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Why do retail consumers look for P2P financial intermediation? Are internetbased peer-to-peer (P2P) loans a substitute for or a complement to bank loans? In this study we answer these questions by comparing P2P lending with the nonconstruction consumer credit market in Germany. We show that P2P lending is servicing a slice of the consumer credit market neglected by banks, namely highrisk and small-sized loans. Nevertheless, when accounting for the risk differential, interest rates are very similar. Our conclusion is that P2P lending is substituting the banking sector for high-risk consumer loans since banks are unwilling or unable to supply this slice of the market. Our study serves to show where the institutionalization of credit provision has left a slice of the market unsupplied.

We study price dispersion and venue choice in the interdealer market for German sovereign bonds, where an exchange and over-the-counter segments coexist. We show that 85% of OTC traded prices are favorable with respect to exchange quotes, indicating the prevalence of an OTC discount. This discount is sizeable and driven by both search and information frictions. More than 75% of volume is transacted via interdealer brokers in trades that are larger, have less price impact, and less discount than comparable bilateral OTC trades. Dealers trade on the exchange for immediacy, highlighting the complementary roles played by the different segments.