There’s an opportunity for platforms to tap into ‘lockdown savers’
Peer-to-peer lending bosses have suggested there is an opportunity to tap into a £75.5bn ‘lockdown savings’ market.
Joint research by multi-asset investment platform eToro and the Centre for Economics and Business Research showed those fortunate enough to have more discretionary income during lockdown are on course to save an average of £1,434 each in the three months to June.
The restrictions on movement have meant that, despite many workers being furloughed and the financial hardships from Covid-19, a significant number of people have been able to make regular savings on travel costs and other daily expenses.
Read more: Government urged to take action on lockdown late payments
This adds up to £75.5bn of ‘lockdown savings’ in the second quarter of 2020 – more than double the previous quarterly record of £37.2bn which was set in the first quarter of 2010.
The Bank of England’s Money and Credit statistics data showed that savings increased by a record £25.6bn in May, even more than the £14.3bn rise in March and £16.7bn in April.
This compares to a pre-pandemic average of around £5bn a month.
Read more: Ablrate chief: P2P lenders would deliver emergency schemes better than banks
“There’s an opportunity for P2P if people believe the natural thing would be to invest,” said David Bradley-Ward, chief executive of Ablrate.
“But it’s still too early to see if there will be a big impact, we’re still unsure of where we are in the cycle. A lot will be returning to cash until we understand where the market is.”
Daniel Rajkumar, managing director of Rebuildingsociety, said that it’s great that so many people have been resourceful during this time and he would encourage them to invest and save while the economy recovers.
The average rates for easy-access savings fell to 0.29 per cent in May, down from 0.41 per cent in April, the lowest since the Bank of England’s records began in 2016. Rajkumar pointed out that with savings accounts offering little in returns, P2P presents a good opportunity for investors.
“Not much is to be gained from savings accounts and the stock market is still up and down,” he said.
“P2P lending is a good way to earn gradual compounded returns above average, above the Bank of England’s 0.1 per cent base rate notwithstanding the risks, so I’d encourage them to look at alternative investment products.”
Read more: Lockdown should have been lifted earlier, Money&Co chief claims
However, Nicola Horlick, chief executive of Money&Co, said it might not be a good idea to market to these lockdown savers because it’s difficult to find sufficient, good, safe loans for retail investors in the current climate.
“It’s not easy to find good loans that are safe so it’s not a good idea to launch a big marketing strategy at the moment for retail investors,” she said.
“It depends on market conditions. If we’re in the worst economic downturn in modern history it’s too early to tell what would happen and if there would be another lockdown.”