Peer-to-peer lending sites: MSE guide discussion

Alpaca

Kendall80 wrote: »

I'm currently at 7.8% net fully lent on Funding Circle on their highest rate A+ loans only. However, they are switching to fixed interest from next week so the future yields may well fall unfortunately.

Agree. I think liquidity will fall too. The ability to sell quickly on the secondary market is currently predicated on the fact that you might be holding loan parts at higher interest rates than other people, which makes them attractive options that go quickly on the SM. Once everyone gets the same fixed rates from new loans then there'll be little incentive to go to the SM to pick up "secondhand" parts at the same rates. (Unless people are willing to take a loss and sell at a discount). I suppose some people will want to use the SM for diversification purposes, but the deal flow of new loans is such that you can get diversified pretty quickly through new loans. Particularly when, with fixed rates, there'll be no need to let the auction run.

So for both those reasons, I'm going to gradually transition away from Funding Circle. There are other sites that have asset security on all their loans (as compared to FC only offering that on some of their A+ loans) and much better rates than FC. These include:

FundingSecure
MoneyThing
Saving Stream
Ablrate

Some of these offer decent cashback for new accounts too.

GMNN

I'm a RS newbie and wondering about the following (couldn't find the answer on the website):

For the 3-year and 5-year loans, do the monthly repayments occur exactly one month from the day the loan is matched, even if that's on a weekend? Or is it one month to the next working day, or always on a specific date in the month?

masonic

GMNN wrote: »

For the 3-year and 5-year loans, do the monthly repayments occur exactly one month from the day the loan is matched, even if that's on a weekend? Or is it one month to the next working day, or always on a specific date in the month?

The repayment schedule will be for a specific date each calendar month or the next working day if it is a weekend or BH. The repayment date does not necessarily correspond to the contract date.

rwgray

N1AK wrote: »

I'd definitely caution against this. I've had a small amount unmatched at 6.8% since mid-July, and I doubt 6.7% is all that different.

Rates were badly hit by a promo a couple of months back, but I have been matching at 6.6% recently - albeit not 6.8% yet - so we're back on track. The shorter loans can be rewarding, too, but you may need to take care as to the amount offered per loan. Anyone have experience of decent rates on the monthly? I have a feeling that smaller, round numbers are easier to shift than larger lumps of cash, but my loans are now almost always haphazard smallish amounts generated by repayments.

Rich.x

Jsscmm

rwgray wrote: »

Rates were badly hit by a promo a couple of months back, but I have been matching at 6.6% recently - albeit not 6.8% yet - so we're back on track. The shorter loans can be rewarding, too, but you may need to take care as to the amount offered per loan. Anyone have experience of decent rates on the monthly? I have a feeling that smaller, round numbers are easier to shift than larger lumps of cash, but my loans are now almost always haphazard smallish amounts generated by repayments.

Rich.x

Monthly is normally 3+. A couple of times last week though, it broke 4 or even 5... Due to massive demand, so worth checking before you offer.

Ash_Pole

rwgray wrote: »

Ratesetter have concealed the option to set your own interest rate as a lender, and to view the Full Market quickly before doing so. You have to follow this link:

"Are you a RateSetter expert? Set your own rate here."

Otherwise, you will usually get the best rate that will be matched immediately by borrowers waiting for a loan, i.e. 0.1% down from the current bottom of the lending market! Beware.

I currently recommend a return to asking at least 6.7% over five years. Do not settle for less unless you want an instant match.

Rich.x

Thanks for this advice! I put in 1k last night, prevailing rate was 6.1%. I set it at 6.5% expecting a bit of a wait but it got matched within 6 hours.

N1AK

Kendall80 wrote: »

I'm currently at 7.8% net fully lent on Funding Circle on their highest rate A+ loans only. However, they are switching to fixed interest from next week so the future yields may well fall unfortunately.

I've got a few thousand with Funding Circle but their attitude to anyone wanting to use autolend is to treat them as 2nd class citizens at best, and given my own experience with bad debt I certainly won't be putting more money in there.

N1AK

rwgray wrote: »

Rates were badly hit by a promo a couple of months back, but I have been matching at 6.6% recently - albeit not 6.8% yet - so we're back on track.

I also expected rates to bounce back after the promo, and although they've gone up about half the way I think the extra lending it attracted, combined with the new 'non-expert' lending screen are keeping rates down. I've been lending out at ~6.5% quickly, but still haven't seen any activity at 6.8%.

Nearly 1/3rd of the money on the 5 year market is offered at the lowest band (6%) and there doesn't appear to be any data on the trends that shows it increasing, and if anything the historical precedent is that rates drop slightly in Oct/Nov.

rwgray

N1AK wrote: »

...with Funding Circle but their attitude to anyone wanting to use autolend is to treat them as 2nd class citizens at best, and given my own experience with bad debt I certainly won't be putting more money in there.

I've always been anti-autolend, but ironically I've just placed an order there, now that they've all gone fixed-rate: specifically for the minimum amount on their E-class (18%) loans because I found I was tending to pick them up on the secondary markey anyway. But only the minimum lend, totally diversified. There will be losses.

Rich.x

rwgray

Refer a friend terms and conditions

1. To be eligible for this offer you must use the code or links provided to refer a new investor (‘Referred Investor’) to RateSetter. The Referred Investor cannot be an existing RateSetter customer and you cannot refer yourself (for example, by using another e-mail address or false details).
2. The Referred Investor must have a minimum of £500 matched on the market and on loan before 5:30pm on the closing date of 31st October 2015 for the referral to be valid. Confirmation of a valid referral will be emailed to you once the Referred Investor’s money has been matched.
3. For each valid referral you make, you and the Referred Investor will, within 15 working days, receive £50 which will automatically be invested in the monthly market at the current rate. The £50 is not transferrable and no alternatives will be offered.
4. This offer is for your personal use only, referrals cannot be made through a third party or by using any type of automated script or device. The Referred Investor should be someone with whom you have an existing relationship, such as a friend or family member. You must not send a referral to anyone you don’t know or who you think wouldn’t want to receive this type of offer.