Nov 08 2005
Having a chat
Chewing the fat, shooting the breeze, having a natter - call it what you like, talking to people is darn important and everyone should do it as often as they can (except in libraries). We talk to our members as much as possible, through our blog and discussion board and by getting people to email contactus@zopa.com if anything's on their mind.
18 comments
Dave
Hi Ed,
At the moment, alas, you have to be a current UK resident. If you have a UK address that you are linked to in anyway, we can probably find a way of getting you into the system – obviously, we’d love to have you as a lender if it’s at all possible!
We’re working hard to make Zopa available in the US as soon as possible – but we need a little more time! 
And you’re right – we should be more obvious about who can join Zopa – sorry, we’ll sort it out – promise!
Cheers, Dave
Sanjay
Dave, I don’t really get the benefit for lenders:
“Zopa is for creditworthy people who earn money in new ways, in ways that banks don’t always recognise. People who are self employed, people who have peaks and troughs to their income, people who would be invisible to a bank’s credit rating system but are seen and validated by Zopa’s.”….
The above helps borrowers that would not otherwise get a low rate.
Without your 2% bonus (running till end of november)…4.9% is not attractive to the lender. I can get 5.00% in my savings account and I can get to my money whenever I want (First Direct e-savings account).
Maybe I have missed the plot?
Mark Riley
I have jsut signed up to become a lender but my application failed the equifax test. Im in Canada now but I have a UK bank account and address and I, I think, a perfect credit history.
Should lenders go through the same credit check as borrowers?
Dave
@ Sanjay – The benefit to lenders comes from lending to many different people in different markets – the average rate you obtain will be higher than the rates that borrowers can obtain in our most competitive markets. We doing some more analysis to update the numbers, but last time we checked, lenders were earning an average of 6.4% on money they had lent out, after estimated bad debt – which isn’t too bad!
@ Mark – At the moment lenders do go through the same identity checking process as borrowers, but we’re working on a change to that which will make it easier for lenders to join Zopa and lend. Hopefully our member services team have been in touch with you about your membership, let me know (dave @ zopa.com) if they haven’t.
WelshWizard
Tried to sign up today, but apparently failed to get past Equifax…. despite owning my own home, having a good credit history, and having plenty of assets i am keen to lend! My house move was recent so maybe that was a factor?
An alternative way of signing up seems to be needed for those of us who for whatever reason failed to pass online signup.
Chris Allsopp
I agree with Sanjay, I can get 5% with a Halifax Websaver account, and have instant access to my money, but the way I am viewing this is investing my money, for an ok return, but more importantly doing people less fortunate, financially, than us some good. Call it charity work, call it two fingures up at the 28% interest rates from credit card companies, but I love the place, I love it so much, I bought a fleece !
raf7
If I made a 12 month loan, but then needed the money back after 6 months, would I be able to get out of the loan early?
Dave
@WelshWizard – You’re right, we do need an alternative. The online ID system that we use works well for borrowers, and is very effective at removing fraudsters, but it generates too many false negatives. We’re looking at a system that uses debit cards to validate lenders – but that means we have to get permission to take debit cards, which means a battle with NatWest/Streamline to allow us to accept them…we’re getting there though!
@Chris – Thanks for your support! That’s exactly what we’re trying to do at Zopa – we describe it as ‘financial return plus social reward.’ You’re helping some other people out, but also getting a decent return on your money. Hope the fleece fits!
@raf7 – I’m afraid that’s not possible at the moment – we are looking into the possibility of creating a market where people can but other peoples loans, but at the moment, the volumes are too small to make it worthwhile. It’s worth remembering though that if you lend for 12 months, then you’ll have at least half your money back after 6 months anyway
deltanw12
How can Chris say he is helping people less fortunate, when one of the lending criteria is an income in excess of £25000 pa. I don’t think this is the less fortunate.
Also it is interesting to note that ZOPA will accept lenders from any income bracket.
deltanw12
Correction to my comments of 31.12, should have read ‘one of the borrowing criteria is an income in excess of £25000pa.’
Dave
Hi deltanw12, the reason for the £25K income criteria is that one of the main factors we use when deciding whether to approve borrowers is their ability to repay their loan – the affordability of the additional debt they are taking on. Having an income threshold is a good indicator of whether they are going to be able to repay or not. We have approved money to borrowers with lower income than this, so it is more of a guideline than a hard and fast rule.
Michael
I think you are missing a lot of potential lenders with the UK residency requirement. I would have thought that professional expatriates like myself would be the perfect lender with perhaps more surplus funds available than most.
The other comment I have is that I look forward to your opening in the US, since I operate mostly in US$, and I would not want to take the exchange risks by lending in a currency other than my earnings.
sebapi
well, before I transfer my money as a lender, there is something I need to understand.
Is there somewhere on this site a proper technical description of your market rate setting algorithm? Seriously, I could not find the info anywhere. Is it some form of dutch auction thing, where all the lenders are getting done at the best bid?
I see a considerable amount available for loan at 0.1%. Why don’t I see loans done at this level?
pnowak
why did we never see an answer to sebapi’s question?
Dave
Sorry – missed it!
Try this FAQ:
http://www.zopa.com/ZopaWeb/public/faqs/lending/d23.shtml
Cheers
Dave
scrambled
Is the money that is the holding account earning any interest whilst it is there? Also is interest being earned whilst funds are available to borrowers, but not yet lent? Brian
Dave
Hi scrambled – yes to both your questions – currently at 3.25%. Cheers, Dave
Ed
Posted on November 9th, 2005 at 6:10 pm
I tried to sign up a few months ago as a lender and eventually fell out of the sign up process because I hadn’t been living in the UK the last few years. Is that still a problem? In general can you publish a list of the requirements to be accepted as a lender. Thanks.