Australia’s SocietyOne to hit A$200m in loans this year

AUSTRALIAN peer-to-peer lender SocietyOne is on course to reach the A$200m (£116.3m) milestone this year, just four years after the company was established.

According to its most recent financial statement, the firm passed A$150m in lending at the beginning of September, an increase of A$100m year-on-year.

SocietyOne’s chief executive Jason Yetton described 2016 as a “breakthrough year”, and said that the company had “started to loosen the stranglehold of the big four banks and traditional lenders on the $20bn personal loans market.”

“We are experiencing real momentum in both demand for personal loans from consumer borrowers and the amount of money that our investor funders are now willing to advance to support those customers,” he added.

“Our mission is to be the leading, most trusted, people powered lending marketplace in Australia.”

Founded in 2012, SocietyOne has benefitted from a partnership with Uber, which allows drivers to take out personal loans to finance vehicle purchases.

Last week, UK Bond Network completed a similar deal valued at £3.5m with the ride-sharing app.