HANOI, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has launched its first peer-to-peer lending service Vay Muon, enabling people to borrow and lend money without having to go through a financial institution.
Matching lenders and borrowers via a smartphone application, the lending platform does not require mortgages and one-on-one meetings, local VTV online newspaper reported on Thursday.
First-time loan requests will be reviewed and disbursed within four hours and subsequent requests will be handled in just half an hour.
According to local firm Next Tech, which runs Vay Muon, cash flows between lenders and borrowers are regulated via an intermediate payment platform licensed by the State Bank of Vietnam.
Peer-to-peer lending, as a form of crowdfunding, was introduced for the first time in Britain in 2005 before gaining popularity in other countries.
