Who are the new big three?
The peer-to-peer lending sector has a new big three after Funding Circle exited the market last month.
The business lender was one of the three largest P2P platforms in the UK, alongside Zopa and RateSetter.
All three firms have now moved away P2P lending over the past two years for different strategies, leaving a vacancy for a new big three.
The largest UK P2P platform is now Assetz Capital, which has lent £1.4bn to date.
Stuart Law, chief executive of Assetz Capital said that while it is sad to see other platforms leave the market, the lender is confident that it can grow and will fill the gaps left for investors and borrowers.
“We have continued to attract new investors and deliver strong returns throughout the pandemic, demonstrating the strength and reliability of our approach and we believe will remain an important part of the retail investor toolkit,” he said.
Rural business lender Folk2Folk is now the second largest lender, with cumulative lending of £517.8m.
Roy Warren, managing director of Folk2Folk, said the market is consolidating so it is important for platforms to keep growing so they attract investors.
CrowdProperty also joins the new big three, having lent out nearly £200m.
Mike Bristow, chief executive of the residential property development lender said building large loanbooks is fine as long as the platform can support the operational requirements and provide the necessary expertise.
Analysis of the sector by P2P trade body the 36H Group showed that the next largest lenders are Invest & Fund with £161m lent to date, ArchOver with £147m and Proplend with £145m.
