MoneyThing in no rush to launch IFISA
MONEYTHING is in no rush to launch its Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA), as it is focusing on building its borrower base this year.
The peer-to-peer lender gained Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approval in March after a gruelling 18-month application process. If it wishes to offer the tax-free wrapper, it needs IFISA manager status from HMRC, which usually takes a few weeks.
But business development director Sophie Pearce told Peer-to-Peer Finance News that the platform has not applied to the taxman yet.
“We’re not going for HMRC approval immediately – we’re not in a rush to launch the IFISA,” she said.
“Our focus is on building loan origination first. As we’re a smaller platform, we wouldn’t be able to lend out all the money if we got a rush of IFISA investments now.”
The challenge of matching the influx of money from yield-hungry investors in a low-interest-rate environment with suitable borrowers is an industry-wide issue. Lending Works, which is one of the largest P2P lenders to have launched the IFISA to date, had to stop new money transfers just 24 hours after the launch due to high demand from investors.
And several platforms recently told P2PFN that they had experienced a spike in inflows in recent months. Crowd2Fund has seen 50 per cent month-on-month growth in IFISA volumes since January, with 95 per cent of its investment now going through the tax-free product.