UK

Prodigy Finance – p2p lending for MBA students only

wiseclerk 1 Comment

Prodigy Finance has an elitist approach. Only MBA students of selected schools are eligible as borrowers:

We have built our model with the specific profiles of top international MBAs in mind. Our close partnerships with the schools means that we are able to approve the vast majority of applications and are able to lend to participants from most countries (…). Provided you are accepted at one of our partner schools, it is very likely that we will be able to approve your loan in principle. However at this stage it is important to remember that we are still in pilot stage and thus our ability to provide funding is limited by the size of the funding pool that we have.

But that’s not all. Lenders are required to be alumni of the school, too. Minimum investment amount is 10,000 Euro. Loan term is 7 years with a 16 to 18 month grace period. Interest rates are tied to the underlying base rate.

Currently only  borrowers and lenders from INSEAD are accepted.

The interesting part is that Prodigy Finance aims for cross-border, multi-currency lending:

The currency of the loan balance is determined by the currency in which tuition fees for the university are paid. If you are only lending to one university, your funds will be held in that currency alone. If you choose to spread your funds to other universities, we will convert your funds at the best available rate (and with your consent).

Prodigy Finance was founded by Cameron Stevens (CEO), Ryan Steele (COO) and Miha Zerko (CTO).

Review of peer to peer lending developments in 2008

wiseclerk 3 Comments

As the end of 2008 approaches here is a look back on the highlights of peer to peer lending news in 2008:

Young Market at Zopa UK launched

wiseclerk

Following through on the announcement (read: Zopa UK plans Young Market to target young borrower) Zopa has launched this market segment. Zopa says, it will help young adults, aged 20 to 25 obtain a loan, which otherwise would have difficulties – not because they have a bad credit history but because they have little or no credit history.

Zopa lenders can choose to make offers to these young applicants, with the added attraction of being able to charge a higher rate of interest because of the higher risk that these as yet unproven younger borrowers represent. So whereas the safest borrowers coming to Zopa can typically get a 5000 GBP loan over 3 years at around 8.5%, Young Market borrowers will be able to get the same loan at around 12.5%.

Zopa UK plans Young Market to target young borrowers

wiseclerk 1 Comment

Zopa UK said it will introduce 'Young Markets' (Young36 and Young60) specifically for borrowers aged 20 to 25. The need for this arises from the fact that currently many applications are turned down – not because the borrowers have any negative marks on their credit history – rather they don't have sufficient history of debt.

Zopa will still check borrowers in this age group (identity, fraud, affordability, adress and employment). As long as they have no history of bad debt they will be approved for borrowing on the Young Market. 

The new young market segment will allow Zopa to advertise the service focussed on young borrowers, which are internet savvy and open to the p2p lending concept.

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