A good while ago I talked about the emergence of a new lending tool, Zopa.
Simple Pound has a good write-up on how Zopa works which is worth a read.
As I commented there, I love the idea behind Zopa (getting one over the banks is always a nice feeling), although I currently have neither the money to lend nor the need for a loan yet to try it out.
Over time, as long as people are getting back what they put into it with a decent amount of interest then it should gain more trust (I think many, myself inculded, are still a little sceptical about it) and therefore more users.
It will then be interesting to see if the banks decide to move in a similar direction.