Online personal finance peer-to-peer lending firm Zopa has secured a banking license in the UK to introduce a new suite of financial products.
Image: Zopa has secured banking license in UK. Photo: courtesy of aoo3771 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Zopa intends to launch new products in 2019 that are built on its technology platform.
The products include fixed term savings product protected by the financial services compensation scheme, credit card platform with an advanced billing engine and open bank hub for customers to control their finances.
Zopa’s products are available on a technology platform, which was developed by a team of developers in London and Barcelona.
Zopa CEO Jaidev Janardana said: “Acquiring our banking licence is the starting point for Zopa to become a major force in retail banking.
“When we pioneered the peer-to-peer lending model globally in 2005, we did so by listening to customers and creating a better product for them.
“We will bring the same focus to our banking products – drawing on tech innovation, our values of fairness and transparency, and better customer service to help even more people to feel-good about money.”
Last month, Zopa has secured £60m in its latest closed funding round. The investment has been secured to meet the capital requirements for its next generation bank.
Zopa also said that it built a sustainable and profitable peer-to-peer business and achieved full year profitability in 2017 for the first time since 2012.
Since last 12 months, the firm has lent more than £996m to its customers. The company has more than 60,000 active individual investors, as well as a select group of institutional partners.
Claimed to be the first peer-to-peer lending company, Zopa was launched in the UK in 2005.
In 2013, the company introduced the Safeguard fund as a tax-efficient way for investors to offset bad debt. In 2014, Zopa started working with institutional investors to serve diverse customer base.
The firm introduced a new suite of investment products for investors, including Zopa Access, Zopa Classic and Zopa Plus, in 2016.