Peer to peer currency exchange PeerFX to launch soon

wiseclerk 3 Comments

PeerFX.com a p2p currency exchange that wants do to away with high margins and fees banks charge when exchanging currencies, announced to launch on August, 1st. Users will be able to change US and Canadian Dollars directly (USD, CAD).
Watch a video of the funding. The founders Robert Dunlop and Florence Leung gave away a 51% percent stake of the company for 250,000 CAN$ seed funding.

Personally, I am not convinced by the business model. For consumers there are less and less needs to actually exchange currencies in advance. You can nearly always pay with plastic. In Europe the realm of the Euro is expanding. And several European banks allow their account holders to withdraw cash from any ATM (of any bank) worldwide fee-free.
But maybe the situation is different between the US and Canada. What is your opinion on this, dear reader?

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.

Source

Lending Club files S-1, step towards reopening for individual lenders

wiseclerk

On June 20th, Lendingclub.com filed a registration statement with the SEC to issue up to 600 million US$ in Member Payment Dependent Notes. The notes will be backed by loans and sold to lenders. The process for lenders remains pretty much the same as before the quiet period, only the legal setup will change to comply with regulation.

Link to SEC filing of Lending Club

Press release by Lendingclub regarding the SEC filing

Netbanker extracted some interesting data from the 100+ page Lendingclub filing.