Countries

Rumour: Is Funding Circle Buying Zencap?

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There is an article in a German startup news magazine speculating that Funding Circle might have bought German p2p lending marketplace for SME loans Zencap from Rocket Internet or is in the process of doing so. The article does not provide any evidence but cites unnamed entrepreneural sources.

I reached out to both Funding Circle and Zencap for comment today but have not heard back yet. EDIT: I received a reply from Zencap that they do not comment on rumours/speculations.
I also checked the filing history of the commercial register and there have been no telltale filings on the Zencap file in the past months, therefore I doubt a sale has been completed. But it still is a possibility because it likely would take some time for the filing to appear.

While I don’t have any hard facts either, I think the scenario has some plausibility. In emails I exchanged with a Zencap founder in the past months, there have been hints about upcoming major developments (without any specifics) at Zencap. Also it would match the intentions of Funding Circle to move into continental Europe. Continue reading →

P2P Lending Marketplace Ratesetter Turns Five

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Ratesetter LogoThis week UK p2p lending marketplace Ratesetter celebrates its 5th anniversary. When Ratesetter launched in 2010 it introduced the concept of a Provision Fund to p2p lending – an idea that has been adopted by several UK marketplaces since. The Provision Fund now stands at over £16m, the largest in the industry, and has ensured that so far no individual investor has ever lost a penny.

Since 2010, the fast-growing platform has delivered 815M GBP in loans to individuals, businesses and sole traders and expects to lend 500M GBP this year.  While most loans are used to buy a car (28%), to pay off more expensive credit card balances (18%) and for home improvements (17%), RateSetter’s 160,000 loans have funded things as diverse as a mobile pizza kitchen that operates from the back of a Land Rover, a didgeridoo and a wind turbine.

Over 26,000 people currently invest with RateSetter, a number that is growing.  In total, investors have earned 25M GBP in interest by using the platform. Continue reading →

Why do we Need P2P Lending in India?

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This is a guest post by Sunil Kumar, CEO of Loanmeet

Tragically, more than 78% of Indian population cannot get a personal loan from a bank or NBFC. Why? The reason is quite simple – most banks grant personal loans to salaried employees with annual gross salary above Rs. 3 Lakhs. Some banks give personal loans only to individuals earning Rs. 6 Lakhs per annum. If an individual is NOT working at one of the big MNCs or listed companies, then it would be a difficult for him to get a loan, or worse yet, his/her interest rate would be substantially higher. The P2P lending however, works differently; it comparatively uses multiple parameters to determine credit-worthiness of borrowers. The P2P credit models traverses beyond the salary of individuals; and fortunately, it does not decline the loan application even if the borrower’s salary is considerably low.

P2P lending, peer-to-peer lending amongst individuals, is not a new concept. It has been practiced for centuries. Even today, most individuals ask money for their short-term needs from friends and relatives. In old days, most individuals did not make EMI payments when they got loans from their friends and relatives; most loans were interest free, and as a victim of the evil perception of temporary profitability and eventual losses, there was a balloon payment at the end of the loan period. The private money lenders charge high interest rates, and seize land or jewelry for collateral. The online P2P lending model formalized the entire process of taking loans from friends, relatives, and unknown individuals, and made it simpler for us to get quick cash or earn great returns. The borrower puts an online loan application, and the platform either rejects or accepts the same. If the loan application is approved, then the lenders fund the loan amount. The loan payment is collected in the form of EMI payments, and sent to lenders. Continue reading →

Zencap says Shortage of New Loans is Caused by New ‘Retail Investor Protection Act’

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Zencap LogoGerman marketplace Zencap says the ‘Retail Investor Protection Act (Kleinanlegerschutzgesetz)’, passed into law in July 2015, is the main cause for a shortage of new loans on offer to retail investors on the platform. While Zencap welcomes regulatory guidelines, the company thinks that this law was not thoroughly thought out. Zencap stated: ‘For investors it is confusing that an investment into loans to companies for an amount of more than 100,000 Euro should be subject to different regulatory conditions than loans below that amount.’ (own translation from German original source).

While Zencap could offer loans regardless of size to retail investors in the past, it is has now restricted its offer to retails investors in Germany to loans up to 100,000 Euro as it would be forced to serve a prospectus (‘Vermögensinformationsblatt’) for which the borrowing company would be liable. Continue reading →

International P2P Lending Statistics – Loan Volumes September 2015

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The following table lists the loan originations for September. Most marketplaces grew their loan volume compared to the previous month. Saving Stream had an exceptional month, with several very large loans. I added 4 new services to the table. I do monitor development of p2p lending statistics for many markets. Since I already have most of the data on file I can publish statistics on the monthly loan originations for selected p2p lending services.
Investors living in markets with no or limited choice of local p2p lending services can check this list of marketplaces open to international investors.
P2P Lending Statistic 09/2015
Table: P2P Lending Volumes in September 2015. Source: own research
Note that volumes have been converted from local currency to Euro for the sake of comparison. Some figures are estimates/approximations.
*Prosper and Lending Club no longer publish origination data for the most recent month.
Notice to p2p lending services not listed: Continue reading →