LendingCrowd not reopening to retail investors for ‘foreseeable future’
LendingCrowd has said that retail investors will not be able to fund new loans on its platform for the foreseeable future.
The peer-t0-peer business lender gained coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS) accreditation in July and has focused on solely providing the government-backed finance, which cannot be funded by retail investors.
The loan scheme, which was introduced to support businesses during the pandemic, has now been extended until the end of January 2021.
“CBILS is restricted to institutional lenders – individual lenders are not allowed to fund these loans,” LendingCrowd said in a blog post.
“As we continue to support businesses the length and breadth of Britain, we expect that all our lending will be made through CBILS for the foreseeable future.
“No new loans will be available to individual lenders while this is the case.”
Loans can still be purchased and sold on LendingCrowd’s secondary market.
Read more: Alternative lenders offer reduced rates to CBILS borrowers
The platform also added that many borrowers have been using CBILS to refinance their existing P2P loans from LendingCrowd.
This has given investors a higher rate of repayment but these funds are not earning any interest once repaid.
Investors are able to withdraw the cash or can instead use the money to make purchases on the secondary market.
Accredited P2P lenders have taken different approaches to CBILS. Funding Circle has also closed to retail investors, including its secondary market, while Assetz Capital has remained open.
Read more: What CBILS deals are alternative lenders offering
