【行業翻譯】Understanding Peer to Peer Lending（上）
為了自己本職工作和提高市場調研能力，最近打算從國外互金創新形式走起。第一步先找了本P2P的科普電子書，看看國外的P2P形式是如何的。翻譯渣，最近敖廠長也好久沒派活了哈哈。也希望能夠幫助對P2P感興趣的同學，寫了寫，究竟P2P是個啥？
這個E book一共有13頁，我這次翻譯了8頁，明天會翻譯剩餘5頁，希望能和互聯網金融/P2P理財小白們一起摸透這個類目的運轉模式。
當然，國內和國外情況不同，而且這個E book其實不是最新的了，但很多信息在美國還沒有update的那麼快，希望能夠給有需要的朋友帶來幫助~
Credit to Lend Academy
翻譯不對的地方歡迎拍磚，謝謝大家！
What is Peer to Peer Lending?
什麼是個人對個人/P2P借貸？
Peer to peer lending goes by many names. It is also called social lending, person-to-person lending or p2p lending. It can be defined in this simple way: individuals lending money to other individuals without a banking intermediary.
個人對個人信貸也有很多其他的名字。它也被稱為社會借貸，人對人借貸或簡稱P2P借貸。定義它有一條最簡單的概念：個體借錢給其他個體，但是不走銀行作為中介。
The official definition from Wikipedia is "a certain breed of financial transaction (primarily lending and borrowing, though other more complicated transactions can be facilitated) which occurs directly between individuals or "peers" without the intermediation of a traditional financial institution." Basically, it involves people with money (investors) lending to people who need money (borrowers). Obviously this is something that has taken place since the invention of money thousands of years ago.
維基百科對此的官方解釋為「金融交易的一種特定形式（以借款與還款為主，雖然有時候也會涉及更複雜的交易），但主要發生於個體之間，而不以傳統金融機構作為中介」。總的來說，它涉及將有錢的人（投資者）與需要錢的人（借款者）放在一起。很明顯，這種行為在幾千年前就開始了，有錢，就有P2P（個體間的借錢與還款）。
Today, with the explosive growth of the Internet and online social networks, this concept has been brought online. So now, borrowers can borrow money from people they have never met
and investors can lend money to many anonymous borrowers just based on their credit information.There are dozens of companies all over the world enabling peer to peer lending, and in the United States there are two established companies: Lending Club and Prosper.現如今，得益於互聯網與社交網的爆炸性發展，這種概念被帶到了線上。於是現在借款者可以向他們素未謀面的人借款，而投資者也可以根據信用記錄而將錢借給許多匿名的借款者。現在全世界有許許多多的公司正在幫助實現P2P借款，而在美國有兩家已成立的公司：Lending Club 和 Prosper（譯者：也算是P2P公司的鼻祖，很多公司學習的典範）。
There are also many companies that do what I call direct peer to peer lending (direct p2p). These are primarily for people who want to formalize a loan arrangement between friends and family. Companies in the U.S. doing this today are ZimpleMoney, LendingKarma, National Family Mortgage and many more. They help setup loan agreements and manage the funding process for you. While these companies provide a valuable service the focus of this e--‐book will be on the mass--‐market p2p lending sites, Lending Club and Prosper.
同時也有很多公司是做直接P2P借款的，主要服務於希望與自己的親戚朋友生成借貸合同的人。在美國類似的公司有ZimpleMoney， LendingKarma，National Family Mortgage和許多其他的公司，他們幫助用戶開啟借款合同與跟蹤後續的流程。這些企業都有幫助提供很有價值的服務，但這本書主要還是會著重聊一聊純P2P服務，Lending Club 和 Prosper。
I also want to make a distinction between peer to peer lending and microfinance. Microfinance typically deals with very small loans sizes (under $1,000) and are usually run by non--‐profit organizations. I am a big fan of microfinance organizations like Kiva (I loan money on Kiva) but they serve a different purpose and have different goals from peer to peer lending organizations like Lending Club and Prosper.
同時我想澄清一下P2P借貸和小額信貸的區別。小額信貸主要處理一些非常低額的借款（低於1k美刀，摺合6.6k軟妹幣），通常是非盈利機構在運營。筆者是一些小額借貸的粉絲，比如Kiva，筆者自己就有在Kiva借錢；但小額借貸和Lending Club & Prosper這樣的P2P借貸還是有本質上的運營目標上的區別的。
A Short History of Online P2P Lending
一段簡短的線上P2P借貸的歷史
It wasn』t until well after the new millennium began that for profit p2p lending began to emerge online. In 2005, Zopa launched in the U.K. as the world』s first online p2p lender, and they are still going strong today as the number one company in the U.K. market.
在2000年後盈利的P2P借貸開始在網上初露頭角。2005年，Zopa在英國成立，是全世界第一家P2P借貸公司，而現如今也成為了英國市場中最強的公司。
In the U.S., Prosper began operations in February 2006 and within 9 months they had garnered 100,000 members and funded $20 million in loans. They had the market to themselves in the US until Lending Club launched in May 2007 as a Facebook application. Within a few months they emerged as a standalone website to compete directly against Prosper.
2006年2月，Prosper在美國開始運營，而9個月後他們就積累了10w用戶和2k萬美刀的貸款額。一直在2007年5月，Facebook的植入應用Lending Club成立前，Prosper都一直在美國市場保持著絕對優勢。數月後，Lending Club開始以獨立網站呈現，開始直接與Prosper競爭。
Quiet Periods
安穩/安靜期（譯者：這段不是很知道怎麼翻）
Both Prosper and Lending Club spent some time in 「quiet periods」 in 2008 and 2009. By a quiet period we mean that the companies still operated but they didn』t allow new money to come in from investors. This was necessary because the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) demanded that they register all the loans on their platform as promissory notes with the government. Lending Club spent about six 5s in their quiet period from April to October 2008 and Prosper spent a little longer from October 2008 through July 2009. Now, all notes are registered with the SEC and all financial results for both companies are publicly available. The notes for both companies are now offered by a prospectus filed with the SEC.
在2008和2009年，Prosper和Lending Club度過了一陣安靜期。對於安靜期筆者的定義是企業仍然在良好運作，但是不讓業務上有增長（投資者投入新的錢）。這一階段對於合規來說很必須，因為證券交易管理委員會（簡稱SEC）要強求P2P企業將所有待還的貸款都在政府端註冊。Lending Club 花了約6個月（從2008年4月至同年10月）而Prosper則耗時更長，約9個月（從2008年10月至同年7月）。現在所有的鈔票/金額都在SEC有註冊，而所有的金融結果/經濟情況也都是公開給大眾的。兩家公司現在針對所有的借貸都有公開說明書移交給SEC。
Peer to Peer Lending 2.0
P2P借貸2.0
With the emergence from their quiet periods, both Lending Club and Prosper became more focused on risk management. The early loans made on Prosper in 2006 and 2007 didn』t perform well for investors at all. Most investors lost money, caused by the high default rates. According to Prosper』s own statistics page, just under 40% of loans issued in 2006 and 2007 defaulted. With Lending Club the numbers are slightly better, but still not good. Of loans issued before their quiet period, around 24% of them have defaulted.
隨著安靜期的出現，Lending Club和Prosper都把更多的精力放在了風險控制上。Prosper在2006年和2007年的一些早期的貸款標表現的並不是很出現。很多投資者因為高違約率而損失了錢。根據Prosper公開的統計頁面，在2006年和2007年的貸款標的中，近四成的標都違約了。Lending Club的情況會相對好一些，但也不盡如人意。而在兩家公司的安靜時期中，約24%的貸款標的出現了違約情況。
Now, if you look at loans made in the first year after their quiet period, the default rates and the returns for investors are much better. As of this writing (most of these loans are still outstanding), the default rate for Prosper loans issued from July 2009 through June 2010 is just over 5%. For Lending Club during the same period, their default rate is around 4%. This is much better than they did before their quiet period.
如果現在你再觀察一下所謂安靜期後發生的標的，你會發現違約率和投資者的回款情況都出現了好轉。根據筆者寫出此文時間的數字來看，Prosper在2009年7月至2010年6月放出的貸款標的的違約率僅約5%；同期來看，Lending Club的違約率則為4%。違約率在安靜期的前後對比可謂是大相徑庭（譯者：大相徑庭這個用法對嗎？）
Both companies have added to the attractiveness of p2p lending by adding additional 「products」 recently. Lending Club has recently added small business loans, although these are only available to preselected investors. As far as consumer loans go you can invest in both three and five year loans at both Lending Club and Prosper today.
近期，兩家公司都通過增加了更多產品的創新形式來吸引更多的投資者。Lending Club最近有針對小型公司的貸款標的，雖然這個產品目前還僅對預先選定的部分投資者開放。同時，除了普通的P2P標的外（譯者：國內的散標），現在投資者還可以在Lending Club和Prosper上投資3年期和5年期。
Why is Peer to Peer Lending Becoming Popular?
為什麼P2P借貸變得越來越流行了？
Peer to peer lending is a rapidly growing industry. In the 12 months ended December 31, 2014 the total amount of money loaned by Lending Club and Prosper was $5.98 billion. That is around 147% growth over the preceding 12 months. Clearly, it is becoming more popular all the time.
P2P借貸是一個急速發展的產業。截至2014年，Lending Club與Prosper過去一年的借款總額為59.6億美刀，折人民幣395.6億；同比前年約147%的增長。很明顯，當時的P2P十分火爆。
To understand why peer to peer lending is growing so fast, we need to look at the advantages it provides for both borrowers and investors.
為了理解為什麼P2P借貸增長如此迅猛，我們需要研究研究它給借款者和投資者究竟帶來了什麼好處。
Borrowers
借款者
The financial crisis in 2008 had a huge impact on banks and financial institutions that is still being felt. Many individuals who had found it easy to get loans from banks before suddenly found themselves cut off.
2008年的金融危機給銀行和金融機構帶來了很大的影響。很多曾經輕輕鬆鬆從銀行借款的人會突然發現他們借不到錢了。
Many people had used the equity in their home to borrow money in the past couple of decades, but with homes across the country dropping in value, banks became much more cautious with this kind of lending. Unsecured personal loans from banks became almost non--‐ existent.
在過去的很多年，不少人都通過抵押房屋而借錢，但隨著房屋的價格一降再降，銀行也隨之慢慢降低了抵押房屋給出的貸款。銀行幾乎也不再發出無擔保的個人借款。
Many people who needed money found themselves resorting to credit cards with high interest rates. Clearly, there was a void in consumer financing and peer to peer lending helped fill that void. Borrowers found that their 28% credit card interest rate could be cut in half with a loan through Prosper or Lending Club. The fixed loan term, typically three or five years, is also appealing because borrowers can see how they can pay off their debt completely in a relatively short time period.
於是很多依賴於信用卡、而又需要錢的人發現他們被高息束縛住了。很明顯，針對消費者的痛點被P2P借貸解決了。借款者意識到他們高達28%的信用卡利息可以通過Prosper或Lending Club這樣的P2P借貸公司減半。同時，一些定期標的的周期通常在3到5年，這對於借款者也充滿了吸引力因為他們能在相對較短的時間內支付他們的款項。（譯者：這段針對周期概念有點模糊，我的理解是1國外3-5年不算長？或者2這種定期給了3-5年的周期，借款者可以趕緊在前期做他們要做的事情，後期慢慢籌備資金還款。）
Investors
投資者
There are several advantages for investors. The biggest and most important one is the higher rate of return. Some Lending Club and Prosper investors are averaging at least a 10% annualized return, and the vast majority are earning more than 6%.
對於投資者，好處有幾個。最大也最重要的好處是更高的利息。不少Lending Club和Prosper的投資者拿到了高達10%的憑據利率，而絕大多數投資者也拿得到高於6%的利率。
You can choose your level of risk with p2p lending. You can choose to invest in A grade loans where every borrower has excellent credit, where the likelihood of defaults are low. Or you can invest in higher risk, higher interest loans. Alternatively, you could choose some combination of these high risk and low risk loans.
作為投資者，你自己可以選擇你投資的借貸標的風險。你可以選擇A級標的，在A級標的中每個借款者都有相當好的信用評級，所以違約率會非常低；或者你也可以選擇投資更高風險、更高收益率的標題。當然，你也可以自己選一些高風險的，選一些低風險的，作為一個組合。
Many people are drawn to peer to peer lending because you are investing in real people, not some faceless bank or mutual fund.
很多人被P2P借貸吸引的原因是他們是真正在活生生的人身上投資，而非一些沒有臉的銀行或者是投資基金。
Peer to peer lending also adds diversification to an investor』s overall portfolio. You are investing in consumer credit, which is a different asset class from other investments.
P2P借貸也幫助投資者們豐富他們的產品組合線。投資者們在投資消費者的信用評級，和其他的投資產品是不同類型的。
The Growth of Peer to Peer Lending in the U.S.
美國的P2P借貸增長歷史
The chart below demonstrates the growth of peer to peer lending over the last several years. Total loan originations at both Lending Club and Prosper are climbing at an incredibly rapid pace and the cumulative total recently passed $15 billion in total loans issued.
如下這張圖表展示了P2P借貸在2015年前的增長歷史。以Lending Club與Prosper的業務加總為例，您能看到過往P2P的累計借款正以難以想像的增速激增，而在過往發放的累計借款的金額也遠超150億。
How Peer to Peer Lending Works
P2P借貸是如何運作的
The basic premise of p2p lending is this: people sign up on either Lending Club or Prosper as a borrower or an investor. A borrower submits an application for a loan, and if approved the loan is placed on the website for investors to fund. Investors typically invest in a small portion of many different loans, thereby spreading their risk.
P2P借貸的最基本前提是：用戶需要在Lending Club或Prosper上註冊成為借款者或投資者。一個借款者提交針對借款的申請，如果通過申請這個借款標的將在網站上展示，使得投資者可以投資。投資者在網站上可以通過小額投資不同借款標的來分散他們的風險。
Borrowers
借款者
A borrower』s loan will remain on the web site for a short amount of time, up to two weeks. During that time investors can ask the borrower questions in order to decide whether or not to invest in the loan. While no personal information is displayed, information from the borrower』s credit report is provided for the investors, many of who screen these loans based on different criteria.
一個借款者的借款需求會在網上存留一段時間，2周為上限。在這段時間內投資者可以問借款者任何問題，以幫助他們判斷是否要借款給這個人。雖然借款者的個人信息是不會被展示的，但是他們的信用會被提供給投資者，所以他們可以從多種維度去審視這些借款（譯者：後半句話是我瞎翻的，不知道對不對）
A number of things can happen while the loan is being funded:
一系列流程會發生在借款過程中。
1.The loan can be pulled off the platform because it fails some part of the verification process.
如果一個借款需求在驗證階段中的某部分沒有通過驗證，那這個借款會從平台被下架。
2. The loan can become fully funded, in which case it is taken off the platform and the borrower will receive their money less an origination fee (detailed in the table on the next page).
當借款需求被滿足時，它會被下架而借款者則會收到扣除手續費的借款額。（譯者：針對手續費下一頁會有詳細表格展示，但我太懶了，你們得等下一篇翻譯了）
3. The borrower may cancel their loan and delete it from the platform.
借款人可以取消他們的借款需求，並從平台上刪除。
4. The loan fails to obtain funding after 14 days. Although if investors fund only part of the loan it can still be issued if it funds above a certain percentage.
如果2周後借款需求還沒有被全部滿足，如果已有投資者投資的部分金額超過了一定百分比，那借款人還是能收到這部分借款金額。
Investors
投資者
From an investor perspective, peer to peer lending allows you to directly invest in other people, thereby completely bypassing the banking system. Investors simply sign--‐up at Lending Club or Prosper, link to their bank account and then transfer money in.
從一個投資者的角度，P2P借貸使得投資者可以直接投資其他人，從而完全跳過銀行系統。投資者只需簡單的在Lending Club或Prosper註冊，並綁定他們的銀行卡就可以充值了。
Typically, there will be hundreds of loans to choose from for investors. Both Lending Club and Prosper allow investors an easy way to invest by providing automated plans. Prosper provides several different automated plans based on credit risk or you can build a customized plan based on your own selection criteria. Lending Club provides you with three automated options (low, medium and high risk), or you can use their slider tool to choose an average interest rate. Then you just choose the total amount you want to invest and your money will be allocated automatically among many different loans.
通常來說，會有數以百計的借款需求供投資者選擇。Lending Club與Prosper都允許投資者直接投資各種自動生成的「計劃產品」。Prosper可根據信用評級自動生成許多「計劃產品」，或者投資者也可以通過選擇不同維度來生成自己定製的「計劃產品」。Lending Club則直接給投資者提供3種選擇（低、中和高風險），或者你可以用他們的搖桿選擇一個平均的投資利率。接著你可以選擇你希望投資的總金額然後你的錢就會自動被投向不同的借款需求了。
The other alternative for investors is to choose loans individually. You can use the filters that Lending Club and Prosper provide, and then browse through each loan one by one. While this method is more time consuming, many successful investors will only invest this way.
另一種投資選擇則是直接選擇借款標的。你可以用Lending Club或Prosper提供的篩選器挑出部分借款需求，然後再逐一查看。雖然這種投資選擇十分耗時，但很多成功的投資者都只會通過這種形式投資。
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