Collaborative consumption: a very trendy topic.

In a difficult economic climate, with rising unemployment and sluggish growth in France, numerous initiatives are enabling individuals to make significant savings on their daily expenses, particularly through collaborative consumption and collaborative lending.

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What is collaborative consumption?

The concept of "collaborative consumption," where the use of an asset takes precedence over ownership, is fully in line with this trend. Thanks to technology and the development of new web and mobile platforms, our consumption patterns and habits are evolving.

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According to a study by the consulting firm Monitor Deloitte, Airbnb, for example, hosts 425,000 guests per night—22% more than Hilton—without owning a single hotel. "An individual can start a business in 60 seconds," notes Airbnb founder Brian Chesky.

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Many sectors are now being affected by this shift in consumption habits; however, it is important to distinguish between the various markets where these initiatives are taking place: accommodation, transportation, finance, and retail.

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Finance: A sector ripe for disruption

Finance is a sector dominated by "behemoth" companies that employ hundreds of thousands of people. It is a near-oligopolistic sector due to the legal barriers to entry for new players.

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The agility of these structures is therefore quite slow, especially when it comes to updating their technology. It is based on this premise that new startups called "Fintechs" have emerged, offering complementary services or directly competing with financial institutions. In the consumer loan sector, for example, Younited Credit acts as a pioneer and was launched in France at the end of 2011. On one hand, Younited Credit offers individuals the opportunity to invest their savings in an innovative product with an attractive return. On the other hand, individual borrowers have access to loans at competitive rates to finance their life projects, such as home improvement and renovation loans, cash flow needs, or even mortgages.

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A model that is finding its audience

After 4 years of existence, 250 million in loans have been granted via the platform, and more than 25,000 customers have already been won over by the platform's credit offering. As a guarantee of transparency and a new collaborative model, customer reviews are posted in real time, as are the various statistics regarding outstanding production. The platform plans to expand into continental Europe, with launches in Italy in 2016 and Spain by 2017.