Facebook to allow P2P lending? and more…
Here’s an interesting news-nugget. There are rumours that people may soon be able to apply for peer-to-peer loans through their Facebook accounts, following talks between the social platform and P2P market leaders Lending Club and Prosper.
The behemoth of social media, which held its initial public offering in 2012, has for some time been seeking a way to effectively monetize itself whilst not alienating its users. People are familiar by now with sponsored ads and suggested pages popping up in their newsfeeds, but many businesses are now reducing their reliance on Facebook as a channel, since their posts are reaching fewer people unless they pay. So this could well be win-win. How it will work in practise is another thing, but anything that gives people greater awareness of P2P options is good for the industry.
Meanwhile good news for UK P2P platform Funding Circle which was set up in 2010 – new accounts revealed by the company show that revenue there jumped a massive 177% last year, rising from £1.9 million in 2012 to £5.3 million. The company, headed by Samir Desai, has recently expanded into the US market, and is handing out more loans than ever before. With over 30,000 British people having used the site since its inception, and a record-breaking £28.6 million lent to businesses in September alone, the future is very bright for Funding Circle.
And it’s also many happy returns to Ratesetter, which turned 4 recently, and celebrated with the news that this September they facilitated £30 million+ in loans, the largest ever monthly amount by a UK P2P platform. Also in the news, Cornish platform Folk 2 Folk has reached a landmark £35 million handed out, and has now announced plans to expand its operations nationwide after a lot of success in the south-west. First stop is Devon, with an agency in the aptly-named Crediton. The company has also been nominated in the Alternative Finance Awards.
So all told, the UK P2P industry is ticking along healthily at the moment!
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