Sentence:  Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms....Banks and credit-card <WSD>firms</WSD> are kept out of the picture. Talk to enough people in the field and someone is bound to mention the “democratisation of finance”. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A business enterprise, however organized.