Zopa

Zopa Limited
Ltd.
Industry Peer-to-peer lending
Founded March 2005 (2005-03)[1][2]
Founders Giles Andrews
James Alexander
Richard Duvall
David Nicholson
Tim Parlett
Headquarters Cottons Centre, Tooley Street, London, England, UK
Products P2P lending[3]
Website www.zopa.com

Zopa is a UK online personal finance peer-to-peer lending company founded in 2004.[4] It launched in the UK in March 2005.[5] Zopa was the first peer-to-peer lending company.[6]

History

Zopa was launched in the UK in March 2005.[7] It was founded in Buckinghamshire in 2004 by a team from the internet banking company Egg Banking.[8][9]

Zopa grew steadily[10] in the years prior to the financial crisis of 2007–2008. It navigated the period with no losses to investors' capital and only a small dip in returns during 2008.[11]

In 2011, the Peer-to-Peer Finance Association was established, with Zopa as a founding member, and Giles Andrews - Zopa's then CEO - as its inaugural chair.[12]

In September 2016, the first portfolio of Zopa loans was securitised on the European markets.[13]

In November 2016, Zopa announced that it would apply for a banking license [14] in order to offer customers a broader set of personal finance products.[15][16]

In January 2017, Zopa became the first UK based peer-to-peer lending company to lend more than £2 billion worth of loans.[17] Zopa became fully regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in May 2017.[18][19] Following FCA authorisation, and HMRC approval as an Individual Savings Account (ISA) manager, Zopa started offering its Innovative Finance ISA products in June 2017.[20]

Products and services

Business Model

Peer-to-peer lending

Zopa enables investors to lend to UK consumers directly through its peer-to-peer lending platform.[21]

Borrowers can take out loans between £1,000 and £25,000.[22] Typically individuals use these to funds to help buy a car, consolidate debts, cover home improvements or weddings.[2]

Investors can choose from four investment products[23] based on their risk and return appetite. Investors’ money is split across multiple borrowers.[24] Investors then receive monthly repayments of interest and capital, which they can relend to compound the interest.

Bank launch

In November 2016, Zopa announced its intention to apply for a banking license so it could expand the range of financial products it offers to UK consumers.[25]

Zopa’s bank is scheduled to launch in 2018 and will sit alongside its peer-to-peer lending business. Zopa plans to offer FSCS protected deposit accounts, credit cards,[26] and a money management app which makes use of data made available by the introduction of Open Banking.[27] As per August 2018, Zopa scooped £44 million in funding for the launch of its new digital challenger bank.[28]

Corporate identity

Headquarters

The company's main office is currently based at London Bridge[29]

Zopa also has a Development Centre in Barcelona, Spain. The centre has been running since 2017.[30]

Brand

Zopa etymology

Its name stands for "Zone of possible agreement", a negotiating term identifying the bounds within which agreement can be reached between two parties.

Logo design

  • 2005–2016
  • 2016–present

See also

References

  1. ↑ Akst, Daniel (5 February 2006). "Where Lender Meets Borrower, Directly" (Business Day). New York, N.Y., United States: New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  2. 1 2 Werdigier, Julia (10 December 2012). "RIT Capital to Take Stake in British Financial Start-Up" (DealBook). New York, N.Y., United States: New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  3. ↑ Scott, Mark (9 June 2014). "A Lift for One of London's Financial Tech Start-Ups" (DealBook). New York, N.Y., United States: New York Times. The New York Times Company. p. B3. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  4. ↑ Cave, Andrew (2016-03-05). "Zopa aims for enough growth to stop explaining its name". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  5. ↑ Jones, Rupert (2014-02-15). "The major peer-to-peer lenders". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  6. ↑ "Q&A: Online lending exchange". United Kingdom: BBC. BBC. 7 March 2005. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  7. ↑ Prosser, David. "Happy Birthday Zopa, The Inventor Of P2P". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  8. ↑ Evans, Judith (14 August 2015). "My Money — Giles Andrews, Zopa chief". Financial Times. Nikkei. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  9. ↑ "Zopa opera". computing.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-10-03.
  10. ↑ "P2P lending: where will the P2P industry go next? - Verdict". www.verdict.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  11. ↑ Ficenec, John (2015-07-26). "How safe is peer-to-peer lending?". ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  12. ↑ "Launch of Peer-to-Peer Finance Association | Peer-to-Peer Finance Association". Peer-to-Peer Finance Association. 2011-08-15. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  13. ↑ Hale, Thomas (26 September 2016). "Debut securitisation for Zopa loans". United Kingdom: Financial Times. Nikkei. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  14. ↑ Hurley, James (17 November 2016). "Peer-to-peer lender Zopa to launch bank" (Business). United Kingdom: The Times. Times Newspapers Limited. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  15. ↑ "Zopa to launch next generation bank - AltFi News". AltFi. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  16. ↑ Dunkley, Emma. "Peer-to-peer lending pioneer seeks banking licence". Financial Times.
  17. ↑ "Peer-to-peer lender Zopa passes £2 billion loans milestone". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  18. ↑ Williams, Aime. "Zopa gets FCA approval as peer-to-peer lender". Financial Times. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  19. ↑ Barber, Lynsey (2017-05-11). "Zopa just got full approval as a P2P lender from the FCA". Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  20. ↑ Suter, Laura (2017-05-26). "Zopa Isa offering up to 6.1pc finally available". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  21. ↑ Lewis, Martin. "Peer to peer lending: boost savings returns? - MSE". MoneySavingExpert.com. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  22. ↑ "comparethemarket.com - Zopa loans". www.comparethemarket.com. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  23. ↑ Beioley, Kate. "P2P platform Zopa re-opens to new customers". Financial Times.
  24. ↑ "Peer-to-peer lending explained - Which?". Which?. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  25. ↑ Editor, James Hurley, Enterprise (2016-11-17). "Peer-to-peer lender Zopa to launch bank". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  26. ↑ "Zopa is 'pretty close to finishing' building its new bank". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  27. ↑ "Zopa boss Janardana details plans for customer-centric bank - AltFi Opinion". AltFi. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  28. ↑ "Digital Bank: Zopa Raises £44 Million to Help Fuel Expansion, "Launching Our Bank is a Key Next Step" | Crowdfund Insider". Crowdfund Insider. 2018-08-03. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
  29. ↑ Hurst, Samantha (4 August 2016). "Zopa Relocates: Moves Into New London Bridge Digs". Crowdfund Insider. Crowded Media Group.
  30. ↑ "Zopa Establishes Development Center in Barcelona | Crowdfund Insider". Crowdfund Insider. 2017-06-07. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
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