19 Apr 2007

Zopa – Still coming soon

Products 2 Comments

Zopa issued an update today through their mailing list detailing their new plan for national expansion, details about their new CEO, and even some job postings. They said that they’ve made some “adjustments” for their business model in the US, but provided no details about exactly how the US system will work. Until they’re ready to go, I’ll keep using Prosper!

2 Responses to “Zopa – Still coming soon”

  1. Reply
    Jeff Hardin says:
    April 20, 2007 at 7:41 AM

    Thanks for the update on Zopa! I’ve heard that they are trying to reach out to credit unions.

    Any ideas as to the advantages/disadvantages of P2P lending for a CU?

    Thanks,
    Jeff

    PS – The new blog looks great!

  2. Reply
    Robbie Wright says:
    April 20, 2007 at 8:12 AM

    Personally, I think that P2P lending is what CU’s are founded on, just in a more brick-and-mortar structure. I’ve heard the same thing that Zopa is attempting to somehow partner with CU’s, but I think that was before their founding CEO passed away. Hopefully the new CEO will carry that idea along.

    I’m not quite sure what a partnership could look like though. I suppose it may be possible for a CU to setup a credit-union-only site with Zopa as the backend. CU members could then go to the site to invest their dollars by lending or go there to get a loan.

    P2P lending is a wonderful growing segment and Prosper has a huge lead at the moment (in the US). I currently use Prosper to loan out money, but I would definitely look at Zopa when they finally are here. Prosper and Zopa run two different business models though. Some may think Prosper is a little riskier because you’re investing directly in individuals while Zopa, currently in the UK, uses risk pools as investments. The two companies share the same borrower, but will probably attract different lenders.

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