Zopa has changed it’s debt purchase process due to changes in legislation. Continue reading
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Lending Club has New Graphic Statistics Page
Lending Club has a new graphic displays on it’s statistic page. Prominently featured are loan purpose, range of investor returns and total loans funded. Users can click on any graphic to enlage it. I found the ‘Loan details’ page more interesting then the ‘Highlights’ page, for it visualizes differences in trends depending on loan purpose.
Signup Bonus
New lenders signing up at Lending Club via this link get 25 US$ to lend.
Financial Startups Lobby for Congress to Ease Regulation on P2P Lending
Financial startups have formed the ‘Coalition for new Credit Models’. Among the founding enterprises are Prosper and Loanio. Two of the changes the coalition asks Congress and the Administration to make are:
Adopt legislation classifying person-to-person lending as a consumer banking service, not a securities offering.
Create a Start Up Liaison at Treasury Department or within banking regulators to guide and fast-track the development of new financial products by start-up companies and organizations seeking to innovate the way consumers and businesses raise and access capital.
(Source: press release; photo credit: Vince Alongi)
Uppspretta – First P2P Lending Service in Iceland
News from the far north: Uppspretta (engl. resource) launched the first Icelandic p2p lending service earlier this month. Uppspretta’s main goal is to allow startup companies to apply for microloans.
Uppspretta.is was founded by Björk Theodórsdóttir, Ingi Gauti Ragnarsson and Ragnheiður H. Magnúsdóttir. Uppspretta co-operates with Naskar, a group of Icelandic woman entrepreneurs, using them as a show-case for lenders and enabling a start with a secured supply of lender funds.
Iceland is a interesting market for p2p lending. While the market is small in size, the reputation of banks is nearing zero after the banking disaster last year. Theodórsdóttir told P2P-Banking.com: “There is definitely market for such a service as P2P lending in Iceland. We have been well received and in light of the bank‘s reputation, people celebrate the opportunity to bypass them. It‘s yet to be seen the impact Uppspretta will have on the lending market but we are optimistic that Uppspretta will be an real option beside the banks.”
Furthermore she pointed out that unlike other players Uppspretta is free of regulatory chains: “We worked closely with the regulators in Iceland and the conclusion was that Uppspretta would not require any licence to operate.”. Uppspretta charges a fee of 4 percent of the funded loan amount.
CommunityLend Approaching Launch in Canada?
Microlending.ca reports that CommunityLend may be ready to launch soon as it cleared another registration hurdle. A legal document published at the Ontario Securities Commission site gives lots of details on CommunityLend’s p2p lending plans.
It also reveals that p2p lending in Canada will (at least initially) be restricted to accredited investors (high wealth individuals).
See Dan’s articleat Microlending.ca for a review of the document.
Lending Club Promotion: 2500 Dollar Prize for 25000th Investor
Lendingclub.com currently runs a promotion. The 25,000th investor to register wins 2,500 US$. To be eligible a registration is enough (no purchase/investment necessary). The winner will be announced after Oct. 31st.
