Oct 09 2008
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.
22 comments
topwebbusinesses » Blog Archive » Zopa US
[...] Original Savaroony [...]
bamalucky
Gee thanks..Who coulda predicted the credit crunch? Maybe a billion people could & did.Thanks for the contest last month tying up even more peoples money.Gracias por nada
bamalucky
Express your feelings or thoughts on the official Zopa board
http://talk.zopa.com//index.php?showtopic=3083&view=getnewpost
Not so good news, and some great news | Zopa « CommunityLend blog
[...] Zopa US So while our model is doing very well in current market conditions, the US has been adversely affected in a way that just couldn’t have been predicted when we launched in the US and is no way the fault of our partners. For us, a real shame is that we weren’t able to launch the original model over there for regulatory reasons. [...]
Zopa cierra operaciones en los EEUU | Francisco Hernández-Marcos (es)
[...] Zopa cierra operaciones en los EEUU (ver nota oficial). Muy interesante y significativo. Ya en algún post he destacado lo extremadamente complicado que creo que debe ser el afinar un modelo de P2P lending. Hay tanto trabajo por hacer, y tantas cosas por aprender… Pienso que pasarán unos años hasta que una start-up de con un modelo que tire realmente. Luego entonces todo el mundo hablará de ello. [...]
Simon Deane-Johns
Sad, because the team over there really tried everything, so huge sympathy there, and well done for getting this far.
Ironic, isn’t it, that the US regulatory system could permit everything from NINJA loans to CDOs riddled with unquantifiable risks, yet fail to accommodate a very simple, efficient, transparent model that has maintained such low delinquency in the UK for over 3 years now.
Maybe one day US regulators will welcome it.
Zopa closes in US - does social lending have a future — ZuluZulu
[...] The Zopa blog has this to say: “You probably know that Zopa’s US operation has a very different model to that in the UK and Italy in that it works in partnership with financial institutions (the credit unions) rather than being a pure peer to peer marketplace as it is here and in Italy. So while our model is doing very well in current market conditions, the US has been adversely affected in a way that just couldn’t have been predicted when we launched int he US and is no way the fault of our partners. For us, a real shame is that we weren’t able to launch the original model over there for regulatory reasons. [...]
Zopa se retira de Estados Unidos Loogic.com
[...] Por temas regulatorios en Estados Unidos Zopa no podía operar con la libertad que puede hacerlo en Inglaterra, Italia y Asia. Se veía obligada a trabajar junto con una entidad financiera y visto como está el mercado en ese país es lógico que hayan estado teniendo muchos problemas. Esto ha desembocado en el cierre de Zopa EEUU. [...]
Joseph Salamone
This is a shame that Zopa is pulling out of the us market. Actually the us needs more private lending to get its economy on track.
learn about loans
Sorry I messed up my link in the previous post. Good Luck to Zopa
Das Kumar
You say that a direct P2P model (like the ones in UK and Italy) would have survived the US credit crunch. Is the assumption that P2P models would not see their share of bad loans just as banks have? If yes, why?
Zopa Shuts Down US Branch | P2P Lending, Peer to Peer Lending, People to People Lending | P2P Lending News, Information, Borrowing and Lending Strategy
[...] With the opening of the United States branch, Zopa found that they could not launch the same kind of lending system due to regulatory issues. In order to provide their service, they have teamed up with credit unions in order to provide these lending services. Lenders would park money in CDs with the credit unions, and this would allow their money to sit before borrowers request the money. This would enable the borrowers and the lenders to enjoy the same sort of interest rate benefits as the European users. The regulatory restrictions that were placed upon Zopa would ironically cause the same conditions leading to the closing of Zopa’s United States branch, however. [...]
blogOminae.net » Blog Archive » Credito Regulado
[...] Aqui De hecho, Zopa acaba de cerrar sus puertas en Estados Unidos. La razón es que no operaba allí de la misma manera que en Japón, Italia y Reino Unido, los demás países donde está presente. Debido a las exigencias regulatorias, todo el negocio debía pasar a través de una entidad financiera establecida y aprobada por las autoridades y éstas no pasan por el mejor momento, como todo el mundo sabe, así que los clientes serán recolocados en las distintas cooperativas de crédito con las que tuvo que asociarse. [...]
La crisi non risparmia il web 2.0: Zopa US chiude i battenti | HeavyTrader
[...] La crisi non risparmia nessuno. Questa settimana è toccato al più famoso servizio di social lending: Zopa US che ha improvvisamente chiuso i battenti. La notizia è stata ufficializzata sul blog ufficiale del servizio che spiega: «Probabilmente sapete che Zopa US ha un modello molto differente rispetto al Regno Unito ed all’Italia perchè lavora in partnership con istituzioni finanziarie (le Credit Union) invece di essere un mero mercato peer-to-peer come qui ed in Italia. Mentre il nostro modello opera molto bene con le attuali condizioni di mercato, gli Stati Uniti sono afflitti in un modo non prevedibile ai tempi in cui abbiamo lanciato il servizio». La conseguenza è quella della chiusura. Il blog si affretta comunque a sottolineare due punti ritenuti fondamentali: innanzitutto la scelta non avrà impatti su Zopa UK, Italia e Aasia; inoltre viene ribadito come la struttura del progetto US fosse totalmente differente, basata sul modello bancario per motivi legali. In America il mercato del credito si è di fatto bloccato, sono saltati tutti i parametri di rischiosità e quindi le erogazioni dei prestiti attraverso Zopa US sono rallentate drammaticamente. [...]
A strange month for the financial services industry; Social Lending is no exception « CommunityLend blog
[...] – Zopa US announced that it has restructured its operation in the US in collaboration with their credit union partners. – LendingClub announced it is reopening its US business following its successful registration with the SEC and with the innovative addition of a secondary trading market for their loans. – Prosper announced that it is closing to new Lenders in order to register promissory notes with the SEC similar to the process just undertaken by LendingClub. – Zopa UK announced their best month ever, with borrower volumes more than doubling as a result of the credit crunch. [...]
The AppGap » » Zopa- Social Networking Finance: Work 2.0, Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0 commentary and reviews: apps, tools and practices
[...] Zopa also operates in Italy and Japan,and until recently in the US. According to their October 9 blog announcement: “ You probably know that Zopa’s US operation has a very different model to that in the UK and Italy in that it works in partnership with financial institutions (the credit unions) rather than being a pure peer to peer marketplace as it is here and in Italy. So while our model is doing very well in current market conditions, the US has been adversely affected in a way that just couldn’t have been predicted when we launched int he US and is no way the fault of our partners. For us, a real shame is that we weren’t able to launch the original model over there for regulatory reasons. So, sadly, our US colleagues have decided to withdraw from the US marketplace.” [...]
Le marché du social lending est dans la tourmente aux US… | La rupture Internet
[...] Seulement voilà, le social lending aux Etats-Unis tourne à la catastrophe : Prosper rentre dans une “période tranquille“, ce qui a priori signifie l’absence de publicité, mais en fait Prosper n’accepte plus de listings, est en face d’une class action lawsuit pour “unregistered securities“, vient de payer une amende de 1 millions de dollars, et donc des questions se posent sur son existance; zopa ferme aux US; loanio, ouvert le 1er octobre 2008, vient de fermer; seul LendingClub résiste. Pourquoi ? C’est le seul à être en règle avec la SEC, le gendarme de la bourse aux US… [...]
Zopa US is Dead
[...] However, I really wanted to write about Zopa US dying. I know I’ve been fast and loose with the “[insert peer-to-peer company] dying” phrase in the past, but this is truly the case this time. Zopa US has officially announced that it’s closing it’s doors. [...]
Zopa update: Interest rates rise for savers, but bad debt doesn’t
[...] Zopa pulled out of the US market after just 10 months, where the authorities last year froze new loans by peer-to-peer rivals such as Prosper, Lending Club and Loanio. But with over £30 million dealt out between 220,000 Zopa members, the business in the UK looks sustainable. [...]
Bangor E-Marketing
Although the US website has closed the UK business model is still viable as it has the backers have a viable financial background (set up many of the team from Egg) and are backed by the same investors as eBay and betfair.
The UK has 362089 members which show there is a growing market for the service the website provides.
It has also been established for 5 years and has won many awards such as retail Banking and IT industry award for the website.
They should assess the future of the UK business model through growth and expansion, through opportunities from the economic climate.
Zopa also needs to be ready to adapt the business model to the next generation of internet to stay innovative.
A compensation scheme also needs to be introduced to reduce the risk to the lenders.
When interest rates rise in the High Street banks how does Zopa plan on competing as lenders might as well keep their money in the bank without the same level of risk associated with Zopa.
Although Zopa is an innovative and modern business model it could prove to be a trend or fad that could result in their demise due to the challenging economic conditions, potentially putting the business under severe threat.
Zopa Says Nopa to US Operation | Zopa Says Nopa to US Operation chase| Zopa Says Nopa to US Operation > | chase credit card > credit cards > credit card number
[...] Zopa blog – Zopa U.S. You probably know that Zopa’s US operation has a very different model to that in the UK and Italy in that it works in partnership with financial institutions (the credit unions) rather than being a pure peer to peer marketplace as it is here and in Italy. [...]
P2P-Banking.com
Posted on October 9th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Breaking news: Zopa withdraws from US market…
After several hours speculation following an email sent to some US lenders of Zopa including the statement “In addition, the Zopa social networking Web site will no longer be available as of October 9, 2008″, the Zopa CFO (UK) has posted a …