AS THE dust settles around the Autumn Statement, savers are starting to get a much clearer view on what the future holds. Ever since the Bank of England base rate was cut to 0.25 per cent in August, most traditional savings accounts have struggled to deliver returns of more than one per cent. With inflation […]
THE BRITISH Business Bank (BBB) has expanded its Enable Funding Programme to include peer-to-peer lenders for the first time. The scheme, which gives lenders access to capital market funding, had previously been open only to UK-based banks which lend, or intend to lend, to small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). “Opening up the Enable Funding programme […]
A FINTECH delivery panel and a fintech professional services hub are being developed as part of the government’s measures to support the sector. Tech City UK, a Shoreditch-based initiative started by former Prime Minister David Cameron in 2010 to support the East London tech cluster known as Silicon Roundabout, will be delivering the two initiatives, it […]
GROWTH forecasts for the UK are set to be slashed today due to Brexit uncertainty, putting further pressure on Chancellor Philip Hammond to provide fiscal support in the Autumn Statement. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is expected to cut its 2017 outlook from 2.2 per cent at the time of former Chancellor George Osborne’s March […]
PROPERTY-FOCUSED peer-to-peer lenders have urged Chancellor Philip Hammond to roll back his predecessor’s efforts to cool the market in today’s Autumn Statement. They argue that former Chancellor George Osborne’s increased levies on the buy-to-let (BTL) sector have slowed down the market and been passed on to tenants in the form of higher rents. “The current […]
ALMOST two thirds of the UK’s small businesses are concerned about their future post-Brexit, while the vast majority believe conditions are the same or worse since last year’s Autumn Statement. A new survey from software firm Epos Now found that uncertainty around the UK’s departure from the EU was the biggest concern for small business owners. […]
THE TREASURY has pledged to spend £500,000 a year helping to attract investment in the UK’s fintech sector. In Wednesday’s Autumn Statement, it said that the Department for International Trade will provide the funding for “fintech specialists”. A Treasury spokesperson told Peer-to-Peer Finance News that the specialists would support businesses in the sector that want […]
ONLINE property lenders heralded the £7.2bn investment in housebuilding confirmed in the Autumn Statement, but called for more support for the sector. Among the initiatives announced were a £2.3bn housing infrastructure fund to deliver up to 100,000 new homes and a £1.7bn investment to speed up housebuilding on public sector land, through partnerships with private […]
CHANCELLOR Philip Hammond has pledged a further £2bn for research and development, alongside £400m to support scale-ups, with fintech firms understood to be at the front of the queue. Introducing the Autumn Statement to Parliament on Wednesday, the chancellor said that the innovation investments would ensure that the UK keeps on “leading the world in disruptive technology” despite confirmation that […]
ALMOST half (45 per cent) of Brits believe they do not have enough money saved to reach their life goals, while a quarter (26 per cent) have no pension plan in place, a new survey has found. According to new research from Zurich UK, 18-34 year olds are most likely to miss out on dreams […]
PEER-TO-PEER platforms hope that Chancellor Philip Hammond will use his first Autumn Statement to offer public support for the UK’s fintech sector. Hammond has been bullish on fintech in the past, supporting the creation of fintech ‘bridges’ between the UK and South Korea, and the UK and Singapore. Just last week he described the UK […]
FUNDING Circle broke its own lending record last week, with £32m allocated to more than 460 businesses between the 14th and 18th of November. By the end of the week, the platform also listed a record number of loans on its marketplace, and the total value of new loans listed was at an all-time high. […]
ZOPA will not dump its retail investors in favour of “fast money” hedge funds, its head of capital markets told Peer-to-Peer Finance News. Europe’s largest peer-to-peer lender has recently dipped its toe into securitisation, but Jonathan Kramer said that having a balance is paramount. “I think all platforms are trying to find more stable sources […]
THINCATS’ founder and chairman Kevin Caley (pictured) tells Peer-to-Peer Finance News why it has never been more important for the P2P sector to remember its roots. In August 2014, George Osborne announced that the UK was “at the dawn of a new era in banking” before recognising the potential of peer-to-peer lending and other financial […]
Inflation is eating away at paltry savings and cash ISA deals, yet it is the peer-to-peer sector that is often under the spotlight for putting money at risk. Can the sector change the narrative? Behavioural scientists are constantly asking why people regularly do things that are bad for them. Despite all advice to the contrary, […]