The UK Peer to Peer Finance Association (P2PFA) has published its first quarter peer to peer lending data from its nine member platforms. The P2PFA reports that cumulative levels of lending neared £8.5 billion with loan originations in excess of £1 billion during the first three months of 2017. Over 180,000 investors participated at the end of the period alongside 420,095 borrowers.
The P2PFA said the first three months of 2017 underscored the ongoing development of the sector with the “maintenance of impressive expansion in lending volumes and investor participation.”
“The growth in peer-to-peer lending volumes over the last three months highlights the success which platforms have secured in the market – delivering a permanent shift in the financial services landscape, and providing an attractive offering for investors and borrowers,” said Robert Pettigrew, Director of the P2PFA. “At a time when macroeconomic uncertainty appears to be the prevailing narrative, more than £600 million has been lent to businesses through peer-to-peer platforms in the last three months, with almost thirty-seven thousand businesses having a loan at the end of the period. It is clear that the ability of platforms to provide an offering responsive both to the aspirations of investors and the needs of borrowers has enabled a consistent pattern of growth which any sector would find attractive’.
Pettrigew pointed to the fact the UK government seeks to assert the UK as the center of global Fintech – an objective that benefits his industry’
“…undoubtedly, the growth of peer-to-peer lending represents a key part of that story of success, and one which promises to continue serving the needs of the economy, broadening access to investor returns as well as access to finance, and delivering competition in the wider financial services ecosystem to the benefit of consumers and the broader market’.
Zopa remained the largest P2P lender in the UK but Funding Circle is catching up. Aggregate new lending for the P2PFA members topped £1 billion for the first time.
P2PFA member platforms include: Folk2Folk (which joined the P2PFA in February 2017), Funding Circle, Landbay, Lending Works, LendInvest, Market Invoice, RateSetter, Thin Cats and Zopa. In the UK, P2P lending has been a regulated industry since 2014. The UK has been widely admired for its light-touch regulatory approach yet the Financial Conduct Authority is in the midst of a regulatory review which may impact sector growth.
The table below shows aggregate levels of peer-to-peer lending by P2PFA platforms since the second quarter of 2016.
| Q2 2016 | Q3 2016 | Q4 2016 | Q1 2017 | |
| Cumulative lending | £5,802,000,000 | £6,502,783,000 | £7,347,991,895 | £8,495,831,433 |
| o/w lending to individuals | £2,416,000,000 | £2,687,040,000 | £2,988,270,526 | £3,377,185,204 |
| o/w lending to businesses | £3,386,000,000 | £3,815,743,000 | £4,359,721,369 | £5,118,646,229 |
| Base stock of loans (outstanding loan book) | £2,609,000,000 | £2,812,988,000 | £3,093,692,787 | £3,537,152,530 |
| o/w lending to individuals | £1,178,000,000 | £1,263,565,000 | £1,367,767,161 | £1,518,532,233 |
| o/w lending to businesses | £1,431,000,000 | £1,549,423,000 | £1,725,925,626 | £2,018,620,297 |
| New Lending | £658,000,000 | £700,616,000 | £843,917,964 | £1,004,483,012 |
| o/w lending to individuals | £252,000,000 | £271,138,000 | £299,939,490 | £368,326,468 |
| o/w lending to businesses | £406,000,000 | £429,478,000 | £543,978,474 | £636,156,545 |
| Capital repaid | £485,000,000 | £494,975,000 | £561,088,544 | £624,693,566 |
| o/w lending to individuals | £170,000,000 | £185,082,000 | £195,737,268 | £232,831,830 |
| o/w lending to businesses | £315,000,000 | £309,893,000 | £365,351,277 | £391,861,736 |
| Net Lending Flow | £174,000,000 | £205,287,000 | £287,228,652 | £383,780,446 |
| o/w lending to individuals | £82,000,000 | £86,057,000 | £104,202,222 | £135,494,638 |
| o/w lending to businesses | £92,000,000 | £119,230,000 | £183,026,430 | £248,285,808 |
| Number of current lenders | 150,376 | 161,466 | 169,747 | 181,068 |
| Number of current borrowers | 332,107 | 363,201 | 392,111 | 420,095 |
| o/w are individuals | 307,713 | 335,803 | 360,410 | 383,232 |
| o/w are businesses | 24,394 | 27,398 | 31,701 | 36,863 |
The table below shows cumulative P2PFA platform level lending data since the second quarter of 2016:
| Q2 2016 | Q3 2016 | Q4 2016 | Q1 2017 | |
| Folk2Folk | £139,344,302 | |||
| Funding Circle | £1,341,573,000 | £1,524,427,000 | £1,830,397,245 | £2,158,457,107 |
| Landbay | £42,665,000 | £42,948,000 | £43,142,119 | £43,975,419 |
| LendInvest | £699,544,000 | £776,112,000 | £855,354,293 | £971,875,952 |
| Lending Works | £29,959,000 | £33,636,000 | £39,368,050 | £48,864,686 |
| MarketInvoice | £671,563,000 | £754,325,000 | £837,793,900 | £918,450,994 |
| RateSetter | £1,277,189,000 | £1,442,743,000 | £1,604,406,564 | £1,815,320,079 |
| ThinCats | £183,700,000 | £196,907,000 | £211,446,000 | £226,981,000 |
| Zopa | £1,555,972,000 | £1,731,685,000 | £1,926,083,724 | £2,172,561,894 |
| Total | £5,802,165,000 | £6,502,783,000 | £7,347,991,895 | £8,495,831,433 |
Additional Information is available below.
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