How Lending Works, in Detail

1. Sign Up to Create a Lender Account

Fill out a short application, go through identity verification, and set your bank account preferences. It takes about 10 minutes, and you're ready to lend.

2. Browse Loan Listings

Lenders have the option of searching for the friend or family member that asked for the loan, or searching through the borrower listings to find other interesting candidates. Be sure to use the filters to help narrow your search by amount, type and credit rating.

How to Read Loan Listings

The three most important items to look at when reading a loan listing are:

1. The DTI, or the Debt-to-Income ratio. This is a figure that calculates how much of a person's income is spent paying his or her debts. The higher one's debt to income ratio is, the more of their monthly income that is solely devoted to paying back debts.
2. The Credit Score. This is a measure of credit risk calculated from credit reports using a standardized formula. Factors that can damage a credit score include late payments, absence of credit references, and unfavorable credit card use.
3. The Interest Rate. This is the rate that is charged or paid for the use of money. Usually, a High Rate = High Risk.

4. Collect Automated Payments

WikiLoan offers Automatic Payment to Borrowers, which gives Lenders peace-of-mind. If the Borrower does not sign up for auto-pay, WikiLoan sends email reminders when payments are due. The reminders have easy "click here to pay" payment options, so there are never any obstacles.