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Alternative Finance Sector Heads For Growth
This year in alternative finance is set to see the sustained dash for growth we've long predicted here in our News pages. One way platform lending operations like Money&Co. might do this is to seek a banking licence (but the process is long and demanding). Another way is to collaborate (thought this can be fraught with pitfalls).
Our friends at AltFi report:Starling Bank has played a deft hand in the race for scale among the leading digital 'neobanks'. It has always had fewer account holders, when compared to Monzo and Revolut but it has steadily built up its deposit base faster than both.The firm is now using some of those juicy deposits to fund consumer loans originated by peer-to-peer lending pioneer Zopa, itself in the last throws of launching its own deposit-taking bank. Starling Bank then buys the loans and transfers them to its own balance sheet with Zopa continuing to service the loans.A spokeswoman for Starling told AltFi: "Starling is in a unique position among neobanks of having a very high value, high growth and high quality deposits. We currently hold over £1.25bn on deposit and the sum is growing at double digit rates every month."Latest from our blogs
Platform Lending In Review Ahead Of IFISA Season Race To Invest
- Ahead of the "ISA season" - aka the frenzy to invest before the end of the tax year on 5th April, we offer the final instalment of our review of platform lending. Below we look at the major similarities and differences between Innovative Finance Individual Savings Accounts and (IFISAs), which allow investors to hold platform loans, and "mainstream" Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs).
IFISA - Similarities With Other ISAs
- The IFISA is an ISA like any other. The £20,000 annual allowance applies to all types of ISA: IFISAs, cash ISAs, lifetime ISAs, and stocks and shares ISAs. It's possible to have capital committed to any of these categories
- Transfers work in the same way. Transfers into and out of IFISAs work in just the same way as transfers from, say, a Cash ISA to a stocks and shares ISA. An individual can transfer cash from a Cash ISA, for example, into as many IFISAs as desired. But to open a new IFISA, the rules require just the individual to use just one in a given tax year. After that, flexible transfers are possible.
- The annual ISA allowance is precious. To keep the annual £20,000 allowance in tact, it's imperative to use the transfer mechanism. If an individual sells up a Cash or stocks and shares ISA to buy an IFISA, the allowance will be lost. Most lending platforms have readily available transfer facilities (typically downloadable forms for those who prefer paper transactions).
IFISA - Key Differences
- The big difference between Cash ISAs (especially) and IFISAs is that IFISAs are not cashREAD MORE
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