I’ve taken a new look at what happened to lenders at the different peer-to-peer lending sites that closed or shifted away from the P2P model. The vast majority of closures have been benign for lenders, leading to a profitable return of their money, but there…
Borrowers provide personal and even corporate guarantees to say that their own personal or other business assets, including cash and their residences, can potentially be called upon to pay off a business debt. The business debt might be a small business loan or a property…
For the full story on HNW Lending, read the HNW Lending Review. [orangebox title=”Latest update”] Update on 28th October, 2020 HNW Lending has given us more good news today. It says the financial regulator has now allowed it to remove the temporary restrictions that HNW…
Certainly, it’s not much of a prediction to guess that, over the long term, house prices will rise. I mean that’s very clear. So I’m concerning myself today with short-term house prices, which can be more relevant when lending anyway. House-price movements change the risks…
RateSetter and Metro Bank have done a deal: RateSetter has been sold to Metro. RateSetter’s existing lenders will see their existing loans paid off while borrowers meet their repayments, as usual. Buto new lending will occur through the platform. Metro Bank will use RateSetter’s lending…
The past few months have been a strange, rough and disturbing time for many – perhaps most – people in the UK. Investors in the stock market have been slammed dreadfully. P2P lending and IFISAs have been a lot more stable, as you should expect…
Most peer-to-peer lending sits in the sweet spot with potential rewards considerably above savings accounts and yet risks below the stock market. And its incredibly steady record since 2005 certainly supports that. But where exactly does peer-to-peer lending sit compared to bonds? Peer-to-peer lending has…
I have a lot of professional and some personal experience with the Financial Ombudsman Service, all of it good. This powerful and excellent service has helped millions of people. It handles complaints about financial businesses that are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. This includes…
Lending Works has adjusted its forecasts of lender returns and bad debts for new loans. It’s increased the amount of borrower payments that now cover bad debts, with lending rates remaining attractive in its highest-paying account. All this has taken place after hiring a new…
Peer-to-peer lending (including P2P IFISAs) is classified as one of the safer alternative investments, which is why it’s available to all who wish to invest by lending directly to other people, businesses and property owners. But, since it’s still a relatively new form of investing,…
Most peer-to-peer lending websites and IFISA providers allow anyone to lend. If you’re a beginner, they want you to commit not to lend more than 10% of your savings and investment pot across all your P2P loans. If you want to lend more than that,…
Jocelyn, 4thWay subscriber, wrote: “I’m having real problems understanding what the implications are of saying that I am a sophisticated rather than retail investor in the new appropriateness checks, and I wonder whether 4thway will be doing a short piece on this – I tried…
You can go to this comparison page that is filtered for you to compare peer-to-peer lending platforms that automatically assign you to loans, or that offer you the option to do so. So: Which peer-to-peer lending platforms spread your risks? Most of them do not…
There’s been quite an exciting development at Growth Street. I use the word “exciting” to mean it’s a story with a lot of bang, rather than good news. Certainly not for me, as it reveals a mistake by me. Probably my biggest since co-founding 4thWay….
We’re still down several persons for our Panel of Peers, so I hope you’ll consider volunteering. The Panel governs 4thWay on behalf of all lenders to ensure it remains independent. 4thWay’s Panel of Peers maintains our accuracy, impartiality, and candid research. I’m glad to say…
Note that this page was last updated in December 2019. Most people benefit from automatic tax breaks on peer-to-peer lending as explained in our guide: How Is Peer-to-Peer Lending Taxed? However, not everyone does, which can make lending through a pension attractive. And there are other advantages…
Before you start to assess a P2P lending website or IFISA provider that does personal loans, it really helps to understand the characteristics and features of personal peer-to-peer lending. In other words: what are you getting into when you lend your money in these loans,…
Peer-to-peer lending websites and IFISA providers that do not appear to have the correct permission from the financial regulator are the ones that are most likely to turn out to be the real monsters that cause panic, fear and financial loss to individuals. Below, you…
Crowd2Fund looked like it was going to take off. It was going to raise millions of pounds in startup funding through its own users this year. It was going to hire experienced staff. And it was going to become very transparent with its data, so…
My main research focus over the past few weeks has been on re-interviewing Growth Street, probing for more details, and pushing it for better quality data. This article covers all that, with my usually candid opinions thrown in. Check out my three-minute summary and, if…
