23 firms now approved to offer IFISAs

AT LEAST 23 firms have received authorisation to offer Innovative Finance ISAs (IFISAs), as approvals gather pace towards ISA season.

HMRC’s latest list of approved ISA managers suggests that as of January 26 there were 17 firms approved to offer the tax-free wrapper around peer-to-peer investments, which is the same as in November, but taking into account recent announcements, the tally has increased to 23.

The latest additions include Lending Works, which received approval in December and LandlordInvest, which is already offering an IFISA after gaining ISA manager status earlier this month. Folk2Folk has also been approved and is planning its launch.

UK Bond Network is authorised and says it is close to a launch and is working with P2P aggregator platform Goji to offer its IFISA, as are Landbay, Downing Crowd and Peer Funding.

Platforms who haven’t been included on the most recent HMRC list have been told that this is due to technical issues.

HMRC has been contacted for comment.