LendingCrowd starts CBILS lending, pauses retail investment

Peer-to-peer lending platform LendingCrowd has begun offering the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS), two months after being authorised to join the government-backed loan scheme.

In a statement to investors, the platform explained that funding for CBILS loans is restricted  to institutional lenders, adding that “we expect that all of our new lending will be made through this scheme for the forseeable future.”

However, the platform noted that its secondary market remains active, and lenders who have self-select accounts can still choose the loan parts they want to buy and sell. Growth or income account-holders can use the auto-invest feature to purchase loan parts automatically.

In a blog post on its website, LendingCrowd said that retail investors can now withdraw any funds from their account, with withdrawals processed within days.

The platform added that Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) funds can be transferred to a new ISA provider by asking the new ISA provider for a transfer authority form.

LendingCrowd received authorisation by the British Business Bank to offer CBILS on 1 July. It became the fourth P2P lending platform to win authorisation, joining Funding Circle, Assetz Capital and Folk2Folk.

Of these four CBILS lenders, only Folk2Folk and Assetz Capital have committed to retaining their retail investors.

Read more: Government unveils changes to emergency loan schemes