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Prosper People-to-People Lending Market Survey - Nov 2007


San Francisco – December 11, 2007 – Prosper (www.prosper.com), America's largest people-to-people lending marketplace, today released its November People-to-People Lending Market Survey.

In this month's market commentary, Prosper Chief Financial Officer, Kirk Inglis, discusses how Prosper's rich and unique set of historical performance data has the potential to benefit both borrowers and lenders.

The next People-to-People Lending Market Survey will be released on January 15, 2007. In February, it will resume its normal release schedule, publishing on the second Tuesday of every month. To register to automatically receive the survey, send an email with "SUBSCRIBE" in the subject line to: p2plendingmarketsurvey@prosper.com.

November 2007 Prosper People-to-People Lending Market Survey

Membership and Loan Volume Statistics

  November
2007
November
2006
2007
Year-to-Date
2006
Year-to-Date
Since
Inception
New Members 33,917 19,062 368,741 119,294 506,508
Funded Loans $6.4 million $3.3 million $74.9 million $23.9 million $103.3 million
Average Loan Size $7,880 $4,731 $7,044 $4,797 $6,226
Daily Average Number of
Borrower Listings
2,800 1,948 2,294 974 1,507

Estimated Annual Return on Prosper Select Index

  November 2007
Prosper Select Index 9.13%
Prime Select Index 8.86%
Near Prime Select Index 9.40%
Sub Prime Select Index 8.68%

Average Borrower Rates on Prosper Select Loans

  November
2007
October
2007
November
2006
2007
Year-to-Date
2006
Year-to-Date
Since
Inception
Prime Select Loans 10.22% 9.50% 10.26% 10.00% 10.63% 10.10%
Near Prime Select Loans 15.90% 16.79% 17.64% 16.01% 16.40% 16.11%
Sub Prime Select Loans 21.63% 19.63% 25.72% 23.17% 25.14% 23.75%

Mix of Funded Borrowers

  November
2007
November
2006
2007
Year-to-Date
2006
Year-to-Date
Since
Inception
Prime 43% 21% 31% 25% 29%
Near Prime 52% 51% 57% 50% 55%
Sub Prime 5% 28% 12% 25% 16%

Noteworthy

  1. The first time the concept of online person-to-person lending was publicly discussed may have been in Rob Hof's June 4, 2001 Business Week article, "Let's Get Crazier!" Note the perspective by Prosper Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Chris Larsen; also the co-founder of E-LOAN.
  2. Larsen's commentary, "Money and Merit: Web 2.0's Threat to the Power Elite," can be reviewed on the Official Prosper Blog.

Market Commentary by Kirk Inglis, Chief Financial Officer of Prosper

Perhaps the most noteworthy element of Prosper surpassing $100 million in loan originations is the amount of marketplace performance data it provides. This plethora of data, combined with the scale Prosper has achieved, enabled two key changes that impact the marketplace.

At the end of October, Prosper began making historical payment performance of Prosper borrowers more readily visible to lenders when they are placing bids on listings of similar borrowers. Although this information has been available to the marketplace through the Performance page since February 2007, making it more accessible to lenders during the bidding process enables lenders to make decisions that are consistent with their risk and return objectives. This improved transparency, combined with the credit crunch and subprime meltdown in the broader credit markets, clearly impacted the mix of funded borrowers. For example, sub-prime dropped from 7% of originations in October to 5% of originations in November and prime originations increased from 37% to 43% over the same time period.

The second change to the marketplace was the introduction of second loans for existing borrowers. If a borrower has good payment behavior on their first loan, they are now eligible to list for a second loan. Lenders can evaluate the payment behavior and changes to the borrower's credit profile to find attractive bidding opportunities. In addition to growing the supply of attractive listings, it allows responsible borrowers to positively enhance their credit profiles and improve their access to credit.

The $100 million milestone is a reminder that Prosper's rich and unique set of historical performance data has the potential to benefit both lenders and borrowers. The free flow of information is the cornerstone of any successful marketplace and Prosper is committed to making its marketplace data transparent and accessible.

Definitions

2007 Year-to-Date: January 1, 2007 through November 30, 2007.

2006 Year-to-Date: January 1, 2006 through November 30, 2006.

Since Inception: November 1, 2005 through November 30, 2007. Prosper's by invitation only "friends and family" launch began on November 1, 2005 and Prosper launched to the general public on February 13, 2006.

Prosper Select Index: The Prosper Select Index return is the estimated average annual return on invested principal, based on actual delinquency performance to date. The Prosper Select Index includes AA - E credit grade loans for borrowers whose credit reports at the time of application indicated zero current delinquencies, three or fewer credit inquiries, and a debt-to-income ratio of 40 percent or less. The annual return period reflects loans originated in the twelve month period ending one month prior to the observation date of November 30, 2007. Prime Select includes AA and A credit grade loans (credit scores of 720+). Near Prime Select includes B, C, D credit grade loans (credit scores between 600 and 719). Sub Prime Select includes E credit grade loans (credit scores between 560 and 599).

Average Borrower Rates: Average Borrower Rates are the weighted average borrower rates on Prosper Select Index loans. Rates shown are interest rates, not annual percentage rates.

Mix of Funded Borrowers: Prime includes AA and A credit grade loans (credit scores of 720+). Near Prime includes B, C, D credit grade loans (credit scores between 600 and 719). Sub Prime includes E and HR credit grade loans (credit scores below 600).

About Prosper

Prosper (http://www.prosper.com), America's largest people-to-people lending marketplace, was created to make consumer lending more financially and socially rewarding for everyone. Prosper's membership consists of over 500,000 people from across the country. Since launching in February 2006, over $100 million in loans have been funded in the marketplace.

The way Prosper works is intuitive to people who have used eBay. Instead of listing and bidding on items, people list and bid on loans using Prosper's online auction platform. People who want to borrow on Prosper create loan listings for up to $25,000 and set the maximum rate they are willing to pay a lender. People who register as Prosper lenders set the minimum interest rate they are willing to earn and bid in increments of $50 to $25,000 on loan listings they select. In addition to criteria commonly used by institutional lenders, such as credit scores and histories, Prosper lenders can consider borrowers' personal stories, endorsements from friends, and group affiliations. Once the auction ends, Prosper takes the bids with the lowest rates and combines them into one simple loan to the borrower. Prosper handles all on-going loan administration tasks including loan repayment and collections on behalf of the matched borrowers and lenders.

Prosper was co-founded by Chris Larsen, co-founder of E-LOAN, and John Witchel, technology entrepreneur. Backed by Accel Partners, Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures, Fidelity Ventures, Meritech Capital, and Omidyar Network, Prosper has raised approximately $40 million. Prosper's marketplace platform is patent pending.

Press Contact:
Tiffany Fox
Prosper Communications Director
(415) 593-5416
tiffany@prosper.com
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