Smart investments in real people
Peer-to-peer investing- Generate projected returns between 3.4 - 6.0%
- Best results over the mid to long-term (+3 years)
- Also available as a tax-free ISA
Your capital is at risk, fees apply when selling loans. Tax treatment depends on your circumstances and may be subject to change in the future.
Fully regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority
Not protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme
About Zopa
1stThe world’s first peer-to-peer platform
14 yearsof personal loan investment expertise
£5 billionin personal loans lent to over 470,000 UK consumers
£280 millioninterest generated for over 60,000 active investors
Numbers as of June 2019
Understand Zopa in under 90 seconds
We bring borrowers and investors together
Start off from as little as £1,000 and we’ll split your money across a unique selection of loans to reduce risk and help you earn a return within your projected range.
Feel good knowing your investment will help people across the UK with everything from unsecured loans for home improvements to secured car finance for new wheels to get to work.
We find people in the UK that want to take out a loan for a maximum amount of £25,000. Drawing on our wealth of lending experience, we assess their risk and calculate a fixed interest rate for a period of up to five years.
Then, we match them with people like you – people who want to earn a good return while helping others achieve their goals.
How investing with Zopa works
Zopa splits your investment into small chunks. These are then put into a queue to be matched with different loans.
We’ll work out how to distribute your investment so you’re set up to perform within the projected return range
You’ll receive monthly repayments, including interest but minus our borrower servicing fee.
Some loans default. We factor this in when calculating projected returns.
By letting us reinvest your repayments as they come in, you can earn interest on interest.
Who you invest in
Our borrowers come in all shapes and sizes, but we run checks on every single one. Here’s a snapshot of what they look like.
*average January 2018 – April 2019
Can demonstrate a good track record of repaying debt
Are current UK residents
Have at least three years of UK address history
Average age of 40 years old*
Average income of £40,000*
How we manage the risks
Your investment will be spread across many different loans. This reduces your risk as no one person is lent more than 1% of your initial investment.
We know that sometimes repayments may be missed. That's why we factor this into your projected returns and have an experienced Collections team who help to get things back on track. The vast majority of our borrowers who miss a payment will go on to fully repay their loan.
If four months of repayments are missed on an unsecured personal loan, we default it and you’ll lose the value of that loan from your investment. But even after a default, we continue to try and make recoveries on your behalf. Secured car finance loans default after three months of missed repayments. As the loan is secured, we can repossess the vehicle and then sell it in order to recover as much of your investment as possible.
Finally, our business is robust, but we also make sure your loans are taken care of if Zopa were to go out of business. Find out more on our contingency plan page.
Borrower risk profiles
Our borrowers have to meet high standards. We only approve about 20% of people who apply for a loan with us.†
Everyone that we do approve is categorised based on their risk and given an interest rate personalised to them.
Profiles range from A* to E. Our A* borrowers are the most reliable. Profiles beyond E are considered too risky. This process is informed by 14 years of lending data and the latest credit info from three major UK credit bureaus. Lean more on our dedicated who we lend to page.
† Based on applications via ClearScore May 2018 – March 2019, representative of Zopa's borrower approval rates.
Investment tailored to your appetite
We offer two options for investors to pick from, Zopa Core and Zopa Plus:
- Both contain A*, A, B and C borrowers
- Zopa Plus adds higher risk D and E loans into the mix
- Both Zopa Core and Zopa Plus are available as ISAs so you can enjoy your peer-to-peer returns tax free.
Your capital is at risk, fees apply when selling loans. Tax treatment depends on your circumstances and may be subject to change in the future.
Zopa Core
Zopa Plus
Projected return range
3.4 – 5.0%We expect 95% of customers to achieve a return of at least 3.4% (after fees and losses) in normal economic conditions.Projected return range
4.0 - 6.0%We expect 95% of customers to achieve a return of at least 4% (after fees and losses) in normal economic conditions.Borrower blend
A*, A, B & C
Borrower blend
A*, A, B, C, D & E
Typically, D & E loans are limited to 20% of your personal mixMinimum initial investment
£1,000Minimum initial investment
£1,000Access to funds
No fixed term
Best results over the mid to long-term, but you can choose to withdraw your repayments as they come in, or access your money early by selling loans you have invested in. This process depends on demand from other investors to buy your loans so can take several days and your loans may be revalued. A 1% sale fee applies.Zopa Core
Zopa Plus
‘Jen’ has achieved annual returns of
3.9%The expected return was
4.1%‘Dan’ has achieved annual returns of
4.6%The expected return was
4.9%Annual return achieved by 90% of Zopa Core investors
over 2.7%
Annual return achieved by 90% of Zopa Plus investors
over 3.4%
So far, fewer than 1% of our investors have made a loss. Of these investors, the average loss amounts to less than 1% of the money they invested.
Have a look at our middle performing investors
These are our ‘median’ investors, as of April 1st 2019. They’re right in the middle – about 50% of investors have performed better and 50% worse.
How our investments have performed
At Zopa, we aim for our peer-to-peer investments to be nestled in the middle between low-risk, low-yielding savings accounts and volatile, high-return stocks & shares investment.
Our track record of stable, inflation-beating annual returns
Source: Inflation - Office for National Statistics | Savings accounts (IUMB6VJ) – Bank of England | FTSE All-Share – FTSE Russell
Zopa returns are the net annualised return of loans by the year they started.
As an FCA-regulated company with a commitment to transparency, we regularly disclose the historical performance of our investments.
But remember, you can’t predict the future
Our past performance can’t be relied on as an indicator for future results.
You can read about our risk information and Zopa’s public loan book, showing historical performance, is available to download.
Invest with confidence
Ready to start investing?
When you invest your money, your capital is at risk and is not protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Our risk statement has all the details. Tax treatment depends on your circumstances and may be subject to change.
Peer-to-peer investments are not like other investments, so before you continue make sure you’ve read and understood all of the information above.
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We can't take applications over the phone. UK residents only. Calls may be monitored or recorded.