Loan without witnesses via bank transfer.

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Question

Is it permissible to lend a friend a loan via bank transfer, even if there are no witnesses or a document between us?

Answer

It is permissible to be lenient because there is bank documentation, and the borrower cannot deny it, and even if he forgets, he will be reminded.

Source

Talmud, Bava Metzia, page 75b: "Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: Anyone who has money and lends it without witnesses transgresses the prohibition of 'Do not place a stumbling block before the blind,' and Reish Lakish said: He brings a curse upon himself, as it is said: 'May the lying lips be silenced, which speak arrogantly against the righteous.'" Rashi wrote that when one lends without witnesses, there is a concern that the borrower might deny the debt, thus causing him to sin. Levush wrote another reason, which is that he might forget due to his many concerns. The Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat, chapter 70, paragraph 1, rules: "It is forbidden to lend without witnesses, even to a Torah scholar, unless it is lent against collateral. Lending with a document is more praiseworthy. Anyone who lends without witnesses transgresses the prohibition of 'Do not place a stumbling block before the blind' (Leviticus 19:14) and brings a curse upon himself." Even with bank documentation, he cannot deny it, and even if he does not delete it after repaying the loan, and thus there is a concern that he might claim he repaid it. This is not a problem, and certainly, according to Levush's explanation, where the concern is that he might forget, and there is no concern that he will deny it, therefore there is no concern that he will claim he repaid it, and even according to Rashi, we know that if someone lends to a friend with witnesses, he does not need to repay with witnesses, as stated in the Shulchan Aruch, and he can swear, therefore he can also swear.

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