Back in July I opened an account with Lending Club to make some money.  The banks aren’t paying squat with interest and even CDs aren’t paying that much.  Right now I’m staying away from the stock market after losing money over the last several years.

After doing some research I found Lending Club compelling and decided to initially open an account with $5,000.  However, I added another $5,000 when Lending Club offered a $200 bonus for new accounts with at least $10,000 (after watching their webinar – presentation via the Web).  Lending Club also offered to help me with lending the loans.  I just had to tell them what risk level I was comfortable with.  I also found this compelling because I didn’t have to worry about whom to choose to lend to.
 
For those not familiar with Lending Club, it is a social lending network that brings together investors and creditworthy borrowers to lend money that cuts out the middle man; traditional banks.  The process is sometimes referred to Peer-to-Peer lending (P2P). Lending Club takes a small 1% commission from lenders to conduct business.  Borrowers pay a processing fee depending on their creditworthiness which range from 0.75% to 3.5% of the loan value.  (Read more here about how Lending Club works).

In August/September most of the $10,200 was loaned to 85 individuals.  So the average loan is about $120.  To date my account total is $10,521.53 with payments to date of $373.87 ($290.50 principal, $84.37 interest, $0 late fees).  To date  that’s a  5.2% return (includes the $200 bonus).  Without the bonus the return is 3.2%.  Not bad at all!  Lending Club has calculated that my net annualized return should be 11.05%.  Where can you get that type of return today?  This assumes of course that the loans are all repaid.  (See screen shots below)

Lending Club Account Summary

Lending Club ranks borrowers from A to E.  A being the lowest credit risk, however, with the lowest interest rate.  E is the highest risk, however, with the highest interest rate.  Starting out I was conservative and only loaned to A and B borrowers.  According to Lending Club no A borrower has ever defaulted on a loan. Over the next several months I’ll post updates of my Lending Club account performance.

Related Articles:

• Earn a High Interest Rate with Lending Club P2P Loans
• Need a Loan? Get a Low Interest Loan from Lending Club
• Social Lending Networks are Booming
• Lending Club Offering $25 to New Customers in September and a Change to win $2,500

For more information visit LendingClub.com.

Below is a very interesting picture.  The picture is of sculpture created by Chinese artist Chen Wenling which critiques the global financial crisis. The sculpture depicts a man with horns (or the devil) pinned to the wall by the Wall Street bull who propels himself/herself by a boost of “personal air” .  The man/devil said to be pinned to the wall is  jailed ponzi scheme financier Bernard Madoff.  The sculpture is on display at a Beijing gallery.

Related Articles:

• The Madoff Affair by Frontline
• Bernie Madoff January 2008 American Express Bill

HSBC Direct is offering its customers $50 to open an online payment account. 

Of course there is always a catch.  You will have to make three eligible purchase transactions with your HSBC Debit MasterCard with PayPass to earn the bonus by October 31, 2009. 

You must be a current customer as of September 8, 2009 and open an online payment account by September 30, 2009.  The $50 bonus will be paid by December 31, 2009.

According to HSBC the online payment account allows customers to:

• Transfer money from HSBC Direct Online Savings Account instantly via online banking
• Make debit card purchases anywhere MasterCard is accepted
• Automate and securely pay bills online
• Withdraw up to $1,000 cash per day from ATMs worldwide

For more information visit HSBCDirect.com.

From time to time over the years I would forget to pay a bill on-time and would incur a late fee.   One of the reasons is that the bills all had different due dates.  I hate paying late fees so I’d always call the company charging the late fee and request for them to remove it.  Most of the time they will remove the late fee, but this takes unnecessary time to do.  

Now I don’t have to worry about this because thanks to technology all my recurring bills are paid automatically.  I’ve put my bill payments on auto pilot.  No more remembering to pay the bills, writing checks, buying stamps and mailing the checks.

I use 3 credit cards which are paid automatically.  Of course before the bills are paid I’ll review it to make sure there are no fraudulent charges.  My mortgage, satellite, phone / Internet, cell phone, gym membership, water, electric, garbage and home alarm are all paid automatically.

Most companies will offer auto-payment which will bill your credit card or deduct the money from your checking account.  If a company doesn’t offer auto payment I’ll setup auto payment via my bank account.  For instance, my water company doesn’t offer auto-pay, so I set up an auto-payment in my bank account to send a payment every month of $50.  My water bill fluctuates below $50 so I carry a credit in my account.

Having my bills on auto pilot saves time (no writing checks, mailing checks or calling for a late fee to be removed), money (no late fees, buying stamps, envelops, and driving to the post office) and having to remember to pay bills.

Related Article: Five Things I Don’t Like Paying For

Below is a very interesting video by The Economist of how social media, the Internet, cell phones and technology has changed our lives.

Google has launched Google Health to allow you to store and manage all of your health information in one central place (see video below). It’s completely free and all you need to get started is a Google username and password. With Google Health, you manage your health information, and you can access it anywhere, at any time.

Google Health allows you to:

• Keep your doctors up-to-date
• Stop filling out the same paperwork every time you see a new doctor
• Avoid getting the same lab tests done over and over again because your doctor cannot get copies of your latest results
• Don’t lose your medical records because of a move, change in jobs or health insurance
• Share your health information securely with a family member, caregiver, or doctor

Google believes that you own your medical records and should have easy access to them. The way we see it, it’s your information; why shouldn’t you control it?  For more information visit Google.com/health.