In Italy peer to peer lending service Boober.it launched yesterday. Boober Italy is a joint venture between Centax and Boober International which operates it's service in the Netherlands since February. Boober Italy charges borrowers 19.95 Euro to obtain their credit grade. So far I could not check all details. The FAQ still has some bugs – some sections still refer to the situation of lending in the Netherlands ("I don't live in the Netherlands – may I still invest")
The launch is almost simultaneous to the launch of Zopa Italy.
A recent Prosper S1 SEC filing is a step towards the planned secondary market as this Prosper press release confirms. The secondary market will allow Prosper lenders to trade loans they have invested in. Excerpt from the press release:
…Following effectiveness of the registration statement, Prosper intends to establish and maintain a secondary trading market online auction platform, or Resale Platform, pursuant to which lenders may seek to transfer borrower notes to other Prosper registered lenders. …
Excerpt from the SEC filing:
If Prosper is able to establish the Resale Platform, Prosper intends to charge all selling Lenders a nonrefundable resale listing fee of $0.25 per Note being listed for auction resale, or $0.50 per Note being listed for resale with an automatic sale feature. Listing fees will be charged and collected at the time the listing is posted on the Resale Platform by deducting the resale listing fee from the selling Lender’s funding account. Prosper also intends to charge the selling Lender a resale transaction fee equal to 1.0% of the resale price, subject to a minimum fee of $0.50, which will be deducted from the resale proceeds.
British Zopa.com has launched the Zopa listings. The Zopa listing feature, of which the plans had been announced in August show individual borrower listings requesting loans. The concept is similar to the listings other p2p lending services like Prosper.com use. Read this earlier description of Zopa listings.
Earlier this month the first Australian p2p lending service iGrin.com.au quietly launched. Here is what Phil Hopper, iGrin's CEO told me, when I contacted him about iGrin's goals: 'We set out with the intention of being Australia's first and best P2P banking community. To date we have intentionally kept a low profile whilst we have gone about proving our business model and ensuring compliance with the Australian regulatory environment. The team behind iGrin has predominantly come from the banking industry and brings with it a wealth of product development, technology and lending experience. We have been impressed with the advances made in P2P lending overseas and are looking forward to applying these to the local Australian market and enabling everyday Australians to get great rates and great returns.'
Browsing the site, the main parameters are:
Borrower fees are 1% (for AA to D credit grades) or 2% (HR) or 90 AUS$ (whichever is greater)
Lender fees are 0.5 to 1.5% annual loan servicing fee (depending on credit grade)
Loans are possible for amounts from 2000 to 25000 AUS$ (approx 22000 US$)
Lenders can invest from as little as 100 AUS$ to a maximum of 25000 AUS$
There is a bididng process, where the borrower sets the initial (maximum) interest rate he is will to pay and lenders bid down the rate (like at Prosper.com)
Currently all loans are for a term of 3 years
The way the Australian credit rating works, simply appling (whether successful or not) for a loan may impact one's credit grade
A feature that differs from other p2p lending platforms is the 'Member direct loan' iGrin offers:
A service that iGrin provides to allow members to offer a loan direct to an individual. We will then undertake all of the transfer of funds and ongoing payments on behalf of the members. This is a great way for family or friends who wish to lend money to each other to have a third party (iGrin) manage all of the repayments and transfer of funds on their behalf. A formal contract is put in place between the two parties. It can also be a great way for someone to improve his or her credit rating.
While a family and friends loan is possible on other p2p lending services too, it is noteworthy that iGrin charges lower fees for Member direct loans than for normal loans.
Excerpts of answers to other questions I asked Phil Hopper, CEO of iGrin.com.au:
P2P-Banking.com: Which background does the management have?
iGrin.com.au: … The founders have over 50 years experience in Banking and Finance. The original founder and CEO is Phil Hopper who has a strong background in Banking and Technology most recently at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and prior to that at Macquarie Bank. Continue reading →
Dutch Boober this week resumed full operations overcoming an imposed stop on lending. Lenders however now are facing even more restrictions. After a maximum amount of 39000 Euro was introduced for lenders earlier, a new rule now allows lenders to close no more than 100 loans. Since the minimum bid is only 5 Euro in the worst case that could mean, that a lender has to stop after lending out 500 Euro (100×5). Apparently this development means that the top lenders, responsible for 30% of Boober's total loan volume, are banned from lending more money. While lenders critizise this new development as overregulated forced by dutch regulator AFM, there is not much they can do about it. Theoretically each individual lender could apply for a license, but in practise license fees over 1000 Euro prohibit this move.
After a failed launch in May p2p lending service Frooble.nl now wants to lauch with a new concept. Borrowers can seek short term loans of 1 to 3 month duration for amounts between 50 and 500 Euro. Apparently these parameters have been selected to avoid falling under the regulation of the AFM. It remains to be seen if Frooble can thrive with this business model.
