FundingSecure unveils IFISA

FUNDINGSECURE has become the latest peer-to-peer lending platform to launch an Innovative Finance ISA, unveiling its own tax-free wrapper on Tuesday afternoon.

The P2P pawnbroking platform will offer returns of up to 16 per cent over a minimum £25 investment into consumer and property development loans.

The firm, which is currently yielding an average interest of 12-13 per cent by lending against a wide variety of assets such as jewellery, property, classic cars and fine art, confirmed at the end of March it had gained full authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority and applied for IFISA manager status from HMRC.

Read more: IFISAs: Full steam ahead!

It recently added to its team to cater for a growing investor and borrower base, having attracted 2,000 investors and issued loans in excess of £60m since its launch in 2012.

It does not require its borrowers to pass any credit checks as the loans are secured against assets, the company said on its website.

Read more: Crowd2Fund has record first quarter thanks to IFISA surge

The pace of IFISA launches has slowed down, after a flurry of authorised platforms rushed to take advantage of the end of the last tax year. IFISA uptake among investors has been strong so far – for example, Lending Works recently revealed that it has attracted £9m in the three months since it launched the wrapper.