Financial promiscuity among family and friends

Richard Branson started a business in college, selling records to fellow students, then branching out into a chain of retail stores, a record label (which he later sold), a publishing company, an airline, another record label, a cell phone service and now a bank.

He's actually had a full-service financial institution in the UK and in other territories, like Australia and South Africa for a little while, but now, Branson is entering the US market with a new concept.

It's sort of a family-and-friends deal where you can borrow (or lend) money that Virgin will administer and collect the payments and fees.

Asheesh Advani, whose CircleLending was acquired by Branson, is now the chief executive of Virgin Money USA.

"Your mom would give you the money, and we would document it and manage all the payments," he told The New York Times. "All the money would flow on a monthly or quarterly basis and be managed just like a car loan. It saves the borrower money, and keeps the money in the family."

At first, the US operation will offer personal and business loans, mortgages and reverse mortgages — great for the elderly and terminally ill. The average interest rate is 6 percent for loans, and 5 percent for mortgages. A $9 per payment administrative fee and upfront charges of $99 for unsecured loans, and $2,000 for large mortgages is where Virgin gets its cut.

Considering the proliferation of banks in this country and the fact that they seem to change names every few years, Virgin, a brand that usually means cool and user-friendly, has a real — and bankable — opportunity.