The P2PFA has had a busy couple of days, following on from the recent departure of asset-backed specialist Wellesley & Co. But the troops have been quickly replenished. Landbay – a relative newcomer focused on peer-to-peer funded buy-to-let mortgages – has now joined the group. Landbay, which completed its first deal in early July, becomes the Association's youngest member.
John Goodall, Co-Founder and CEO of Landbay, was thrilled:
“We are very pleased to become a member of the P2PFA, joining the same table as the pioneering businesses that started this exciting sector many years ago now, and that gave me and my colleagues the inspiration to set up our own unique peer-to-peer lending business”.
“While many of the later entrants have sought to offer higher returns but at high levels of risk, Landbay aims to be the lowest risk of all peer to peer lenders, while still providing bank-beating rates for our lenders of 3.5% with our Tracker product and 4.2% for the Fixed rate product .”
“Landbay’s unique usage of the UK residential buy-to-let market has allowed us to offer the ideal low risk first step out of traditional cash savings for the millions of frustrated savers in this country stuck with sub-inflation returns from banks”.
3 or 4 weeks ago now, the nascent consumer-facing platform Lending Works was also on-boarded. It’s encouraging to see that the Association – which plays host to the industry’s most established players – is not closed to the advances of quality new entrants.
As mentioned, the association has also made some additions to the management team and to its product set. Christine Farnish – Chairwoman of the organization – will now receive support in the form of Tony Boorman – former Chief Ombudsman at the Financial Ombudsman Service. Tony joins the group as a Director, and shared the following thoughts:
“I am delighted to be joining the P2PFA at this exciting time in the industry. The sector is transforming how we save and how we borrow and I look forward to supporting this evolution in consumer-friendly online financial services in the years ahead.”
And finally, the P2PFA will henceforth begin offering a watered down version of Association membership to European outfits. Potential signups will need to be fully compliant with regulatory requirement within their own respective countries, as well closely aligned with the standards of business conduct required by the P2PFA. European Associate CEOs will be invited to an annual round table meeting alongside the UK members. You can find out more here.
