oik
Member of DD Central
Posts: 254
Likes: 349
|
RateSetter (RS)
Rolling...
Apr 14, 2016 11:40:17 GMT
Post by oik on Apr 14, 2016 11:40:17 GMT
"How it works: Your money is lent for one month. Does that mean your money is lent for one month? That would be something of a novelty if so. It doesn't happen that often at the moment.
|
|
oik
Member of DD Central
Posts: 254
Likes: 349
|
Post by oik on Apr 14, 2016 11:33:43 GMT
Is it just me who is finding the rates a little low compared to risk. Santander are giving me 3%, instant access and no risk. TSB give me 5%, instant access and no risk. Tesco give me 3% with the same. Given the risk we take on P2P would have thought the rates would reflect better given the time you have to tie your money up. Not seeing what the attraction is at the moment or am I missing something? Some of the banks have reduced the number of accounts an individual can hold, but someone who opened their accounts before that will be able to hold around £75k in such accounts. That's £150k for a couple. They could have another serious lump in regular saver accounts at similar rate. All with full FSCA protection and at better rates than easily obtainable in the most popular Ratesetter product. That's a fair amount of dosh to hold in cash for the long term rather than investing it. I've got a large-ish sum with Ratesetter that was pulled out of investments about a year ago and will be put back in as opportunities present. I don't see Ratesetter as a worthwhile option other than for the short-term especially given the idiosyncratic way the company is run and the hassle involved.
|
|
oik
Member of DD Central
Posts: 254
Likes: 349
|
RateSetter (RS)
Rolling...
Apr 14, 2016 10:52:33 GMT
Post by oik on Apr 14, 2016 10:52:33 GMT
Did I blink and miss the announcement? I've just noticed that 'Monthly' has become 'Rolling'. If so, I blinked at the same time as you. Just looked after reading this and without my knowledge or consent my Reinvestment setting has been changed from "Monthly" to "Rolling". If my money is lent out on any terms other than as I agreed then I'll be wanting it back pronto or a formal complaint will follow. It's not the way to run a business and gives me little confidence in their judgement or systems.
|
|
oik
Member of DD Central
Posts: 254
Likes: 349
|
Post by oik on Apr 7, 2016 16:09:47 GMT
But to do that would prevent anyone from ever being able to sellout. Obviously helps their marketing to offer that even if it remains somewhat obscure what the charges/costs are. Would have thought it was down to Ratesetter to find the mechanism to do that without misleading lenders who offer money for a specific period only find afterwards that the reality is completely different. I'd welcome the FCA considering whether there should be far greater transparency before they they offer full authorisation to the company.
|
|
oik
Member of DD Central
Posts: 254
Likes: 349
|
Post by oik on Apr 4, 2016 15:47:59 GMT
I lose between 1 and 4 days interest on transfers from RS, 4 days occur if funds are transferred on Friday and do not hit my account until after 5pm. Despite saying in their FAQs www.ratesetter.com/lend/faq: "Once the money is in your Holding Account, it can be withdrawn to your bank using the methods below. Withdrawal Method Credited to Bank Account Fees Faster Payments Next Day by 4pm Free"I've yet to see a repayment arrive by 4pm, i.e. before the end of the banking day: normally seems timed to be just after and sometimes after 6pm. I assume there's a reference in their terms somewhere about their unique definition of "a month" but I'm surprised if the FCA were aware of some of Ratesetter's dodgier wheezes and still content for them get away with them. How's their application to get beyond FCA Interim registration going I wonder? Not sure how widespread this new version of Spanish practices is in the P2P industry but needs looking at if use of P2P becomes considered as mainstream by retail savers/investors. IF RS know these loans are for a short period, say less than a week I do not believe these should be placed this way on the one month market, the investor should have the option to refuse these loans. Fully agree as it's clearly not the contract the lender should expect. I am coming to the opinion that if I spent the time following RS rates and trying to get a match on my equity portfolio it would be give me better returns. Agree again. It an option for holding cash short-term - provided full use of better paying high-interest current accounts has already been made. Longer term it rarely makes much sense to hold so much cash.
|
|
oik
Member of DD Central
Posts: 254
Likes: 349
|
Post by oik on Mar 31, 2016 9:42:49 GMT
Every day this week I've had a few thousand needing to be reinvested for what Ratesetter calls a "1 Month Term".
That's not because I intended it that way but due to the erratic way Ratesetter lends out money that's intended to be lent for a month. Yesterday they continued the pattern so that a few thousand I agreed to lend for one month was actually lent for 5 different periods ranging from 5 days to 5 weeks. So some money lent out on Wednesday will be back out again by Monday and other money also supposedly lent for a month won't be repaid for 5 weeks.
In a legal context a month normally refers to a calendar month but elsewhere it can be used to mean a lunar month or 4 weeks. In Ratesetterland it means whatever they want it to mean and there's no way of knowing prior to lending. With money bouncing up almost every day it makes keeping track nigh impossible without making it a full time hobby. Is there a method in their madness?
|
|
oik
Member of DD Central
Posts: 254
Likes: 349
|
Post by oik on Mar 11, 2016 20:22:09 GMT
Security is taken extremely seriously, and any indication otherwise would be wrong and based on ignorance of the processes behind the scenes.... Obviously I'm not going to list all the things RateSetter does to protect your cash and customer data. Clearly we don't know what goes on behind the scenes so can only judge on what we see, rather than what you hint at. And what I can see isn't very impressive. Why use such a mickey mouse login system when a those used by banks and others by default are so much more secure? It's all very well saying what customers could do if they search for it but shouldn't Ratesetter be ensuring that customers fully understand what they should be doing to make their login secure and making that as easy for them as possible. A first step would to get rid of the daffy email login known to all and sundry and having a customer chosen username instead, and ensuring that less net savvy customers use strong passwords - preferably ones that are required to be entered as random characters. In other words, do as banks, stockbrokers and others with longer experience than Ratesetter do.
|
|
oik
Member of DD Central
Posts: 254
Likes: 349
|
Post by oik on Mar 11, 2016 19:49:41 GMT
Using an email address to login that's likely to be known by countless people is plain potty and not a level of security that would impress even on a simple bulletin board. Which is why banks have more secure systems. Email addresses are likely to be given out to countless people, including to bulletin boards like this one, which could be hosted anywhere and there's no way of knowing who might have access to the server and database.
Lax security can lead to mischief at the very least. In another thread people are reporting being inexplicably locked out at the login - including me. I can't be completely certain I entered my password correctly the first time but was surprised to be locked out immediately without a second chance. Do Ratesetter really lock out after a single incorrect entry because if they don't that may suggest failed attempts had already been made by someone else. It could have been done completely accidentally by someone with a similar addy or possibly for a more malign reason.
While it's clear the login security at Ratesetter falls well below normal standards, there's no way of knowing if security systems in areas we can't see are equally poor. Ratesetter needs to look at the way banks, stockbrokers, and others who handle client's money do these things.
|
|
oik
Member of DD Central
Posts: 254
Likes: 349
|
Post by oik on Mar 11, 2016 12:00:17 GMT
Same happened to me.
Security on Ratesetter seems incredibly lax considering the large sums some might have in Ratesetter accounts. I posted a thread "How good is Ratesetter account security?" before I read this. It's not even up to the standards of a decently secure bulletin board. A login using an email address that may have been used for every account used, including this board, is bonkers.
What concerns me is that they don't seem to have anyone who is aware of the security issues and there could be problems in other areas too. That being the case they need to get an outside consultant in sharpish.
|
|
oik
Member of DD Central
Posts: 254
Likes: 349
|
Post by oik on Mar 11, 2016 11:10:43 GMT
How comfortable are others with Ratesetter's apparently very basic account login security compared with that used by banks and building societies? The Ratesetter login requires just your usual email address and a single password in a single text field - ideal for key-loggers. I also notice that should you leave the page and forget to log out, you (or anyone with access to your pc or tablet) can go back into the account without re-entering the password just by using the back button.
If you forget your password a new one will be sent with just the answer to your "secret question". The question isn't one set by the account holder but chosen from a very short list: such as what was the make and model of your first car. It's probably surprisingly easy in many cases to guess the first car of someone if you know their age.
This all seems very insecure compared with even the simplest multi-field systems used by the banks I use, less secure than many web forums and the like. Yet many people may have pretty hefty sums in their Ratesetter account and well worth a bit of effort by fraudsters.
Of course gaining access to an account doesn't in itself allow money to be withdrawn to another bank account but I don't know how much more cautious Ratesetter are with a request to change a nominated account. Nor do I know whether their backoffice security is as lax or better than for account access. I hope it is but would welcome some reassurance.
|
|
oik
Member of DD Central
Posts: 254
Likes: 349
|
Post by oik on Feb 1, 2016 19:39:20 GMT
It should also be realised that if a lot more was spent on IT the costs would need to come from increased spread meaning lower rates for lenders; it is always about balancing act of cost verses reward. If Ratesetter can't both operate competently and offer a rate that's competitive with the 3-5% rates offered by many current accounts then they may need to reconsider their business model.
|
|
oik
Member of DD Central
Posts: 254
Likes: 349
|
Post by oik on Feb 1, 2016 17:37:41 GMT
I've had nothing either but I think that Kev has explained as best he can and these things happen. I'll look again tonight before I hit the hay and hopefully it will be there. I'm not expecting a large sum, but I suppose those out there waiting for >£100 or so that they want to invest will not be too pleased if it hasn't come through by tomorrow. I suspect there are peeps waiting for a bit more than that. I've got a fair bit of money sitting with them and though today there was fortunately just a few thousand due for repayment, next week there'll be near 20k and 30k the week after that. While it's been fun watching their performance, if they can't sort themselves out and show a bit more competence then finding somewhere else less fun but more competent to park cash will become more urgent. My short experience with them has been amusing but not impressive.
|
|
oik
Member of DD Central
Posts: 254
Likes: 349
|
Post by oik on Feb 1, 2016 11:08:09 GMT
mine has just been repaid, over £7,000,000 to lend £7 million offered for loan on the "monthly" market at 2.90% by 2538 lenders looks a tad unusual - all part of the wacky world of Ratesetter I assume where few things are quite as they appear.
|
|
oik
Member of DD Central
Posts: 254
Likes: 349
|
Post by oik on Jan 12, 2016 18:44:39 GMT
I don't see anyone forcing you to lend with ratesetter. They aren't. Was there any particular reason why you think that to be relevant? I invest in lots of businesses and companies without having to believe they're faultless or being inhibited in being critical when deserved. Why should the fans of Ratesetter think them beyond criticism.
|
|
oik
Member of DD Central
Posts: 254
Likes: 349
|
Post by oik on Jan 12, 2016 18:35:46 GMT
Precisely. I like RS but wish they would sort out their transparency issues. In a properly functioning market, this would not happen. It's very much a "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma" and that seems to be the way they prefer it. I don't see any ambition on their part to make it more transparent though the lack of transparency is likely to be a serious problem for them if they would like to progress beyond being a very small operation and the interest of the press and consumer groups results in more questions.
|
|