Peer-to-peer lending sites: MSE guide discussion

[Deleted User]

Looking to join Ratesetter. Anyone want to refer for the £25 each? Thanks

amictus

Olivier811 wrote: »

Looking to join Ratesetter. Anyone want to refer for the £25 each? Thanks

Check your private messages. I just sent a link.

guitarman001

How are you all finding P2P lending?
I'm thinking about putting cash into all 3 (Zopa, FC, Ratesetter) - does that sounds like an ok plan?

amictus

guitarman001 wrote: »

How are you all finding P2P lending?
I'm thinking about putting cash into all 3 (Zopa, FC, Ratesetter) - does that sounds like an ok plan?

I have just started putting some money into Wellesely, Ratesetter, Lending Works. As well as diversifying across platform/borrower, I'm also aiming for a bit of a spread of maturities...

Wellesely: 30d notice at 3.66%
Ratesetter: 1yr non-amortising at 4.0%
Lending Works: 5yr amortising at 6.0%AER

I have found these three platforms are very easy to use. I particularly like the visibility of queued loan offers you get with Ratesetter. Time will tell if I get the default-free rates indicated!

No experience of Funding Circle. I wouldn't want to rely on the auto-loan feature and I don't fancy spending time reviewing individual business loan applications at the moment. I'll see how I get on with the easier options first.

A few points I noted when doing a bit of reading around:

Wellesely loans have some degree of asset backing, unlike Ratesetter, Zopa, Lending Works, etc.

Lending Works has some degree of insurance in addition to the standard P2P reserve fund.

Ratesetter has better 3yr and 5yr rates than Zopa or Lending Works but has a greater penalty for early access. I thought Lending Works seemed to offer the best rate/penalty compromise for 5yr loans.

It has been said that Zopa is painfully slow at matching lenders' money at the moment. There was an article on their blog saying they were going to start taking on higher risk borrowers this year to help close the gap. Fine... but I don't think this came with an increase in rates to compensate the lenders.

rwgray

owains wrote: »

...send me a PM if you want a referral bonus for any of the three platforms I listed

I can do the same for Ratesetter and Funding Circle. Take your pick. The main thing is that there are no referral "codes" or magic links for these, just personal referrals by existing investors. And they pay the same regardless of who refers you.

Rich.x

weenie15

guitarman001 wrote: »

How are you all finding P2P lending?
I'm thinking about putting cash into all 3 (Zopa, FC, Ratesetter) - does that sounds like an ok plan?

I've been lending via Lending Works, Ratesetter and Funding Circle for nearly a year now. So far, all repayments have been made on my loans. For those who don't know, the first two loan out to private individuals, the latter loans out to UK businesses.

Ratesetter's website I think is slicker than Lending Works' but I'm reinvesting all my repayments and interest into Funding Circle, just because of the rates. Average rate I'm getting is 9%, my highest is 11.2% for a 'B' rated company. Most of my loans are to A+ or A risk companies.

Loans can be from as little as £20, although you can sometimes purchase 'loan parts' for less. However, I think the minimum deposit for FC is £100.

I've never used the autobid function before, never felt the need to as I quite enjoy reading up about the companies I want to loan to.

tulipthecat

I'm planning on joining Ratesetter. Would anyone like to refer me? Please PM me.

Thanks

steelbru

Referral code sent :j

[Deleted User]

If anyone is looking to join Ratesetter please send me a DM for a referral code

kamir

Anyone want to refer me to Funding Circle or Zopa ?

Edit: Referrals now received