Best thing to do with £3k

oxford1987

Afternoon all,

I've been squirrelling away and have put £3k in the bank which at the moment is earning next to nothing in an HSBC savings account. I can be without it for a year, and would obviously like to get the best return I can on it. I've checked out the links in the main section of the site, but also came across the Funding Circle, which is like Zopa except that you lend to businesses. Anyone had any experience with it, or have any insight into the wisdom of putting some money into it?

Their site is at fundingcircle.com

Thanks

CLAPTON

for only 3k just open the best cash ISA you can find... tax free and instant access if you need the money

cashbackproblems

hey just checked out the site and everything seems legit! I have lent with zopa before and made 7% but never heard of this site and am thinking of lending some myself! Its double ud get from an ISA and as long as u spread the loan among many businesses u'll be safe!

Sackagold

haven't heard of neither zopa nor fundingcircle before, very interesting. thanks for the links.

gt94sss2

oxford1987 wrote: »

I've been squirrelling away and have put £3k in the bank which at the moment is earning next to nothing in an HSBC savings account. I can be without it for a year, and would obviously like to get the best return I can on it.

The best 1 year fixed rate bond is [STRIKE]from Aldermore who offer 3.01%[/STRIKE] (see Post 7), while ICICI Bank offer 3%.

If you wanted to stay with HSBC, they offer 2.8% for one year and 3.1% for 18 months.

If you are a tax payer, its also worth looking at ISA accounts, if you don't have one already.

Regards
Sunil

cashbackproblems

Just signed up and lent some money, with this site the lenders far outweight customers looking for loans, so it would take a while for ur money to be lent and unless u set a low rate which would in fact still earn u more than a bank.

Personally id advise to stick to zopa, much more established.

atypical

gt94sss2 wrote: »

The best 1 year fixed rate bond is from Aldermore who offer 3.01%, while ICICI Bank offer 3%.

Bank of Baroda offer 3.15% for 1 year:
https://www.bankofbarodauk.com/bmxacopn/acopn/bobmaxcmpn.aspx

Gorgeous_George

I love Zopa but have also made some loans at Funding Circle. Zopa launched in 2005 and have a history to give lenders some confidence. FC, OTOH, is new.

The benefits of FC are that for a limited time, lenders get 2% cashback. There is also a secondary market for loan parts. I have made six loans and sold five of them. But it is new and that brings its own risks.

The benefits of Zopa are the 5+ years of success.

GG