The new account has a capped target rate of 3.75% gross per annum (before tax and any loan losses) and benefits from the added protection of a Provision Fund. The target rate can vary each month, being set at the beginning of each month based on the loans within the account, but the target rate will never fall below 3.75% gross per annum. Investors may invest up to 25,000 GBP each and the account will be capped at 1M GBP initially and is expected to grow in the future.
The QAA is designed to provide the highest possible speed of access to their money if an investor wishes to withdraw funds at any time, for whatever reason. In normal market conditions transferring funds between Assetz Capital Investment Accounts should be possible within seconds, while withdrawal of funds completely should happen within two days.
There is no fee for immediate access nor any notice period.
The accounts main use will likely not be long term investment, but rather help investors avoid cash-drag while waiting for new investment opportunities to open. Chris Mellish, Technical Director stated: “This isn’t an invest and hold account, ….  One feature … is that you can set your other accounts to automatically invest idle cash in the QAA.  So you could have 10K GBP invested in the MLIA, for example, waiting for a loan to draw down or waiting for .. loan units to become available and that money will earn 3.75% until it’s needed.  The system will automatically pull the money out of the QAA as soon as loan units become available on the loans you’re interested in.”
Stuart Law, CEO at Assetz Capital commented, “We believe that quick access to funds is a fundamental challenge in any investment product – whether it’s a bond, an ISA or a peer-to-peer product. The Quick Access Account not only means that money can be accessed quickly, but because of Assetz Capital’s model, the account offers a target rate of 3.75% gross per annum which should appeal to those looking for good risk-adjusted returns.â€
The Quick Access Account invests in both short and long-term loans and interest is earned and paid monthly. The account always retains substantial cash balances in order to facilitate quick access for investors who require their investment back on short notice and really helps address the issue on many P2P platforms where uninvested cash does not usually receive any return. An investor can press a button to choose to invest any spare cash they have at any time in the QAA and then release it when they wish to invest it elsewhere.
Mr Law, added: “This account really opens the world of peer-to-peer lending up to the mass market. Those investors who want to dip a toe in the water, earn a fair return and have quick access to their cash rather than be tied up in a 5 year loan can do so. Those who were worried about being able to access their funds quickly can be reassured that this product delivers that and therefore the returns on offer can be realised.â€
The new account follows in the footsteps of the Green Energy Income Account (GEIA) and the recently launched Great British Business Account (GBBA), the Quick Access Account (QAA) has been established to allow investors to make automatic investments in secured business loans that have passed the platform’s strict credit policy. Since its launch Assetz Capital originated more than 80 million GBP in p2p loans.
A discussion with lender questions, opinions and comments on the new Assetz Capital QAA account, can be found here.
Other p2p lending platforms have found other means to minimise cash drag issues for investors. E.g Estateguru and Ablrate pay interest while bids are still open before drawdown and Mintos and Twino prefund all loans, therefore interest starts to accrue immediately when a bid is made.