RateSetter CEO says FLS has driven record peer-to-peer growth

January 2013 saw RateSetter facilitate £6.8m of loans, a 100% increase on any previous month since the company launched in October 2010.

Indeed January 2013 was a record month for the UK peer-to-peer industry as a whole, as nearly £20m was matched between prime consumer borrowers and savers looking for a better deal.

According to Rhydian Lewis, RateSetter founder and CEO, the continuing drop in savings rates since the launch of the Funding for Lending scheme last summer has drawn savers to look for alternatives:

He said:

“We continue to see major growth, not least in January when we saw double the amount of loans facilitated compared to our best previous month. A large proportion of our new customers are saying they have chosen to lend peer-to-peer because of interest rates nose diving since the launch of the Funding for Lending scheme.”

“Funding for Lending seems to be achieving what the government wanted in terms of getting funds flowing into mortgages which is great news for borrowers but, on the other side, it has meant savings rates have plummeted as banks replace their retail funding with government funding. This reduction in savings rates has lead people to look at peer-to-peer.”

Mr Lewis added: “Peer-to-peer is cutting the cost of connecting savers and borrowers and awareness of this is rising as the industry grows.”