Funding Circle to launch IFISA next week
FUNDING Circle is to roll out its Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) to some of its existing investors from next week.
The tax wrapper will go live on Thursday 30 November, with priority given to active investors who have lent money since 1 May 2017, followed by those who have previously transferred funds.
Accounts will then be made available for investors who have signed up but not yet transferred funds, followed by new investors who open accounts after 23 November 2017.
Read more: IFISAs: The golden ticket
Current Funding Circle accounts will be renamed Classic Accounts, operating alongside the IFISA product.
The ISA account is a flexi-ISA, meaning you can withdraw any available funds without affecting your annual £20,000 ISA subscription limit, providing you transfer them back in by the end of the tax year
As with other IFISAs, investors will not be able to transfer existing P2P loans.
There will be a minimum investment of £1,000.
Read more: HMRC’s IFISA numbers come under scrutiny
“We’re excited to be launching our IFISA, offering investors attractive stable returns that are tax-free,” James Meekings (pictured centre), co-founder of Funding Circle, said.
“To date investors have earned £156m of net interest, more than six per cent per year since 2010. This is fuelling economic growth, helping businesses in all sectors across the country to grow and thrive.”
Staggered starts seems to be an emerging theme to launching an IFISA, with many learning from the experience of Lending Works after the platform had to temporarily close its offering earlier this year after reaching a £1m limit within 24 hours of the product launching.
Funding Circle’s approach echoes that of other platforms such as Zopa which is currently only offering its IFISA to existing investors.
Read more: Budget, personal allowance ‘hampered’ IFISAs