Discussion
Morning.
Has anybody got any experience with www.thincats.com ?
It's another peer to peer lending site but only lends to businesses and the loans are secured.
It's not FCA regulated though. It seems to use a bidding model for loans like I understand Zopa used to be like?
The background is I've recently come into some money and am looking for somewhere to put it for the time being. I had originally thought of a BTL but as I'm currently going through a lengthy and stressful house purchase I don't want all the hassle of doing it again for a while so have parked that idea for the moment.
I wouldn't be putting all the money into thincats, approximately 5% of what I have. The rest will be a mix of higher interest current accounts and some shares.
Thanks
Has anybody got any experience with www.thincats.com ?
It's another peer to peer lending site but only lends to businesses and the loans are secured.
It's not FCA regulated though. It seems to use a bidding model for loans like I understand Zopa used to be like?
The background is I've recently come into some money and am looking for somewhere to put it for the time being. I had originally thought of a BTL but as I'm currently going through a lengthy and stressful house purchase I don't want all the hassle of doing it again for a while so have parked that idea for the moment.
I wouldn't be putting all the money into thincats, approximately 5% of what I have. The rest will be a mix of higher interest current accounts and some shares.
Thanks
Hi,
Yes, a little experience of Thincats.
Would be nice to see better management oversight of sponsors, and a cleaner website which is a bit clumsy at the moment.
What I would suggest you do is register for free access to their website (no requirement to deposit funds or jump through ID hoops for basic registration) and look at one or two of the threads in their public "General" forum....(e.g. the ones with "sponsor standards", "intangibles guidelines", "dog" in their name), also take a look through the "news" and "thincats software" sections .... you can then read the comments there, make your own mind up and ask further questions.....
For avoidance of doubt, I'm *NOT* saying "avoid" .... I'm just saying they're "not bad" and a little "caveat emptor" might be required because their Sponsor model varies in reality from what the marketing bumpf suggests.... some Sponsors appear to be better than others......
But as I said.... there's no obligations involved in a basic registration.... so do that, take poke around and make your own mind up.....
Yes, a little experience of Thincats.
Would be nice to see better management oversight of sponsors, and a cleaner website which is a bit clumsy at the moment.
What I would suggest you do is register for free access to their website (no requirement to deposit funds or jump through ID hoops for basic registration) and look at one or two of the threads in their public "General" forum....(e.g. the ones with "sponsor standards", "intangibles guidelines", "dog" in their name), also take a look through the "news" and "thincats software" sections .... you can then read the comments there, make your own mind up and ask further questions.....
For avoidance of doubt, I'm *NOT* saying "avoid" .... I'm just saying they're "not bad" and a little "caveat emptor" might be required because their Sponsor model varies in reality from what the marketing bumpf suggests.... some Sponsors appear to be better than others......
But as I said.... there's no obligations involved in a basic registration.... so do that, take poke around and make your own mind up.....
Edited by flinstone on Saturday 15th November 13:32
Edited by flinstone on Saturday 15th November 13:33
InertialTooth45 said:
Whilst good advice it does seem strange that you've registered today and only made one post...
If you wish to attempt to read something into my post that was not there, then that is your prerogative. I have no wish to enter into a mindless debate on the subject of when somebody registers and how many posts they must make before they should be listened to.As I said originally, the post should not be taken to be anti-Thincats, indeed as implied I am an active investor on Thincats, so I can't be that anti since I have funds on there !
As it happens, I think Thincats is better than many P2P platforms, but by the same token the Sponsor model is not quite the panacea their marketing literature says it is, there are improvements that could be made.
To repeat myself, I have no desire to influence you either way. As I said, register yourself - its free and with no obligations - read the forum on the Thincats website, ask your own questions in the Thincats forum, and then make your own mind up based upon the information you have collected with your own eyes.
Edited by flinstone on Saturday 15th November 14:16
Edited by flinstone on Saturday 15th November 14:17
How many different loans do you hold on there? What sort of time frame have you been on there? It does seem like a better format than other P2P sites and better claimed rates.
Have you had any trouble with non payments or defaults?
Apologies for my initial scepticism but generally when there's a post asking for advice and the response is from a brand new member with no other posts it's someone with a vested interest in the site or company who've auto Googled for any hits on their search terms.
Have you had any trouble with non payments or defaults?
Apologies for my initial scepticism but generally when there's a post asking for advice and the response is from a brand new member with no other posts it's someone with a vested interest in the site or company who've auto Googled for any hits on their search terms.
InertialTooth45 said:
it's someone with a vested interest in the site or company who've auto Googled for any hits on their search terms.
Well, I can very much assure you I'm a mere investor in loans on the platform. I am not employed or otherwise affiliated with Thincats or any of its Sponsors. Infact I'll go further to point out I'm not employed or otherwise affiliated with any P2P platform. I have no reason whatsoever to support Thincats more or less than any P2P platform.The reason I registered and posted is I remember when I was investigating P2P and looking for independent information on Thincats, there was not much around, most Thincats discussions seem to be confined to their own forums. Therefore I felt it only fair and reasonable to put something out there on the internet that's more recent than other information.
Anyway, whatever you care to think about me and whatever you decide to do in respect of Thincats, good luck with your financial endeavors. I'm going back to "lurk mode" on PistonHeads, I can't be bothered to continue explaining my posts until I've reached the mysterious secret number where I gain modest respect as a fellow human being !
I wouldn't touch it personally, at least not without a lot more information.
Sponsor is a basically an introducer by another name who:
1) Do not appear to have skin in the game;
2) May be a one man band (look at the number of mobile numbers in the contact list);
3) Has a vested interest in getting deals done (in order to earn commission).
On their website:
A) There are some significant omissions relating to the default statistics/rates. Most notably, no mention is made of recovery of costs/default interest.
B) There is nothing meaningful about their credit evaluation process on their website. Indeed it appears to be entirely reliant on the sponsor's assessment. I could see nothing relating to either a Credit Committee or periodic review (ask for a copy of their credit policy, both should be in there).
C) There is nothing meaningful about how they evaluate/secure security. The references to Personal Gtees are attractive but these often end up being worthless.
I would also ask a specific question relating to regulation where what they state on their website (and what I can find on the FCA register) doesn't match what I'd expect to see.
Lastly, take time to understand the implications of the standardised non-performing loan analysis approach taken by the Peer-to-Peer Finance Association. In my view it only tells part of the story.
ETA: I should add that I am generally bearish about P2P lending as I don't think there are many small private investors out there who are capable of genuinely understanding the risks (or indeed market norms) associated with this sort of operation.
Sponsor is a basically an introducer by another name who:
1) Do not appear to have skin in the game;
2) May be a one man band (look at the number of mobile numbers in the contact list);
3) Has a vested interest in getting deals done (in order to earn commission).
On their website:
A) There are some significant omissions relating to the default statistics/rates. Most notably, no mention is made of recovery of costs/default interest.
B) There is nothing meaningful about their credit evaluation process on their website. Indeed it appears to be entirely reliant on the sponsor's assessment. I could see nothing relating to either a Credit Committee or periodic review (ask for a copy of their credit policy, both should be in there).
C) There is nothing meaningful about how they evaluate/secure security. The references to Personal Gtees are attractive but these often end up being worthless.
I would also ask a specific question relating to regulation where what they state on their website (and what I can find on the FCA register) doesn't match what I'd expect to see.
Lastly, take time to understand the implications of the standardised non-performing loan analysis approach taken by the Peer-to-Peer Finance Association. In my view it only tells part of the story.
ETA: I should add that I am generally bearish about P2P lending as I don't think there are many small private investors out there who are capable of genuinely understanding the risks (or indeed market norms) associated with this sort of operation.
Edited by LooneyTunes on Saturday 15th November 19:57
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