We’ve received our banking licence – what happens next?
Today we have officially received our banking licence. This is a huge milestone for Zopa as we are now the world’s first combined peer-to-peer lender & digital bank. It also brings us one step closer to being the best place for money in the UK by offering a broader selection of personal finance products.
What does the best place for money mean to us?
Since 2005 we’ve helped hundreds of thousands of customers take the stress out of money by building our business on honesty, transparency and trust. However – there is a lot of progress still to make. We know that over half of British adults don’t think their main bank has their best interests at heart. By launching a bank ourselves, we want to build on our P2P heritage to help even more customers take the stress out of money.
So, what can you expect to see from us?
Customers will get a fair deal as standard. There’ll be no catches like offers for new customers only or hidden charges. Our products are built so that we win when our customers win.
Managing your money is no sweat. We’ll soon be introducing handy tools to help customers get stuff done and our helpful people are here to talk to when you need to. Easy.
We go beyond ‘good enough’. We listen to what our customers want and will change with their needs. We are built for the future so we can evolve as quickly as possible, using the latest tech to give customers the best possible experience.
Products – the what & when
We are currently authorised with restrictions, which means that we now have to meet conditions set by the regulators, including testing our new products. We will have Zopians test these first and will extend the tests out to our existing customers soon. If you want to get involved, click here to see how.
When we can fully launch, we will offer FSCS-protected savings accounts and credit cards. These will run alongside our personal loans and P2P investment products, including our IFISA. All our products will be brought together in the Zopa app which will put customers in control of their money and make managing it easier than ever.
What does this mean for peer-to-peer?
Our peer-to-peer products aren’t going anywhere. They’re the reason that we have been able to build a profitable and scalable business since 2005. We aim to continue to grow our P2P business based on the same great P2P products, with the same award-winning customer service that customers have trusted and loved for 13 years. We’re still the same Zopa, we’ll just have a lot more to offer our customers.
The bigger picture for Zopa
13 years ago, we built the first ever peer-to-peer lending company to give people access to simpler, better-value loans and investments. Since then, we’ve lent nearly £4bn to consumers in the UK. Being able to show this success has been essential to us getting our bank licence, and this success has only been possible because of our customers. From team Zopa, we want to say a massive thank you to all our customers for making this journey possible.
Want to know more? Take a look at this video where I explain what’s happening next in more detail.
