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Post by jevans4949 on Dec 14, 2013 14:20:02 GMT
What's the difference between a cyber criminal and an idiot?
The idiot attacks less systematically, and on a broader front.
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Post by jevans4949 on Dec 14, 2013 2:56:31 GMT
The HSBC personal device looks like a small calculator; you have to set it up with its own PIN, which you use to unlock it. It generates a random number to log in to your account, also to validate online payments for new payees.
The HSBC business device just has a single button to generate a number, but AFAIR you have to register it to your logon ID initially, so there is possibly something unique in the code.
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Post by jevans4949 on Dec 14, 2013 2:45:40 GMT
I did see a brief mention of this on one of the TV technology programmes about a week ago - so maybe it will arrive here soon.
It looks like it simulates a mag stripe card; these are going out of fashion over here. They may decide to go for simulating a contactless payment card - which is highly dangerous IMHO.
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Post by jevans4949 on Dec 13, 2013 18:23:41 GMT
I like the idea of using a separate device and service to gain access to your account using a time based cryptographic key, much like Barclays bank uses. Combined with a username and password I feel that would be adequate protection for most users and much better than the existing schemes used by all other peer to peer sites. But I'd need a lot of persuading to make that mandatory from day one without first seeing what the takeup was like and gathering feedback from users. The other problem here is that people are going to end up with a drawer-full of these gizmos. Everybody in my house has an identical HSBC one; I had to put names on the back with tape labels. I also have a separate one for an HSBC business account. It would be worse than having a wallet full of credit cards.
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Post by jevans4949 on Dec 13, 2013 18:12:35 GMT
Another idea: in the "Bid" panel, allow people to specify a loan part size, e.g, to bid £2000 in £20 loan parts. Default/maximum could still be £100, and minimum £20. This would save the fingers of large bidders who want parts less than £100. You will need to decide about what happens if the bid doesn't divide exactly, but that's not a major issue.
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Post by jevans4949 on Dec 13, 2013 17:31:25 GMT
Only snag: if you lose it, you've lost them all!
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Post by jevans4949 on Dec 12, 2013 11:37:29 GMT
Re the aftermarket: not managed to spot anything there for some time, but it occurred to me it would make things easier if identical units (same loan, same vendor, same price) could be listed under one entry, with a comment such as "30 units for sale" - like you can on ebay, etc.
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Post by jevans4949 on Dec 10, 2013 20:21:17 GMT
The people keen to invest in this loan have bid already. Bids will now trickle in slowly for a while. If the loan gets to the point of being 80+% funded, those trying to avoid idle money will be forced to act, and the loan will become fully funded. If 80% isn't reached as the end of the offering period, then bidding will slow to a crawl unless an underwriter is brought in. Having said that, though, bringing in an underwriter hasn't exactly made a lot of difference to the Redditch loan that's been stuck at about 50% funded for about a week. Either bids will flood in at the last minute or the underwriter will be left carrying a large chunk of that loan for a while before they can start unloading it. I have set myself a limit on how much I will lend to any one case. Probably other lenders do the same; the limit will vary according to the individual's total wealth and their commitment to the particular P2P platform, as well as their assessment of the risks presented. Given that Assetz has a limited, though growing, number of investors, this makes it fairly easy at present to raise around £150k without additional effort by Assetz to find large investors or underwriters. (As we've seen recently, loans smaller than this are filled pretty quickly.)The presence of the underwriter probably gives confidence to lenders, in that it removes the likelihood that the auction will fail, and shows that there is somebody who thinks it's worth the risk.
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Post by jevans4949 on Dec 10, 2013 15:13:50 GMT
chris: Interesting point about your flexibility, and undoubtedly a plus. I note that a number of loans (including this one) are such that logically they will require re-financing at the end of the term. Has Assetz considered offering loans longer than 5 years? Is there a legal barrier, or would it just be acceptability to the lenders or the borrower? I guess you might have to offer lenders free access to the aftermarket after 5 years, plus the ability to sell units at other than the nominal value, to allow for variations in interest rates? I guess Assetz would in any case offer to re-finance, presuming the borrower had behaved themselves, and their prospects looked as good as before?
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Post by jevans4949 on Dec 9, 2013 14:26:25 GMT
Put up a link, and maybe some of your punters will join you!
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Post by jevans4949 on Dec 8, 2013 17:44:55 GMT
So hopefully we can see our way to lending these people some money.
We shouldn't be too short-sighted.
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Post by jevans4949 on Dec 7, 2013 13:18:31 GMT
Given the size of the loan, and the scepticism expressed above, it is unlikely that it will fill immediately - unless Assetz have some HNWIs lined up. People can probably afford to hang fire for the answers they need until the information is available. Those who don't care or can't wait will jump in anyway.
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Post by jevans4949 on Nov 30, 2013 23:17:58 GMT
Thanks, Chris, good to know you'll be looking into it. Appreciate that the solution for Assetz needs to be different from other platforms.
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Post by jevans4949 on Nov 30, 2013 16:50:28 GMT
A key feature of P2P for the small lender is the ability to diversify their investment across as many borrowers as possible.
Being aware of the need for Assetz to fill bridging loans quickly, how about an automatic bidding system for this class of loan, i.e., the lender can specify in his profile that he will automatically invest up to £x in any bridging loan (possibly with a minimum interest rate specified), subject to funds being available in his holding account. There probably should be a maximum value for £x - say £500.
Assetz can then run this autobid process against any suitable loan before approaching HNWIs. Result: happier punters, less phone calls.
Many other P2P platforms have implemented this; Zopa now have nothing else.
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Post by jevans4949 on Nov 29, 2013 16:43:45 GMT
Thanks, Andrew, for listening to the punters. Please continue to do so, and I'm sure you will prosper.
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