Assetz Capital bucks trend with interest rate hike

ASSETZ Capital has defied the industry trend of falling interest rates by hiking the returns on its 30-day access account for a limited time period.

The peer-to-peer lending platform, which channels funds to small- and medium-sized enterprises and property developers, announced on Thursday afternoon that investors have until 11 May to take advantage of 4.75 per cent returns for up to 90 days after they put money into the account.

After this deadline, the 30-day access account will return to its original rate of 4.25 per cent.

The firm’s temporary offer, which it said was prompted by a surge in borrower demand, contrasts to the recent rate haircuts seen on other P2P platforms such as Landbay, RateSetter and Zopa.

“The 30-day access account has been very popular since its introduction nearly a year ago,” said the firm’s chief executive Stuart Law.

“Recently Assetz Capital has experienced particularly strong growth in borrower demand as a business and has flourished whilst many other platforms have struggled which has led to some of them dropping rates on their key accounts.”

Read more: P2P platforms ready to step up their game to attract new borrowers

The 30-day account always holds substantial cash balances to guarantee high liquidity so investors can withdraw money quickly in normal market conditions, a feature that Law expects will help the new offer attract a deluge of new investment.

“It opens up the world of P2P lending to new investors who want the chance to earn a fair return, but also have a degree of liquidity on their invested capital in normal market conditions,” said Law.

“The account is already a hugely popular and competitive choice in the P2P market and we’re expecting to see a sharp increase in lenders who take up this attractive limited time offer.”

Read more: Revealed: The top rates for P2P lenders and borrowers