About Zopa
Zopa is the UK's leading peer-to-peer lending service. We reward people who are good with their money by providing low rate loans and high interest returns.
Since Zopa was founded in 2005 we've helped people lend more than £732 million in peer-to-peer loans. We've also been voted 'Most Trusted Personal Loan Provider' in the Moneywise Customer Awards for the past 5 years in a row.
More than 49,000 people are lending between £10 and £1 million to credit worthy borrowers.
Find out more about
Zopa is a founding member of the Peer 2 Peer Finance Association (P2PFA) industry group. We sought and won Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulation for the industry. Zopa’s FCA firm registration number is 563134.
Transcript
Giles: So Zopa’s a business which sets out to reward people who are good with their money
Briony: We invented peer to peer lending in 2005
Giles: We connect people who have some spare money with people who wish to borrow it
Emily: We’re the UK’s oldest and largest lending platform
Sandy: Zopa’s values honesty, transparency and a great experience for our customers
Briony: We’ve lent over a half a billion pounds of real people’s money to sensible borrowers
Emily: We’ve got the best track record in managing risk of UK bank or peer to peer lender
Kylie: We’re actually trusted by 54,000 lenders
Mat: Zopa allows you to cut out the middleman and lend directly to sensible people
Giles: Well we’re really proud of our customer service and that’s shown by the fact that we’ve won Best Personal Loan Provider five years in a row
Caroline: Customer service is very important at Zopa, if we didn’t have our customers, we didn’t look after them then we wouldn’t have a business
Sandy: We make sure we treat our borrowers like real people and not computer decisions
Caroline: We don’t have a typical borrower or lender at Zopa, we have quite a huge range of different customers
Briony: It’s an ethical approach to money that I really believe in
Sharon: The whole process is a lot more efficient which means that we can keep our rates at a really competitive level
Sandy: I think peer to peer lending is the future because it allows lenders and borrowers to take charge of their money and make a difference through new technologies
Emily: If I had to describe Zopa in one word it would be
Mat: Honest
Kylie: Trustworthy
Briony: Ethical
Emily: Fresh
Sandy: Rewarding
Giles: Sensible
Key facts
- Launched in the UK in 2005 - we're in our 10th year!
- 65 staff in our London Office
- Zopa has lent over £732 million to UK consumers
- Over the last year we lent over £250 million
- Over £45m in interest earned by lenders since Zopa launched
- Over 57,000 lenders including 49,000 active
- Total number of borrowers - 80,000+
- Average loan size - £7,500
- Average amount lent - £6,400
- Average return to lenders is 5.0%
- Historical bad debt - 0.25% since 2010
- Top three loan reasons: Car; Paying off credit cards; Home improvements
- Safeguard fund total - over £6,964,918 and growing daily
The Zopa team
Zopa is run by a a small yet brilliant team who draw experience from a range of industries. We're backed by the firms who also invested in companies such as eBay, Betfair and Lovefilm.
Press office
Zopa is regularly featured in the news and press relating to peer-to-peer lending and finance.
Recent press coverage & news stories
Case studies
Download customer stories from a wide variety of sensible borrowers and lenders.
If you would like to interview or feature a Zopa customer as a case study, please get in touch.
Press office contact details
All enquiries from the media should be directed to: Hannah Warmington, Brands2Life, on +44 (0)207 592 1200 or by email to zopa@brands2life.com
Press releases
2014
- 18th December 2014 - Pre-tirement not retirement- A report from Zopa and Consumer Intelligence
- 18th December 2014 - Britons opt for Pre-tirement
- 1st December 2014 - Zopa signs commercial deal with Flowgroup to provide finance on its innovative boiler
- 17th November 2014 - Open data with Zopa
- 3rd November 2014 - Zopa lends a quarter of a billion pounds in 12 months
- 15th October 2014 - The cost of raising an adult
- 1st October 2014 - Zopa appoints new Chief Operating Officer…
- 28th August 2014 - Moneyball: here’s who you could have signed…
- 11th August 2014 - Zopa’s peer-to-peer lending hits billion dollar mark
- 7th July 2014 - Borrowed time: Six million Britons face trap of 17 years of credit card debt as country faces ‘debt age’ crisis
- 13th May 2014 – Credit where it’s not due – Britain’s 0% balance transfer trap
- 31st March 2014 - Peer-to-peer lending hits the mainstream as Zopa lends over half a billion pounds
- 18th February 2014 - Great Britain Is Europe’s Most Underperforming Saving Nation
- 29th January 2014 - Leading Peer-to-peer Lender, Zopa, Secures £15m Investment Round From Arrowgrass Capital Partners
2013
- 25th November 2013 - Student-style Gap Year Becomes Key Part Of Retirement Plans
- 22nd July 2013 - True cost of Britain's negative savings
- 9th July 2013 - British Grandparents Say “You Can’t Take It With You”
- 16th May 2013 - Zopa launches loans under 5% APR
- 30th April 2013 - Zopa launches 'Safeguard' for savers, as the total lent hits record £300m
- 11th April 2013 - UK savings grow as people seek alternatives to banks
2012
Archived
- 6th December 2011 - Zopa loans are a no-brainer this Christmas
- 7th September 2011 - Research reveals consumers don't know how banks make money from them
- 22nd June 2011 - Peer-to-peer lending offers a lifeline to dejected fixed rate savers
- 24th May 2011 - Savers looking to beat inflation are shunned by the banks
- 10th May 2011 - Banks continue to treat customers with contempt as credit card interest rates hit 13 year high
- 8th March 2011 - World's first P2P lender Zopa celebrates its 6th birthday with a further 80% growth in business over the last year
- 26th January 2011 - Zopa launches its first TV ad campaign with a challenge to banks
- 9th November 2010 - Zopa launches instant access feature for lenders
- 30th September 2010 - Zopa lending passes £100 million milestone
- 23rd March 2010 - Banks are hiding their low rates behind ISA benefit, claims Zopa
- 22rd March 2010 - Why won't banks let borrowers repay loans early?
- 4th March 2010 - Zopa lending doubles to more than £70 million in just 12 months
- 11th January 2010 - Person-to-person lending comes of age in UK as Zopa doubles in size in 2009 alone
- 14th January 2009 - Zopa provides both borrowers and savers a vital escape from the credit crunch
- 2nd March 2009 - Zopa celebrates its 4th birthday by passing the £35 million in loans milestone
- 17th March 2009 - Creditworthy bargain hunters frustrated by banks can get low cost loans from Zopa
- 6th May 2009 - More than £40 million has now been lent between Zopa members – an increase of 35% since January 1st
- 17th June 2009 - Banks charging unprecedented spreads between savings and loans highlights importance of the Zopa alternative
- 16th July 2009 - 'Olderpreneur' scheme launched to provide funding for new business start-ups by people 50 or older – with guarantees for lenders
- 4th August 2009 - Banks continue to treat consumers with contempt
- 5th August 2009 - Zopa passes the £50 million of loans milestone as person-to-person lending leaps in popularity
- 23td September 2009 - Silver surfers flock to Zopa to improve their standard of living in retirement
- 12th November 2009 - Borrowers beware – early repayment fees are back
- 7th December 2009 - Zopa offers one year's free lending to help prepare for record demand for loans in January
- 16th Januray 2008 - 2008 will be the year peer-to-peer personal finance goes mainstream
- 7th March 2008 - Zopa marks three years of Social Lending with launch in Japan
- 3rd April 2008 - Zopa beats PayPal, Wal-Mart, Vodafone and Prosper as the biggest threat to banks across the world
- 7th July 2008 - Zopa membership passes the 200,000 mark
- 15th July 2008 - Zopa is an ideal way to fund the wedding you want
- 30th July 2008 - Zopa launches unique 'Young Markets' service
- 1st September 2008 - Zopa UK passes £25 million mark in P2P loans
- 7th November 2008 - Where else can you get a return of 10% fixed for three years in the current climate?
- 2nd December 2008 - As UK consumers withdraw record amounts from the banks, Zopa offers a uniquely attractive alternative - paying fixed rate returns of 10%
- 5th June 2007 - Banking Industry votes Social Lending as the future of finance
- 30th July 2007 - Nervous equity investors should consider Zopa lending to secure low risk returns of 7% up to more than 10%
- 11th october 2007 - As the credit crisis pushes up the cost of personal loans, Social Lending comes into its own
- 17th September - Northern Rock debacle highlights the big benefits of Social Lending: complete transparency and dealing with people, not Banks
- 17th December 2007 - Bypassing the banks and borrowing from people is the best way to handle this year's Christmas overhang
