Elfin to launch industry’s first P2P credit card
Peer-to-peer lender Elfin Market is preparing to launch the industry’s first physical credit card later this year.
The Elfin Card will be linked with the platform’s existing credit facility – the Elfin Purse – allowing borrowers to make transactions and withdrawals on the go.
“We believe the launch of the Elfin Card will be a game-changer for all our customers, both borrowers and lenders,” said Lakshithe Wagalath, co-founder and chief operating officer at Elfin Market.
Read more: P2P consumer lending special report
“The Elfin Card will enable borrowers to make payments directly from their Elfin Purse and make their experience just as user-friendly as with a regular credit card, but much cheaper. Among the numerous cards released by fintech companies in the recent past, the Elfin Card will stand out as it actually provides credit to the cardholder, and not debit.
“To the best of our knowledge, it will actually be the first payment card released by a P2P lending platform in the UK.”
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Like the Elfin Purse, the Elfin Card will come with a representative APR of 5.8 per cent, although the actual rate will depend on various factors such as the borrower’s credit rating.
“We believe that the credit card market has been too expensive and unfair for too long towards borrowers,” added Wagalath.
“Recent innovations in the credit card market have essentially focused on making borrowers’ experience more user-friendly, but we believe it is the right time to also disrupt the pricing structure of this market and offer an affordable and fair alternative to traditional credit cards.”