P2PFA members confirm plans for loanbook data

SEVERAL platform members of the Peer-to-Peer Finance Association (P2PFA) have confirmed their intention to keep publishing full loanbook data, despite a relaxation of the rules by the industry trade body.

The P2PFA previously required its members to make their entire loanbook available for investors to download. In June, however, the P2PFA said lenders could now either publish their entire loanbook or provide a detailed breakdown of loans.

Funding Circle immediately withdrew its downloadable loanbook and stopped publishing loan performance data on a daily basis. Neil Faulkner, managing director of P2P analysis firm 4th Way, believes fellow ‘big three’ platform Zopa will follow suit because it did not answer a direct question about it from Peer2Peer Finance News.

Folk2Folk and MarketInvoice both confirmed they plan to keep publishing their loanbook data on their websites. Crowdstacker said it does not provide a downloadable loanbook because it only has a small number of loans, which investors can view individually via the Investor Dashboard.

The P2PFA has claimed that the loanbooks of the largest platforms are of such magnitude that their accessibility is of questionable value. But Karteek Patel, chief executive of Crowdstacker, said investors often use data to ask more questions and find out more information.

Read more: P2PFA accused of reducing transparency after loanbook changes

“The majority of investors can take great comfort from complete loanbook data because there will always be a slice of expert investors, as well as specialist research agencies like 4th Way, which through the internet and social media can make amateurs aware of any concerning or praiseworthy aspects of the loans,” said Faulkner.

This article featured in the September issue of Peer2Peer Finance News, now available to read online.