Zopa to close p2p customer investments.
Discussion
Just had an email through this morning saying that after 16 years they will be buying all P2P loans from lenders and to refocus on more traditional banking
I only had a couple of quid lingering with them so no major impact to me.
Things had looked odd for a while as the site was quoting 14ish percent interest rate to all new borrowers. But suggesting only 4% projected returns to investors.
For me it was the time frames that made it impractical. With stuff tied up for up to 5 years. Compared to traditional stock/share funds that historically offer better returns over those time scales.
I only had a couple of quid lingering with them so no major impact to me.
Things had looked odd for a while as the site was quoting 14ish percent interest rate to all new borrowers. But suggesting only 4% projected returns to investors.
For me it was the time frames that made it impractical. With stuff tied up for up to 5 years. Compared to traditional stock/share funds that historically offer better returns over those time scales.
I've been with them for 13 years and i have to say over the last 3 years they've dropped the ball. I'm not sure how many times my investments have been re-evaluated or i've had £1.30 or so added due to an error or adjustment. Over the last 13 years it's averaged 4.05% return. As you can see from the breakdown below Zopa says i've earned £3352.29 but what it doesn't show is that I have £1671 stuck in loans i couldn't sell because they're deferred due to "Covid arrangement"
Total earned
£3,352.29
Total deposited
£53,165.07
Total withdrawn
£54,836.51
Core returns
4.05%
Plus returns
N/A
Total earned
£3,352.29
Total deposited
£53,165.07
Total withdrawn
£54,836.51
Core returns
4.05%
Plus returns
N/A
I had some money invested with them and took most of it out when the pandemic hit. It's been like pulling teeth trying to get the last few hundred quid out. When I first started the rates were pretty good, but I guess 3 or 4 years a go they changed it all and it's been crap ever since.
Hopefully others go the same way. Have long held the view that this sort of product shouldn’t be offered to retail investors…
itlab said:
Things had looked odd for a while as the site was quoting 14ish percent interest rate to all new borrowers. But suggesting only 4% projected returns to investors.
Why does that look odd? P2P seems to rely on investors mis-pricing risk… which is why it shouldn’t be a retail offering. LooneyTunes said:
Hopefully others go the same way. Have long held the view that this sort of product shouldn’t be offered to retail investors…
I don't do it simply because they keep most of the profit themselves, and I'm taking the risk. If there's 14% to be made, I need more than 4.itlab said:
Things had looked odd for a while as the site was quoting 14ish percent interest rate to all new borrowers. But suggesting only 4% projected returns to investors.
Why does that look odd? P2P seems to rely on investors mis-pricing risk… which is why it shouldn’t be a retail offering. Joey Deacon said:
Nothing much to add other than to say you have big cahonas having £54K in a completely unregulated investment.
Personally I would pull it out and stick it in something like a Vanguard account, I am certain the return would have been double over the last 13 years.
I thought that may get a comment, i never had that much in there in total, in was constantly invested and taken out over the years. I wish i had big cahonas, some of my other investments I didn't have the stomach for would have paid off big time... Personally I would pull it out and stick it in something like a Vanguard account, I am certain the return would have been double over the last 13 years.

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