JustUs boss urges Treasury to use P2P funds for coronavirus support
JustUs founder Lee Birkett has urged the Treasury to reply to his requests to facilitate changes in regulations to allow peer-to-peer lenders to take part in residential mortgages and other lending.
Birkett wrote to the Treasury in January to ask for changes to professional indemnity rules that would allow peer-to-peer lenders such as his platform to offer residential mortgages.
He is yet to receive a reply and has now sent a new letter calling for P2P lenders to be allowed to facilitate emergency loans for small businesses.
Birkett suggests banks can’t be trusted to distribute the government funds as they may charge higher rates and are asking for extra security beyond the state guarantee.
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“We have no balance sheet shocks and we have paperless applications and immediate scalability in the cloud, banks do not,” he said.
“When will you admit that the Innovative and immediately scalable fintech platforms should be engaged to help the people at lower rates of borrowing and better rates of savings, when you are supporting the banks who are punishing both savers and borrowers.
“We can get the credit flowing banks cannot.”
Birkett separately revealed to P2PFN that he has secured EU residency for his businesses in Estonia. He said that he has incorporated new entities that will house P2P lender JustUs and global currency app Moneybrain.
This will enable Moneybrain, which has its own currency, BiPS, to accept euros after the Brexit transition period ends in December, he said.