Peerform Review: A Marketplace for Borrowers and Investors

Editor's Note: Peerform is no longer accepting new borrowers or originating new loans. If you're looking for a personal loan, check out this list of the best personal loan lenders.

Peerform is a marketplace that matches borrowers with investors. If you’re looking to borrow money, the platform will place your loan in their lending marketplace. If investors find the loan enticing enough, they’ll fund it and the borrower will receive the funds.

In this article, we’ll review how Peerform works.

Who Is Peerform?

Peerform was founded in 2010 and acquired by Versara Lending on November 7, 2016.

Peerform matches borrowers and lenders through their lending marketplace platform.

By watching their competitors (mainly traditional banks) and the fact that few loan applications are ever approved, the company turned its mission into one that ensures money gets into the hands of those who need it without all of the associated fees.

If You’re a Borrower

Peerform caters to borrowers with low credit scores. All you need is a minimum credit score of 600. However, there are a few other qualifications to apply for a loan, as stated on their website:

• “A minimum FICO score of 600 (as reported by a consumer reporting agency).”
• “A debt-to-income ratio below 40% as calculated by Peerform, based on (i) the debt (not including mortgage debt) reported by a consumer reporting agency; and (ii) the income reported by the borrower member, which is verified with two most recent paystubs and tax documentation.”
• “A credit profile (as reported by a consumer reporting agency) without any current delinquencies, a recent bankruptcy, tax liens, judgments or non-medical related collections opened within the last 12 months, and reflecting:”
  • “A minimum of one open bank account.”
  • “A minimum of one revolving account ever opened.”

The above specifications aren’t restrictive and are fairly standard in the lending industry. Peerform loans are unsecured. This means they are very similar to a credit card in which collateral is not required.

Interest rates vary from 5.99% up to 29.99%. You won’t know your rate until you apply. Your rate will be fixed and won’t change throughout the life of the loan. To get an idea of what a monthly payment looks like, here’s an example:

An unsecured personal loan in the amount of $5,000.00 at a term of 36 months with a fixed annual percentage rate of 23.77% would result in 36 monthly payments of $185.79. Rates are accurate as of June 15, 2017, and are subject to change without notice.

If You’re an Investor

Peerform offers a compelling investment opportunity. Loans on the company’s marketplace are funded by accredited investors.

Once a borrower applies for a loan, the information about that loan is listed with others on the marketplace. Information displayed includes the interest rate, grade, amount, purpose, and days left to complete funding.

For investors, loans with high grades (designating high quality) offer the least risk but also lower returns. For example, a loan with a AAA grade will have an APR of 5.99%. A loan of lower quality with a grade of DDD will have an APR of 29.99%. A high APR is attractive but only those investors with a high risk tolerance will be interested in those types of loans.

The following table provides a better idea of the grade-to-APR relation:

Loan Consolidation

Peerform also offers loan consolidation. These are by invitation only. Loan consolidations are targeted at those with balances on multiple credit cards.

The benefit of a loan consolidation is that your average credit card rate across all consolidated balances is lower than your highest credit card.

According to Peerform, you’ll save money in interest through a consolidation. You’ll also have only one payment to make to one lender rather than many payments scattered across multiple lenders with different due dates.

With so many lenders, there’s a chance you’ll eventually miss a payment. That won’t happen with a loan consolidation.

There aren’t any prepayment fees either. After receiving an invitation for loan consolidation, fill out the application. If approved, you’ll be able to choose from available loan terms. Then your loan is listed on the marketplace just like the loans previously mentioned.

Identity Verification and Security

All of Peerform’s loan programs use two features: “identity verification” and “income verification.” These verifications require borrowers to upload various documents. Below is a breakdown of required documents for each type of verification:

Identity verification:

• Driver’s license
• Passport
• State or federal ID
• Optional documents: Bank statements, credit cards, utility bills, and Social Security cards


Income verification:

• Two recent pay stubs
• Optional documents: Recent tax returns and bank statements

In addition to identity and income verifications, Peerform also puts a high priority on security. They use bank-level security protocols, use SSL, and encrypt sensitive information.

With its focus on verification and security, Peerform reduces the chance of its users being scammed.

For those who are looking for an unsecured loan, the loan application process is straightforward and can be done online within only a few minutes.

Loan consolidations are also a nice feature for those who want to consolidate multiple payments into one and avoid potential late fees.