The Innovative Finance ISA Mega-Thread

badger09

BobbieC wrote: »

Very helpful information. Is an IFISA safer than a stocks and shares ISA, however? Is there anywhere this is assessed?

Exactly the same.

Both IF ISA and S&S ISA are merely tax protective wrappers. So their safety depends on what is held inside those wrappers:cool:

Empor

Is there any word yet on when the "big three" (Ratesetter/FundingCircle/Zopa) are going live with their IFISA's? They seem to be taking an awful long time.

masonic

Empor wrote: »

Is there any word yet on when the "big three" (Ratesetter/FundingCircle/Zopa) are going live with their IFISA's? They seem to be taking an awful long time.

Before they can offer IF ISAs, those platforms must have full authorisation from the FCA. At the moment, they only have interim permissions. This was always expected to be a long process, since these established platforms must become compliant with FCA regulations. That may involve making a significant number of changes to the way they operate. The "big three" all submitted their applications for full FCA authorisation almost 12 months ago, so it is still possible, but by no means guaranteed, that they will be able to launch their IF ISAs before the end of this tax year.

ajhands

Hello all,
Just wondering if anyone has a Crowd2Fund account who would like to refer me and we can split the referral commission? I can't see details of the referral scheme without signing up - catch 22 - but found a page referring to a 2% commission for all deposits in the first year...let me know!

ozaz

Hello all,

Is anyone aware of an up-to-date list of all currently available Innovative Finance ISAs?

A lot of platforms still seem to be in coming soon mode...

Thanks

tlr

Is anyone aware of an up-to-date list of all currently available Innovative Finance ISAs?

A lot of platforms still seem to be in coming soon mode...

At the moment the only one is Crowd2Fund

Just wondering if anyone has a Crowd2Fund account who would like to refer me and we can split the referral commission? I can't see details of the referral scheme without signing up - catch 22 - but found a page referring to a 2% commission for all deposits in the first year...let me know!

I'm happy to refer and split the 2% commission, pm me is needed

ozaz

tlr wrote: »

At the moment the only one is Crowd2Fund

Thanks for reply.

However, I've just found a page indicating Abundance and Crowdstacker also offer functional IF ISAs.

https://p2pblog.co.uk/innovative-finance-isa/

ozaz

Empor wrote: »

Is there any word yet on when the "big three" (Ratesetter/FundingCircle/Zopa) are going live with their IFISA's? They seem to be taking an awful long time.

Out of curiosity, why are these three considered the big 3? I'm aware Zopa is the original P2P lending service and was established more than 10 years ago. But other than Zopa, I hadn't heard of any of them until I started actively looking into P2P lending a few weeks ago

post_it_note

People do searches for a bank account with the best interest rates and fully commit in good faith I would do the same without a second thought.
This stuff is slightly different it looks like anyone can set up a business as long as they meet the FSA criteria.
I've recently invested in an IFISA and would advise people to do their research on the history of the company, even their staff. P2P involves spreading your money to reduce the risk, does the company have a multitude of companies to invest in,if it's a few then you are taking a gamble, do they pay out the percentages they are offering as you may get your investment returned in installments and have to continually reinvest to get the promised percentage rate providing the companies pay in time.

bowlhead99

Please take referrals and referral requests to the separate referrals board otherwise this megathread will become too big to sift through and get to the quality content.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=42

The purpose of that part of the site is to stop other parts of the forums having their threads get padded out by the volume of people wanting referrals or or offering referrals, diluting the other stuff.

Also, those thinking of acting on a referral should note that with IF ISAs - unlike opening bank accounts or buying all sorts of products and services - this is an investment product so your money is at risk.

Obviously, people on this thread know that P2P is not supposed to be risk free, we have heard it a thousand times. However it can be tempting to sign up to something to split a referral fee, especially as MSE readers are very familiar with signing up for something, grabbing a freebie and then leaving after meeting the minimum criteria.

As very few P2P sites even offer IFISAs, it is quite possible that the best investment opportunities for your needs are through a provider that doesn't have one yet. And as more IFISA providers go live with a product, they will not all have referral offers, so it will be quite possible that the best IFISA does not have one. So, as a new investor, the chance of the very best set of P2P investment opportunities for you being with a provider that offers an IFISA and has a referral scheme, may be quite low.

If you definitely want to use a service, then a referral offer is the icing on the cake. However, nobody should buy a whole cake just for the icing when the cake is made of something unpleasant. No referrer will be able to give you a decent report of how well their IFISA investment opportunities and customer service experience has gone over the last couple of years, as the product hasn't existed that long. And even the established providers which have been going years, have not been through an entire economic cycle. So, exercise caution in grabbing freebies on a 'your capital and income is at risk' product.