ZOPA RETURNS £50M IN INTEREST TO UK CONSUMERS AS IT LENDS £800M

Peer-to-peer lending platform Zopa has announced it has returned a total of over £50m in interest to UK consumers since launch in the same week it also passes £800m in total lifetime lending.

Zopa has consistently delivered higher returns to consumers since it was set up 10 years ago with rates averaging 5.6% (after fees and losses from bad debts). Zopa has continually outperformed rates offered by bank deposit accounts and even the UK housing market between 2005 and 2015[i].

Over a third (37%; £18.5m) of that £50m interest has been returned to lenders in the last year alone. Zopa, which pioneered P2P lending in 2005, expects to reach £1bn in total lending later this summer with the UK P2P industry set to reach £3bn in total lending by the end of 2015.

Giles Andrews, Zopa’s CEO and co-founder, said: “Delivering on our promise to return our lenders’ money with a total of £50m interest over the past 10 years is a testament to Zopa and P2P lending as an asset class.”

“This has been made possible because our customers trust us to match their money to the UK’s most responsible borrowers. Reaching £50m in interest is further proof that Zopa & P2P lending is becoming a mainstream and trusted way for thousands of consumers to grow their money and get a better deal by side-stepping the banks.”

The sector is growing at a rapid rate and has the backing of government: the Treasury recently included P2P lending in the personal savings tax allowance due in April 2016, and is set to confirm how peer-to-peer lending will sit within ISAs later this summer.