Lend Academy answers the question: Where does the UK stand after more than two months since the introduction of open banking? Source
CapitalRise has announced the launch of an innovative finance individual savings account (IFISA) offering its investors a tax free account for investing in the firm's real estate investments; investors can invest in the IFISA with a minimum of 1,000 British pounds ($1,223); the investment maximum for the current tax year is 15,240 British pounds ($18,632) and the maximum will increase to 20,000 British pounds ($24,451) in the following tax year; the platform offers a range of real estate loan property investments in the UK with tax-free returns of approximately 10% to 14% per year. Source
Factor 21 has done a management buyout with funding from Mobeus; the private equity firm provided a 9 million british pound funding line for the buyout; Jonathan Gregory of Mobeus will join Factor 21 as investor director; Factor 21 has been in business for over 15 years and has provided invoice funding of over 2 billion british pounds; the management buyout funding will help the firm grow business at its two regional offices. Source
The UK's oldest and biggest online lender will be cutting rates by 0.2% across all accounts for the third time in the last five months; Chief Product Officer Andrew Lawson told investors via email that since competitors have been cutting rates they also needed to continue their rate cuts and they could also see this trend continuing; left with a choice of cutting rates or lending to a risky borrower, Zopa opted to cut rates and keep their lending practices static. Source
IW Capital has surveyed 1,000 investors who have between GBP10,000 ($12,812) and over GBP250,000 ($320,300) worth of investments; the report shows UK investors are willing to take on greater risk in 2017; 44% of investors think Brexit will have a positive impact on their investment strategy; many investors see investment opportunity in private equity and UK investors also reported they will be looking more to tax efficient investing. Source
A new UK bank referral scheme began this week with a focus on nine of the region's largest banks; Lend Academy provides more details in their article; the referral scheme will require banks to refer small businesses to alternative lenders if they are denied credit; creates more opportunities for banks to partner with alternative lenders and also significantly expands credit access for businesses. Source
The British High Court ruled on Thursday that Parliament must give its approval for Brexit, creating uncertainty on whether or not the UK will leave the European Union; plans for exiting the EU were to begin in March; the government now has appealed the High Court's decision to the Supreme Court which will consider the appeal in December; if the ruling is upheld speculators believe Parliament would continue with the same sentiment that its voters reported in June. Source
Zopa has promised its investors it will speed up the time for selling loans on the platform after investors complained of loan sale times taking weeks; the platform has identified this as an issue, reporting in a blog post, "Recently, some of our processes have been running slower than normal, resulting in it taking longer for you to sell loans and access your money early."; Senior Developer Joe Hutchinson says the platform has been working to upgrade its technology with steady progress and it has more enhancements planned which will provide more capacity on the server improving performance significantly over the next few weeks. Source
Funding Circle's, Samir Desai discussed his platform's business model at this week's Web Summit; Desai provided details on how his platform categorizes small business loans and makes credit approval assessments, noting that approximately 80% of businesses funded would likely be approved by traditional banks; also highlights the benefits of diversification for investors who can invest in multiple loans through a single platform; says 90% of investors are earning over 5% a year. Source
The marketplace lending industry globally has seen rapid growth over the past few years but originations have been pulling back...