Zopa Do Shorter Term Loans
Zopa’s minimum loan term has generally been three years, since I have used their web site to save and invest money.
They’ve just announced that they are now going to give shorter term loans of twelve months.
I’m not sure how this will work out for lenders, but it might attract those borrowers with good credit limits, who need tiding over. It might also attract a borrower, who has never used the system and only needs a small sum for a short time and is just trying it to see if borrowing from Zopa is for them.
I wonder if Zopa are going to allow shorter term loans to be effectively rolled on. I suppose the simplest thing to do, would be to pay off the first loan and then start another. But that would be two administration fees.
The Star That Is ARM
I am linking to this article, which has the full speech of ARM’s CEO’s statement giving the Q4 2012 Financial Results. It is a full nine pages long, so it won’t be an easy read. This statement from the first page is very telling.
So let’s start off with the highlights for Q4. Well, Q4 was a fantastic finish to 2012. We saw our continued momentum in licensing and sold 36 licenses in the last quarter. That’s another year of over 100 licenses in the full year.
As someone, who used to put his own intellectual property on someone else’s hardware designs, this number of licences is a significant number, as obviously, the more licences the company signs, the more money it will earn.
I don’t know anything about the technicalities of what ARM does, but judging by the company’s success, it must be pretty damn good. But to me, just as it was for Metier Management Systems with Artemis, when we owned the company, the managers have got the marketing and revenue model right.
In fact, I might argue, that getting that right is more important than getting the product to a hundred percent of your design aims. As obviously, if you are generating lots of money, it is easier to close that last gap in your designs.
So often, I’ve seen wonderful ideas fail, because their revenue model wasn’t designed well enough and doesn’t feed itself back strong enough into product development.
There is another thing that ARM and Metier had in common. ARM is and Metier was considered a almost a crusade or political movement by those that started the companies and those that worked there. The companies that I’ve dealt with or know of, that have had that zeal are hard to come by. My short list would include Apple, Dyson, Rolls-Royce and Zopa. Although, there are one or two architectural or construction companies, that in a few years time, might join them. And don’t underestimate other companies in all sorts of high-tech fields, using an ARM-style of cash-flow model, based on a group of individuals having a unique idea and the determination to see it through.
I can also think of several companies that had everything and then blew it! You could say we did that with Metier by selling out and a lot of other high-tech companies have done the same. And then there’s some that have just lost their way like IBM and Automony.
The Mess That Is RBS
Just reading this article from the Guardian shows the mess the wunch of bankers at RBS got themselves into. Here’s an extract.
Clear thinking and firm principles are Royal Bank of Scotland’s best defence as it tries to negotiate its Libor fine, which could end in UK taxpayers, in effect, dispatching £400m to American taxpayers. But, in the case of Hourican’s exit, it’s hard to know what point RBS is trying to make. On the one hand Hourican’s head (we are led to believe) will be offered up in acknowledgement of the seriousness of the Libor penalty. On the other hand RBS is likely to undermine the force of this resignation by saying that Hourican would have departed anyway because his investment banking unit is to be split in two with the new heads of each section – markets and international – reporting directly to the chief executive, Stephen Hester. Since there’s no suggestion that Hourican knew about attempted Libor manipulation in the ranks, he will keep the bonuses he earned in past years.
The Guardian says it’s a muddle and if everybody in these Isles have to give a few quid to American taxpayers, how about we all sue Prudence, who to protect his Scottish majority, didn’t do the humane thing with RBS and liquidate it. I feel slightly sorry for Mr. Hourican, as I suspect, he’ll suffer badly at the hands of the tabloids, although it would appear he’s done nothing wrong.
My Dual Fuel Bill
I seem to pay £154 a month for this.
I wouldn’t know if that is high or low, except that it’s certainly a lot less than I used to pay in the two previous houses.
An Overview Of Peer-To-Peer Lending
I just found this excellent article about peer-to-peer lending in the Northern Echo.
Is It The Time To Put RBS Down?
RBS looks like it will be facing large fines from both the UK and US authorities according to this report on the BBC web site. The report starts with this paragraph.
Any fines by US authorities on Royal Bank of Scotland over the Libor scandal should be met by bankers not taxpayers, Chancellor George Osborne has insisted.
But even if it finds this the money to pay the fine from bankers bonuses, the saga of this worthless company just goes on. They still don’t seem to have managed to get rid of the 316 branches, that they tried to offload to Santander.
If the bank were to be put into administration, customers would do the thing, that they should be doing now and that is move their accounts to another bank.
I do wonder how many people still bank with RBS or its subsidiaries?
At the moment the bank is just a zombie, whose only use for most of us is to get cash out of their cash machines.
Would anybody except the employees miss it, if it was put down? I doubt it. But I suspect most of the good employees have already left the bank.
Only The Names Have Changed
I took this picture at Southgate station.
Only The Names Have Changed
The banks, when I passed through in the 1950s, were I think, Westminster on the left and Midland on the right. I also think there was a National Provincial there as well.
Note the period finger post in the middle of the road.
The Spanish Fall In Love With Britain
The Times has an article, where it describes how the Spanish are falling in love with Britain, its culture and the English lanuguage. This is the introduction to the article.
A passion for cupcakes, Jamie Oliver and all things red, white and blue is sweeping Spain — Britannia, it seems, is suddenly very cool.
From Madrid to Barcelona, Málaga to Bilbao, the Union Jack is visible everywhere as Spaniards seek to soak up the spirit of the London Olympics.
They are buying T-shirts, cushions, plates, towels, pencil cases — anything that bears the British flag. They are also flocking to learn the language in increasing numbers.
So amongst all the gloom of the economy yesterday, perhaps we are doing something right!
The Times puts it all down to the Olympics.
I must say though, that you come across a large number of Spanish people in London these days. but then we have the jobs and because of Spain’s unemployment, they have the people to fill them.
How Do You Choose An On-Line Bank Account?
If I want to choose a piece of software to say edit images, it is a fairly easy process.
I can usually try the software before I buy it and all of the charges are there in words of a couple of syllables.
If say, I want to use some form of system, to store those pictures on-line, it’s something very similar. Usually, I would try it for a few days, and if I didn’t like it, I could go and try another.
But what would Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC et al, say if I said, I’d like to try their on-line banking for a few days, to see if I liked their interface? I doubt they would be amused. Or even take me seriously!
I did try to get a pointer by typing “which on-line bank account has the best interface” into Google and all I got was adverts for on-line banking. But no serious study!
Someone should do one. I would, but I’m certain that the banks would wonder why I wanted accounts with all of them.
In other ways, the customer, who should be king, loses out all round.
A Very Colourful Business
I would have thought that making pom poms was a business, where nimble Asian fingers were needed in a sweat shop somewhere East of the Gulf.
So I was surprised to see on the local BBC News that a lady has started a business called Paperpoms UK to make them in South London.
And it looks like she’s being successful!
So don’t ever knock a business idea because it seems a bit odd or very niche market!
Certainly, the free publicity tonight from the BBC, won’t hinder their success.
The Anonymous Widower 