I remember in the early days, eBay had a motto along the lines of "people are basically honest". For some reason they don't seem to use that motto any more 

I agree with you about actual loss. One of the good things about lending from here is that you are doing it with real people and not faceless corporations. Real people get the interest and it's a direct one to one relationship. It's not a mass of shareholders that profit without even knowing who you are.