Why muddy the waters by bringing in religion or morals...this is, as all investments should be primarily regarded, simply a question of how good is the return blended with how high is the risk. If someone has a predominant leaning to leading their life based on particular religious or certain moral standards then that's a different discussion. This discussion is geared to how "good" is it as an investment or even can it actually be truly considered as an investment. Seems to me to be way too early to call these investments in the traditional usage of the word. What about investing in Cash converters or pawn shops? They lend money to people who need funds as well...at least they have the benefit of having goods to be resold if the loan is not recovered. As interest rates drop generally and as /if banks start losing traction on their loan books it would be easy for them to match/compete with all the new PtoP start ups. This could lead to a big shakeup and shakeout among themselves to stay afloat. As someone said investment may be too kind a word..maybe a gamble is more appropriate.
Quote Originally Posted by Bjauck View Post
Back when inflation was high, the interest rates the Big Banks were charging on credit cards were high too, and depositors too were receiving high interest on their savings. Is usury dependent on the time and economic and fiscal conditions? Some regard the charging of any interest as usury, as always it depends on where your moral (and/or religious) code draws the line. There are plenty of investment opportunities on the NZX which would be (morally) objectionable to some people.