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Post by catalist on May 18, 2017 14:17:21 GMT
I guess UKs SME lending might indeed have much more into it that p2p consumer lending.
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Post by catalist on Apr 24, 2017 17:55:48 GMT
Hi Catalist, Great question about payment options. When we chose the payment methods for our platform, it was a balance between cost, user experience and brand. Furthermore, certain solutions suit certain individuals, so it is good to offer at least 2 methods. Our platform offers a debit card facility provided by Paysafe, a direct debit facility provided by GoCardless and a traditional bank transfer facility. The cost of a transaction equals about 0.5% (half a percent) of the transaction total, which we find fair and can absorb. To date, a little over 67% of transactions have been via a debit card, I expect this to continue to grow. Unfortunately, PayPal (Braintree) is quite expensive as a source of funding, with the average cost above 1.2%. We would use Braintree if the price was closer to the 0.5% mark. I hope this helps Andrew However, Andrew, I wonder how you can get ''average cost above 1.2%'' if paypal clearly states that the minimum fee is 1.9% (Quote from PayPal: ''Your fees can be as low as 1.9%, based on your previous month's sales volume.'') Thanks!
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Post by catalist on Apr 24, 2017 16:32:25 GMT
Hi Catalist, Great question about payment options. When we chose the payment methods for our platform, it was a balance between cost, user experience and brand. Furthermore, certain solutions suit certain individuals, so it is good to offer at least 2 methods. Our platform offers a debit card facility provided by Paysafe, a direct debit facility provided by GoCardless and a traditional bank transfer facility. The cost of a transaction equals about 0.5% (half a percent) of the transaction total, which we find fair and can absorb. To date, a little over 67% of transactions have been via a debit card, I expect this to continue to grow. Unfortunately, PayPal (Braintree) is quite expensive as a source of funding, with the average cost above 1.2%. We would use Braintree if the price was closer to the 0.5% mark. I hope this helps Andrew Andrew, Thank you for the very useful answer. Catalist.
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Post by catalist on Apr 23, 2017 18:23:33 GMT
If platforms want to get nerds and/or young people engaged that should probably consider accepting cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. With services like bitpay they can still receive fait money and not have to worry about it, if they prefer. Fees are lower too and chargebacks are not possible. I suspect I'm in the minority in that opinion though. There are a few P2P platforms that accept BitCoins - see website for details. When I was working for a previous employer we did find PayPal had more than its fair share of issues, and its costs were out of step with other payment methods. Was your previous employer a p2p platform?
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Post by catalist on Apr 23, 2017 18:21:01 GMT
If you got such much capital to play with, why arent you just putting your money in some investment trust focused on p2p lending, i.e. a listed one like P2P Global Investments?
Catalist.
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Post by catalist on Apr 21, 2017 15:29:34 GMT
In essence I wonder if a p2p site that offers only bank transfers (which for the investor is not that convenient while saving some cash for the platform) can be considered serious.
I do not understand this Bank Transfers take me about 30 seconds and cost nothing. Why should a platform incur the costs of say credit card or other processing ?
I guess its about the ease of investing / impulsive investing. Sure for professional investors bank transfer, keeping all other factors constant, is not a deal killer, but for people visiting the site for the first time, providing other, more conveniet forms of payment might be better.
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Post by catalist on Apr 21, 2017 12:41:42 GMT
In essence I wonder if a p2p site that offers only bank transfers (which for the investor is not that convenient while saving some cash for the platform) can be considered serious.
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Post by catalist on Apr 21, 2017 12:36:48 GMT
No fan of enforced use of paypal that I am forced to endure daily in order to trade for now. Time bar from the companies split from ebay cannot come soon enough. Banks offer alternative methods to transfer money to known contacts including phone to phone. Not sure of limits though as we would probably be talking about significant sums in this scenario of p2p. Costs of currency conversion adds even more to the barriers to investing in European platforms. Maybe UK should convert to using the Euro?😉 UK adopting EURO, while leaving EU, wouldnt that be a sight..
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Post by catalist on Apr 21, 2017 11:55:45 GMT
I think paypal costs are substantial - as most paypal accounts are funded via credit card you are paying for credit card fees (high) plus paypal's fees. Loads of places won't take my Amex card cos of high charges and yet take paypal - suggesting paypal charge is high enough to cover Amex charges Jack P Indeed paypal costs are high, but I am just curious why so many sites (i.e. European ones Mintos, Twino) offer only bank transfer and other forms of payment are not provided. I am just wondering if introduction of other forms of payment like paypal would increase investor base.
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Post by catalist on Apr 21, 2017 6:33:59 GMT
Hi,
I have been trying to understand how p2p sites determine which forms of payment to provide for their investor.
What do you as investors consider the most conveniet form of investing? Is Paypal something that is practical also for people engaged in p2p investing?
As far as I know, Paypal charges the receiver few percent of the total amount, thus such transaction costs might prevent sites from introducing this form of payment. What do you think - is it worth including Paypal as a form of payment even though transaction costs are relatively high?
Thank you,
Catalist
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Post by catalist on Apr 19, 2017 17:45:39 GMT
You say you try avoiding SME lending. Can you please elaborate on this?
To me, of course subject to platform scoring systems, segment etc., SME lending, especially secured one, seems the safest p2p asset class by far.
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Post by catalist on Apr 18, 2017 10:08:52 GMT
you can check out other European p2p sites like Bondora, Lendix, FellowFinance etc. However, be careful with diversification here. Its not in how many platforms you put your money that matters, its more important to diversify between asset classes. If you put all your eggs in the basket of poor quality consumer lending based p2p platforms, during region wide financial distress, you will be in trouble. I would advise looking at more sites but at the same time screening for various asset clases (consumer, businesses, invoice, property etc.). Catalist Agree. In general I am avoiding consumer lending with the exception of Mintos and Twino which offer buyback and payment guarantees respectively. I am also using Bond Mason which has auto diversity and the business account on Assetz Capital for the same reason Be also careful with the so called ''buyback guarantees''. Sure, if you have out of 100 some few defaults, the platform has no problem repaying you what you lost. And it is crucial to understand that it really costs the platform almost nothing, compared to what they earn. And also for you as an investor, it is much less relevant than what is sounds. If you are well diversified, you should not care if 5 out of 100 borrowers in your portfolio default, because you still get decent return. What is relevant however is how those buyback guarantees would work during different economic cycles. And the answer is that they wouldnt. During recession, for such consumer / payday loan platform, there would be up to 70% default rate and no buyback guarantee would ever be possible for you as an investor.
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Post by catalist on Apr 18, 2017 10:01:50 GMT
Iain,
Thanks for the review. Surprisingly, I even found something I had not read in FC website and official press.
Sure this is a quite different subject, but would be interesting if you would make some analysis of FC from its business models perspective. I.e. when do you think they will start making money?
Thanks.
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Post by catalist on Apr 18, 2017 9:51:31 GMT
This is where blockchain could come into play... I'm intrigued. How would blockchain protect people's personal information? The only way I can see for companies to be immune from data breaches is not to hold any data about their customers. The FCA might be a little uneasy about that. Not sure if your questionis rhetorical, but in any case, blockchain would ensure that there is not a centralized system which you can break and modify/delete or do what the f*** you want with the data. Sure, accessing classified information is also possible within blockchain framework, however, changing information is impossible. Okay, its not possible, but still you can recover the last, correct information very effectively.
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Post by catalist on Apr 17, 2017 8:40:26 GMT
Now Wonga is one of the latest "victims" of a data breach. These companies that allow data breaches should cease trading. This is where blockchain could come into play...
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