Crowdfunding and Peer-to-Peer Lending

Why It Matters

Accurate statistical capture and oversight of crowdfunding are essential as it reallocates capital outside traditional banks; without monitoring, rising volumes could create hidden risks that threaten households, small firms and broader financial stability.

Summary

The episode explains lending- and equity-based crowdfunding where digital platforms match individual lenders or investors with borrowers or startups, while the platforms themselves typically do not hold the loans or equity on their balance sheets. Under current statistical standards these transactions are recorded directly in the accounts of lenders and borrowers, with platforms’ fees treated as production of financial services. When platforms use their own funds they must be recorded differently, and supervisors may require supplementary reporting if peer-to-peer activity becomes large. The IMF official warns that rapid growth raises credit, counterparty and spillover risks that warrant monitoring for financial stability.

Original Description

How do official statistics capture crowdfunding and P2P lending? In this episode of The Economy – How Do You Measure That?, Jim Tebrake and Artak Harutyunyan explore how digital platforms are transforming lending and investment, how these activities are recorded in economic statistics, and why tracking them matters for financial stability. From peer-to-peer loans to equity crowdfunding, discover how statisticians measure this growing part of the digital economy.