Zopa. Neither a borrower nor a lender be!

thepearce

Stuart_W wrote:

Has anyone who has tried this scam had their £80 turn up on Quidco yet?

Did it on Friday but it's not showing yet. That said some things take a while and there's no indication as to how long this one takes since they're new. The "Wholly online" bit of thre t&cs seems strange as surely I'll need to sign something.

I'll give it a while then get on to quidco. If I start an earnings enquiry I can see that it has tracked my visits to Zopa.

anandp

Not sure if Zopa is as risky as everyone makes it out to be.

Martin's comments were valid for the time in which they were written, however Zopa have undergone some serious changes since last year.

They now give over 3% interest on unlent amounts sitting with them and have an auto-relend facility now in place meaning if/when someone pays you back, that money is automatically available for lending out again at the same rate/market you specified - and this does not mean that you have to wait for £500 to be back in your account!

Their current bonus level is attractive too.

thepearce

Well my loan application has been denied (fair amount on cards).......so I won't be able to see if the cahback works.

I must admit I thought it had been approved already and was just waiting for the paperwork. I suppose I could always lend money instead.... but not the ideal solution for me.

Jazzmaster

I have read the whole of this thread.
Most sounds either negative or talk about credit ratings.

I have a good credit rating last time the bank looked.
I want to borrow more than 5 grand and pay back least time possible. (and can not be bothered to play the credit cards - never had a cc in my life don't want to start now)
Zopa offers 4.7%, the cheapest bank 5.7%.

Can any one give me a reason why I should not go for this loan ?!

cheers

Tim_L

Because you can do it much cheaper on 0% credit cards. There is zero difference between taking a loan on a credit card and taking a loan from Zopa, other than with a credit card you get a piece of plastic and with Zopa you get a piece of paper. On the other hand with a credit card you have absolute flexibility as to when you pay it off, whereas with Zopa you end up paying the full interest amount whenever you pay the loan back (as I understand the t&c).

You takes your choice and you pays your money - certainly more costly with Zopa.

Jazzmaster

Thanks, but what I meant was - I am NOT going to start playing the credit card game.
Therefore I have the choice between a bank loan at 5.7%, or Zopa at 4.7%.

Why would I choose the bank over Zopa ? Surely (out of these 2 and not a credit card option ), Zopa must be the better deal ?

Ted_Bloke

MSE_Martin wrote:

Just for info i'm looing to meet Zopa again - their rate for lower end loans has improved greatly and can undercut the markets cheapest for some things. Im going to investigate and have a look at whether it is worth incorporating for borrowers

It's been some time since you said this, I'm wondering if we can expect it soon?
You are all right Martin? You meet them somewhere public, let us know where you are and so on?
I'm curious to be assured the money is all where they say it is and how is it they can lend for less than they borrow. But be sensible and don't take any risks.

matto

Can anyone confirm whether or not interest is payable only up until the date you repay or is it the whole amount of interest?

The T&Cs state:

5.7 If you want to exercise a right to repay early under the Loan Conditions (which you may do so free of any charge, except interest payable to the date of repayment), please email us at contactus@zopa.com .

The "date of repayment" doesn't seem to be defined in the T&Cs so is it safe to assume it means the actual date of repayment rather than some prior agreed date? I can see that Zopa wouldn't be particularly bothered about early repayments. They will end up getting their 1% whatever and presumably would rather we chopped and changed as they get a new 1% each time.

newmoneyuser

Matto:

Staff at Zope also seem to be trying to make the wording clear, you can follow their blog here

http://blog.zopa.com/ (Feb 25th)

Part of the blog states

---

Just to be clear: when you repay your loan at Zopa all you pay is the capital and interest due up to the point at which you repay. It’s very simple.

You don’t pay:
- all the interest due on the full term of the loan
- an undue proportion of the interest on the full term of the loan
- a penalty (eg. a termination fee).

MSE_Martin

Update Note 2 March 2006

Well zopa has now been around a long time and finally its rates, in some limited circumstances, have got competitive ( see updated cheapest loans article for when.

The fact that this is possible, is rather worrying in some ways. Why people are willing to lend at 4.6% when they could put it in a savings account and earn more, i don't quite understand. However the fact that they are means cheap borrowing is now available and thus moneysavers should grab it.

Martin