RateSetter to stop investment withdrawals from 26 March

RateSetter is to stop investment withdrawals from 26 March in preparation for Metro Bank’s takeover of its remaining consumer loan portfolio.

Metro Bank has been funding all new consumer lending on the RateSetter platform following its acquisition of the peer-to-peer lender in September 2020 and will complete the purchase of its legacy loanbook on 2 April.

Investors will get their capital and interest back from 2 April but to manage this process, the platform has said it will stop withdrawals of invested money from 26 March.

Auto-invest instructions from a bank account to RateSetter will be cancelled from 26 March and investment releases cannot be requested after the same date.

The usual early release fee will apply until then but there is no charge once all the money is repaid as part of Metro Bank’s portfolio purchase.

Read more: What does the latest Metro Bank deal mean for RateSetter investors

RateSetter was acquired for an initial £2.5m by Metro Bank in August 2020, with up to £9.5m to be paid out after the completion of the deal.

Originally, Metro Bank was set to fund new consumer loans and the existing portfolio would be run off, with P2P investors receiving interest and repayments until their funded loans came to an end.

However, RateSetter announced earlier this month that Metro Bank will purchase the platform’s remaining P2P loans at full value despite the ongoing economic uncertainty.

This means all investors will get their capital and any interest already earned back from 2 April.

It follows the purchase of RateSetter’s property finance development portfolio by Shawbrook Bank.