As much as this modern world changes, there are some concepts that work so well they keep coming back, and peer to peer personal loans may be one of them. In the old days, banks and other lending companies did not even exist. Based on who needed the money, and who had a bit of money they were willing to lend out, lenders and borrowers usually located each other in an informal marketplace. It may not have been called it at that moment, but this was the basis of peer to peer loans. Trade and commerce developed, and specialization became the norm, with the result that certain businesses were set up solely for the purpose of lending money, at a profit. Many times, these organizations were formed as savings and loans, so that they would receive savings deposits of individuals who wanted to receive a return on money they were not using. In turn, these funds would be used to fund the loans to other people who were in need of money, in what would now be considered a personal loan. The difference between what they paid their depositors and what they received from their borrowers was their profit.