Today Zopa launched a new design for the website and introduced a new logo, which I find very simplistic.

Zopa says:

This fresh new identity will give us a springboard for our ambitious plans to bring our products to even more UK consumers, and create radically personalised services that will help people fully realise their financial potential.

While a lot has changed – a bold new logo, icons, and tone of voice – our products still work in exactly the same way.

A year in the making

We started on this journey 12 months ago. In partnership with, KBS Albion, we took stock of who we were and where we wanted to be. We wanted to capture and build on our customer-focussed culture: ensuring that our borrowers’ and investors’ interests remain at the heart of what we do.

Our Values

Since we were founded in 2005, we’ve cultivated a dynamic, customer-obsessed culture. As part of our partnership with Albion, we defined our seven core values that guide and influence our behaviour and decisions:

• We are customer-obsessed.
• We are positive.
• We are results-focussed.
• We do the right thing.
• We are bold.
• We work as a team.
• We strive to be the best.

Our new look and tone of voice have grown out of, and continue to reflect, these values; underscoring our commitment to being open and honest in how we look and sound.

Very first opinions voiced by investors on the new design are mixed.

Earlier this month, Zopa was the first pp lender that said it will (temporary) stop to accept new lender money. With this unprecedented move Zopa reacted to lender demand that is much higher than matching borrower loan requests. Zopa described the reasons in its investor communication:

We always aim to lend your money out in a reasonable time. However, with current volumes of new money transfers combined with demands for loans seasonally declining in December, we don’t expect this to be achievable this month.

We are committed to the risk and underwriting strategies that have served us well for more than 11 years and will not compromise our high standard of borrower to increase loan disbursals. This has led us to introduce a platform limit for new money into the platform so we can aim to lend out your money in an acceptable time.

What does this mean for you?

Throughout December, we will monitor the levels of new money. When necessary, we’ll stop all inbound transfers while we disburse the new funds already in the queue.

Currently, the time to lend new money is projected to be slow, so we are not accepting new money transfers. You can check your Weekly Update email and live tracker in My Zopa for the latest information. We recommend you log in to My Zopa and check the tracker before making a transfer.

Money you have already lent out and set to relend will continue as before, keeping your existing money earning. This limit only affects new money into the platform: not your repayments and funds in your holding account.

What happens if I transfer money when the limit is in place?

We’ll return your most recent transfer and advise you of your refund by email.

What will happen after December?

We want to be able to lend your money in a reasonable time. If upcoming months are projected to have longer lending speeds, we’ll activate the platform limit. We will keep you informed about the platform limit via the Weekly Update email and your My Zopa dashboard.