Metro Bank, one of the UK challenger banks, has just announced a deal to lend customer deposits through Zopa, one of the UK’s biggest peer-to-peer platforms. This is a significant in a number of reasonss. It is both the first British bank to lend through a peer-to-peer platform, and a major collaboration of challenger bank with …
Category: Alternative Finance
Mar 08
Peer to Peer
After peer to peer lending this Economist leader points out the next big thing could be sharing. You might think this is no different from running a bed-and-breakfast, owning a timeshare or participating in a car pool. But technology has reduced transaction costs, making sharing assets cheaper and easier than ever—and therefore possible on a …
Feb 18
From Micro Loan to Micro Banker
Amira was not well served by banks. In fact she lives thirty miles from the nearest bank. She didn’t have any money either, since her husband died five years ago. A man came to Amira’s village from an agency offering micro loans to help people buy chickens or anything that would provide villagers with alternative …
Feb 18
Challengers to the High Street
Two articles coinciding over the weekend about challengers to the big British Banks: An article in the Economist on New Banks featuring Weatherbys, Aldermore, Metro Bank, Tesco Bank and Wonga. The Bottom Line on Radio 4 featured a discussion on Alternative Finance including Giles Andrews is CEO of Zopa, the peer to peer lending website; Anil …