20-Year Prospect

20-Year Prospect

Loaning in general will still likely be a thing come the middle of the 21st century, but don't count on it looking anything like it looks today. From payday loans to student loans to mortgages and everything in between, the world's taking a good hard look at the lending industry and its practices. 

Regardless of whether you blame human error or malicious bankers or natural market forces or the Illuminati, it's fair to say the types of lending that were popular recently also helped to destabilize the economy. Regardless of the economic outlook, we'd all prefer not to have to go through that again.

One place where loans are headed are social media-style peer-to-peer loans (source). Avoiding any techno mumbo jumbo, it basically means allowing private lenders and lendees to meet without a financial institution in the middle. Basically, it cuts the middle person out. Unfortunately, that middle person happens to be you in that case. 

These are great for smaller loans and could cut into business, but people looking for bigger loans will still likely be seeking out institutions for at least twenty years to come.