
- Prosper.com became BBB accredited on November 30th, 2012
- Available to consumers who possess above average credit history
- Late fees of $15 or 5% of the payment amount (whichever is higher)
- Headquartered from 221 Main St. Ste 300, San Fransisco, CA 94105-1909
Alternate Business Names
- Prosper Funding
- Myprospercash.com
- Prosper MarketPlace
- Prosper Funding LLC
- Prosper Marketplace, Inc.
Popularity
Prosper.com revealed a SimilarWeb global rank of 55,945 with a US rank of 11,645 as of January 28th, 2018. According to the report, over 1.10 million visitors browsed their site last month while over 91% of the sites traffic derived from visitors within the United States. In addition, over 23% of the sites traffic sources originated from referral and e-mail based sources.
First Assured Loans Copycat Testimonials
One troubling discovery that we came across when reviewing Prosper.com would be that it shared the same testimonials as First Assured Loans. While originally we were under the impression that First Assured Loans was a spawn of Prosper, thorough research has revealed the contrary. According to our findings, First Assured Loans (FirstAssuredLoans.com) has taken Prosper’s user testimonials and has used them as their own as you can see in the image disclosed below.
To provide a little more information, First Assured Loans is a loan connection marketplace that claims to connect borrowers with lenders. Not backed by a corporate entity, failing to acquire a market intelligence site rank while reflecting a creation date of December 27th, 2017, it is evident that First Assured Loans is a recently created loan connection scam. Make sure to avoid First Assured Loans and any review sites that go on to endorse this scam in the future.
Prosper.com Review Conclusion
Prosper.com possessed a substantial number of elements that needed to be taken under consideration prior to reaching a suitable verdict. In the matter of the Prosper loan connection service, we do feel that this platform is a trustworthy loan connection service but only for consumers who possess relatively strong credit history and whom are not in need of an immediate next day loan.
In terms of legitimacy and transparency, consumers would have a difficult time finding an operation as viable and verified as Prosper. However, we understand that Prosper is not available to a good portion of consumers due to their eligibility requirements. Moreover, as we already mentioned, there is a great number of negative reviews about Prosper.
So with this in mind, we recommend consumers of all credit history types to learn more about a trusted alternative known as 24/7 Dollar Loan.
Im interested. But a little occupied tonight. Maybe we could speak tomorrow.
Avoid Prosper at all costs very deceitful company. the month prior to my last payment i had a balance of $665. it was set to auto pay on the due date. i get an email from them and happened to log on to website and low and behold they increased my balance to $909. i called them for an explanation and get a run around.
Does prosper western union money to people an charge a fee