Online lending and borrowing platforms
Whether you have money or need money this is worth a read. With the ‘disruptive’ fintech startups knocking on the doors of the big banks there’s more choice than ever to lend or borrow money. Below are some of the stand out options if you want to put your money to work by lending it out for a return or you want to borrow cash for your next investment or financial need.
Below are some of the best sites worth checking out..
Zopa – Standing for zone of potential agreement zopa is top of the tree when it comes to peer to peer lending. I’ve used this site and its great. We decided to get a loan to pay of a student loan, when the loan came though its fantastic to see the hundreds (even thousands) of lenders who had lend us small amounts to make up our total requested amount. Its quick, easy to use and flexible in terms of paying off the loan whenever you like with no early repayment fees.
LendInvest – collateralised loan with 7% return, yes please! This site lets ordinary people such as you and me lend a small amount (starting from £100) to people needing bridging loans. Bridging loans are for those people that need short term cash to cover the cost of a property while they arrange longer term financing. This company was set up by guys who did this rather than some tech savvy guys in their parents garage, so they know the market and know the job well. They only lend to people they know and its really cool to see the deals on offer. Most have a LTV of no more than 60% so they are fairly well protected and if you dont mind locking your money up for a year this is one of the best options out there.
Fundingcircle – Perhaps doing the most to bring down the banks at their own game I love this company, their ethos and whole raison d’etre resonates with me. Set up again by people faced with a problem who created their own solution (there’s a trend here!) – they guaranteed 150mio investment from some of the largest names in the city and look set to achieve big things.
Transferwise – Richard branson and cool marketing matched with great rates and an easy to use website. If you need to move cash from one curreny to anther this is the best way i’ve found of doing it. Ok you have to move money to an account in Estonia but i’ve used it many times and it works fantatically. Not to mention the money i’ve saved on fees and the FX rate compared to my old conjack drinking, pipe smoking banker sitting in his country club. Get with the times and peer to peer your FX’s, its quicker, easier & cheaper, full stop.
Wonga – ahemmm, i’m not even sure why it made the list, for completeness maybe. At rates of over 1000% pa this payday loan provider apitimises the other side of online borrowing. Its horrible and you should stay away at all costs.
