What stricter rules mean for P2P cashback deals
Who doesn’t like free money? Cashback is a great way to incentivise investors to choose a new bank account, investment opportunity or peer-to-peer lending platform.
Essentially, cashback means that investors are given a one-time cash bonus for choosing to invest in a particular product. This may be offered as a one-time fixed payment, or as a percentage of the total invested amount. Cashback deals could also be offered in return for successful referrals, or to celebrate certain company milestones.
However, strict new marketing rules were recently introduced for higher-risk investment products such as P2P lending, which have made it harder for platforms to offer cashback deals in the same way that they once did. Blend Network, Brickowner, Kuflink, Qaardus and Rebuildingsociety have all offered cashback deals in the past, but these have petered out as the new marketing rules were phased in.
But platforms have identified a few other ways to reward loyal customers.
Assetz Exchange offers access to a ‘premium investor community’ for all investors who invest £50,000 or more with the platform. One of the benefits of this community is access to cashback deals which are made available upon the completion of a new property purchase.
Meanwhile, Crowd2Fund offers its existing investors access to a ‘refer and earn’ scheme, which allows them to earn two per cent cashback on investments made by anyone who they have referred to the platform. The cashback kicks in after 12 months.
Property-backed P2P lender EasyMoney does not currently offer cashback to investors but it does offer something similar. All users who invest £1,000 or more with the platform for six months get free access to ‘EasyMoney plus’ – a loyalty scheme which offers savings of up to £1,000 per year with “exclusive benefits and cash back”. The card can be used to secure discounts at more than 1,000 UK-based retailers.
And on the broker side, SoMo frequently offers cashback deals during competitive periods. Last year, a Black Friday cashback deal helped to make November SoMo’s busiest month ever, and led to a 400 per cent increase in deals of an average day for the company. This suggests that the platform will be offering more cashback deals in due course.
In mainland Europe, P2P regulation is still in its infancy and there are no marketing restrictions currently in place. As a result, cashback deals are much easier to find!
Dublin-based P2P lending platform Lendermarket works with a number of loan originators which occasionally offer cashback deals. In February 2023, Lendermarket was advertising two per cent cashback on all new investments into Creditstar’s long-term loans.
And towards the end of last year, Mintos originator GoCredit launched a 1.5 per cent cashback offer for Mintos investors to celebrate receiving a BBB investment grade from Latin American rating agency PCR Verum. While this cashback deal has now ended, Mintos frequently runs similar offers throughout the year.
Robo.cash and October have also been known to offer cashback promotions in the past, for both existing and incoming customers.
It is always worth checking in with your favourite P2P lending platforms on a regular basis to ensure that you don’t miss a new offer.