Maneo introduces guaranteed p2p lending in Japan. On the new “G-Loan” the lender does not need to worry any more about defaults. Minimum investment is only 10,000 JPY (approx. 100 US$). The loans are guaranteed by Orix Credit Corporation which entered into a partnership with Maneo.

The downside is that on “G-Loans” the lender only receives 1.5% interest.

The borrower pays a fixed interest rate, which is set depending on his credit grade:

Borrowers now have the option of selecting a standard loan or a G-Loan. Selecting maneo’s standard loan gives borrowers the opportunity to lower their interest expense if sufficient lenders bid on their loans. In contrast, interest rates on G-Loans are fixed at 7.0%, 8.0%, 9.5%, 11.0% and 12.0% depending on the borrower’s credit rating. According to Tadatoshi Senoo, CEO of maneo, “We believe borrowers who select G-Loans will have an easier time attracting funds from lenders thanks to the guaranty by Orix Credit, and that the liquidity of maneo’s online social lending marketplace will increase significantly as a result, making borrowing at maneo even more attractive.”

In my view the choice whether it is a guaranteed loan or not should not be the borrower’s, but only for the lender to choose when bidding.

With an interest rate of only 1.5% the only merit of this model for lenders is that he can not lose money when bidding on a guaranteed loan.