I’ve liked seeing how ZOPA US is coming along.
In the US this “peer lending” system is insured up to $100,000!
The minimum buy in for investors seems to be $500 which is pretty good… with up to 3.75% APR today versus a national 2.9% That’s because they don’t have to pay for fancy bank real estate!
I envision this as a great place for people to put their savings and earn slightly more than they’ll get from a bank.
But it’s also a great place to get a loan.
I may be wrong, but I think this will be a place entrepreneurs start to tap for start up funds for small business. Zopa loans are unsecured personal loans that can, after all, be used for any purpose.
Given than many “microfinance” loans in the US are credit card rates - and those are the “government sponsored” ones, Zopa might wind up being the US version of Kiva without the other intermediaries… by accident.
Here’s another interesting feature about Zopa… the “help” feature.
One guy borrowed $1,000 and has a monthly repayment rate of $23.75.
He’s plugged his profile so much though that he gets enough “help” from other users in Zopa that he is no longer obligated to pay for his loan! Duh!
Best wishes Zopa…
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