Peer-to-peer lending sites: MSE guide discussion

agent69

DiggerUK wrote: »

Now today you have some proof of how dangerous p2p really is...

if you're investing in China.

Is it your position that UK P-2-P sites are equally likely to be the subject of fraud? If so where is your proof, if not what is the point of your post?

DiggerUK

Who knows what happens, when money goes in to a place 'regulated' by an organisation even MP's talk of as "weak, toothless and anaemic"
http://www.expressandstar.com/business/city-news/2016/02/01/financial-conduct-authority-being-neutered-labour-mp-john-mann-tells-commons/

Well, FCA saved the investors in Rebus and Zano.......erghh, I'll get back to you with projected amounts..._
http://www.cityam.com/233792/crowdfunded-rebus-collapses-into-administration

masonic

Good grief, Digger. It's almost as if you have to take physical possession of any investment to avoid all of these horrible risks!

AlanP_2

Rebus and Zano RAISED capital through crowd funding by the looks of those articles, most P2P sites offer LOANS so a big difference.

Why would you expect the FCA to make good the losses of equity investors?

If they do please let us all know as I am sure there are some of us on here who have lost on some of our equity investments and would love it if they gave us our money back.

Mike_the_Fishman

Why do I not see Wellesley and Co mentioned ???

jamesd

They have been mentioned. Lower rates than readily available alternatives.

Froggitt

Zopa's new products being released soon, for reference:

Today, we are very excited to announce the next generation of Zopa lending products!

Over the past months we've been listening to our lenders about what they want from their lending products, and what matters most when it comes to lending through our platform. You've told us ease of access and the ability to take on more risk are key to offering a broader, more appealing product set. Based on your feedback, we'll soon offer more choice and providing benefits from recent regulatory changes, particularly around the tax status of peer-to-peer interest.

In mid March, we'll be replacing our existing lender products with three new ones: Zopa Classic, Zopa Access, and Zopa Plus. Together, these products will offer much more choice and flexibility to both existing and new Zopa lenders. As with all peer-to-peer lending, your investments are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), so your capital is at risk. If you wish to access your money by selling your loans, this is dependent on other lenders being available to purchase those loans.

We are sharing indicative rates today, and exact rates will be announced on 1st March. As with our existing rates, the new product rates will vary with the market, so if borrower interest rates go up, the rates on your new loans will go up too and vice-versa.

The New Zopa Products

Zopa Classic (4-5%) - Safeguard lending

Zopa Classic will give customers the security of Safeguard and access to their money at any time, subject to a 1% fee. This product is most similar to what our lenders have today, however what's new is that it combines 1-5 year loan terms.

Zopa Access (3-4%) - Safeguard lending with fee free easy access

For customers who value easy access to their money, we've created Zopa Access, which has Safeguard but which has no access fee and a slightly lower expected return.

Zopa Plus (6 -7%) - Non-Safeguard lending, some added risk with higher returns

For customers who are willing to accept more risk for higher returns, we've created Zopa Plus. Over the last year we have been testing the performance of D and E rated borrowers with our institutional lenders, and based on these tests, we would like to offer loans with D and E rated customers to all lenders. With the introduction of Zopa Plus, customers can lend across A*-E risk markets. Loans in Zopa Plus are not Safeguarded, and so it will suit customers who don't require this additional security as they are comfortable lending their money via Zopa's diversification model. Predicted rates of return will be higher but will come with some additional risk.

jamesd

Easily beaten, of course.

Amusing name. Bit like Coke calling New Coke Coke Classic and old Coke Coke Plus.

Kendall80

If they were to guarantee that 7% rate i'd be interested. Although i'm not sure the built in safeguards of Safeguard make it such a guarantee.

jamesd

Not a lot of reason to be interested, though. At say MoneyThing and SavingStream you can exit at no cost whenever you like (assuming there are buyers) and get 10-12%before bad debt. At Ablrate you can probably sell at a profit if you want to exit and also get the 10-12% and sometimes more.

Compared to those this new offering costs you around a quarter of your interest if you might want to sell, or 1% of your capital if you sell. Plus I assume you still take a loss of capital if rates have increased between the time you lent and the time you sell. It could be worse, they don't also charge you an extra capital loss by pretending that you lent for a shorter initial term, as RateSetter does.

Just pick one of the readily available better deals instead of this.