Zopa has become the first peer-to-peer consumer lender in Europe to reach the £4bn lending milestone, showing the firm has has hit £1bn of lending in the past 12 months.
A spokesperson for Zopa, the first ever P2P lending platform, said the firm was targeting a faster run rate for the next £1bn of lending suggesting the £5bn mark could be hit before the end of 2019.
“We expect lending to continue to grow throughout 2019 as more and more people look for competitive rates and a great customer experience,” they said.
Zopa says this £4bn has been lent - since 2005 - to 170,000 people financing a new car, 135,000 consolidating debt and 110,000 people for home improvements
Jaidev Janardana,Zopa’s CEO, has facilitated loans between approximately 500,000 people.
"We’ve created a new asset class and redefined the experience people have come to expect from their financial provider," he said.
Zopa is in the final stages of launching a new “next generation” bank later this year, after receiving its banking license in December 2018.
“After gaining its bank licence with restrictions in December 2018, Zopa will now bring a wider suite of fair, simple and easy to manage financial products and use its tech know-how to provide a bank that’s fit for the future," he added.
