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One in four will consider P2P lending

rebuildingsociety.com recently commissioned some consumer research to gauge the potential size of the peer-to-peer lending market. The findings supported our view that the market will grow exponentially post-regulation and below is the press release issued yesterday.
  • 17% already considering investing in P2P lending schemes
  • 768,000 SMEs would consider applying for a loan through P2P lending
  • Lack of awareness biggest obstacle to P2P growth 
One in four (26%) people in the UK (or up to 12 million) would consider loaning money to UK SMEs by joining a peer-to-peer lending scheme (“P2P”) in 2014 when the sector will be fully regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”). This is according to a new study by rebuildingsociety, a peer-to-business lending website that connects SME borrowers with lenders looking for better returns than those offered by savings accounts. rebuildingsociety’s research also shows that 17% (or up to eight million people) would currently consider P2P lending over the next 12 months, without the need for additional regulatory protection. However, the added security should reinforce the sector given money lent through P2P is currently not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (“FSCS”) and lenders could lose cash if borrowers default. Peer-to-peer lending - also known as person-to-person lending, peer-to-peer investing and social lending - is the practice of lending money to businesses or individuals online.  The sector is set to boom with as much as £12bn2 to be lent through SME P2P schemes annually, roughly a tenth3 of total mainstream SME bank lending in 2012. The new study also underlines the attraction of P2P schemes to small firms as around 24% (or 1.2 million4) believe they will struggle to access finance in the next 12 months. Given this, 16% of small businesses would consider applying for a P2P loan over the next year. The study suggests the biggest obstacle to the growth of P2P lending is low awareness with six in ten (59%) consumers not understanding what the term meant.  Furthermore, more than half (54%) highlighted a lack of knowledge as the principal reason as to why they wouldn’t invest in a P2P scheme, followed by the fear of borrowers not repaying the loan (46%). Individual lenders can typically earn between 8% and 15% interest through P2P platforms such as rebuildingsociety, which is significantly higher than the sub-inflation5 returns offered by many bank and building society accounts. Basic rate taxpayers (20%) currently need to earn 3% on savings and higher rate taxpayers 3.99% to keep track with inflation. Daniel Rajkumar, Managing Director at rebuildingsociety.com said: “This research shows P2P lending is well on its way to entering the financial mainstream with strong levels of interest from consumers and SMEs alike. The FCA’s regulatory oversight from next year will provide consumers with an additional layer of protection and our study shows this is very likely to boost take-up.” rebuildingsociety.com has been operating since September 2012 alongside Funding Circle and thincats.com in the peer-to-business lending industry. It was founded after Daniel Rajkumar experienced frustration with his bank in terms of funding his other business interest, Web Translations Ltd, and took a P2P loan. Daniel Rajkumar continued: “The evolution of this market will continue to generate value for borrowers and lenders beyond the financial transaction. It can be viewed as a marketing activity and businesses who borrow through P2P lending have effectively won a crowd of stakeholders with an interest in the success of those businesses. This is more powerful than institutional finance and both parties are slowly adjusting to this mindset. “Clearly not all individuals and small businesses who are considering using a P2P lender will end up doing so but as long as borrowing and saving conditions remain depressed, demand will rise.” Notes 1 Research conducted online between 10 – 17th May 2013 among a representative sample of over 2,042 UK adults and 356 UK SMEs 2Nesta report – Banking on Each Other 3 BBA data - Banks’ support for SMEs – Q4 2012 4 Federation of Small Businesses 5 CPI inflation rate of 2.4%, as at 21 May 2013

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