What is Loanio?

Yesterday my interest was piqued when the Wall Street Journal mentioned Loanio, a new peer to peer lending service. As far as I know, this is the first time the mainstream press has mentioned Loanio. There is very little information on Loanio's website - just a logo, the subtext People Lending to People, and an email sign up box to get more information. Oh yea, and a picture of a stack of cash.

Information is scarce. In May WiseClerk noted that Loanio was advertising and asked, "What is the deal with Loanio?" The banner ads, which were running on Lending Stats, are no longer displayed. The ads generated some discussion about Loanio in the Prosper forums and traveler505 noted that Loanio's website was registered to Michael Solomon, a lawyer in New York. Michael Solomon currently runs a fiancée visa attorney and marriage visa practice in New York City. He has a Law Degree from Brooklyn Law School and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Washington University in St. Louis. According to his LinkedIn page, Michael Solomon is the president of Loanio and has been since November 2006. Last month Netbanker reported, "The founder is revealing little about the new company at this point."

As we have reported over the last few weeks, according to listings on Rent a Coder and iFreelance someone is looking for programmers to create a "working, stripped-down version of prosper.com." Lending Club just entered the peer to peer market with Prosper. Zopa plans to launch in the U.S. by the end of the year and it looks like there may be more competitors soon.

Do any of our readers have any more information about Loanio?

Update: Loanio CEO Michael Solomon provided some information about Loanio in an interview with us.

Update (9/10/2008): Loanio screenshots