P2P lending being used not as it was intended?

From News.com.au:

"PEER to peer lending websites are being used by professional businesses to lend money at high interest rates to people who can't get approval from traditional lenders.

Australia's first peer to peer (P2P) lending website, iGrin, confirmed that most of the people providing funds through the site are actually businesses or investors looking for high returns.

The P2P trend is supposed to be individuals lending to individuals, with the websites used to match borrowers with lenders.

Because so many professional lenders and businesses use the website, consumer advocates are warning that this new lending market could be dangerous for both borrowers and people lending money, because of the confusing relationship between lender, borrower and the website."

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From Finextra:

"A new US study released by Javelin Research & Strategy predicts that more Americans will turn to online person-to-person (P2P) social lending networks to pay off credit card debt, with the amount borrowed for this purpose expected to grow from $38 billion in 2007 to $159 billion by 2012.

The survey of 2200 consumers found that 58% are expected to carry a balance on at least one credit card in the next six months and 44% of these are likely to use a social lending service to pay it off."

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