Tumblr News Give Me A Plug
I don’t read Tumblr News but they must sometimes read my blog, as this article entitled, Former OFT boss: regulation can be a bridge to new customers, has a link to this post of mine. In that post from August 29th, 2009, I said I had over £30,000 invested in Zopa and now nearly four yeas later it is just a shade under £140,000, with total interest of nearly £140,000 and bad debts of just £650.
I think I’ll accept that!
My investment in Zopa has certainly performed better than pudence’s investment in the Royal Bank of UK Taxpayers and Lloyds TSBleed.
An Unseen Advantage Of Peer-To-Peer Lenders
There are three main peer-to-peer lenders in the UK; Funding Circle, Ratesetter and Zopa and I have extensive filters and Google alerts that look for any fraudulent activity concerning these companies.
Have I just not found them, but I haven’t seen or heard of anybody trying to get access to any of their web-sites for illegal purposes. I’ve not even heard of anybody trying to hack Wonga either.
On the other hand I’ve had over thirty phishing attempts in the last few weeks to try to get into my non-existent Barclays account.
So are you at an advantage if you keep your savings with a peer-to-peer lender?
Certainly at present you are! But phishing attempts will come, even though I think they would be a very difficult scam to setup and target successfully.
Plymouth Gives Payday Lenders The Boot
Plymouth has banned the adverts for payday lenders from billboards and bus shelters, as is reported here in the Independent.
Perhaps they could use the space saved on bus shelters to provide user-friendly maps and bus information, to help visitors to the city.
Why Would You Bank At Barclays?
Over my life, I’ve banked at Barclays at some times and I’ve never really had any complaints, although at times, I’ve had a bit of aggravation.
But looking at the spam, I’m getting, I wouldn’t be banking there now, as they seem to be the target of most of the phishing attempts, I’m getting in my Inbox. In fact, I had six this morning and I think I’ve had about twenty in the last week.
One of the reasons I bank at Nationwide, is that they only send me two e-mails a month, to tell me my statements are ready. I even send those to an e-mail address, that I don’t use for anything else.
I do wonder if phishing Barclays accounts is more successful for criminals, as why would they target Barclays customers, rather than those say of First Direct, about whom I can’t ever remember receiving a phishing message.
I think I’ll keep all the bank phishing messages I get over the next week or so.
The Changes at Zopa
Zopa has changed over the last few months.
Three investors have indicated to me they don’t like what has happened, with respect to things like Safeguard and the company’s policy on using individual offers.
Two incidentally, have now moved some of their focus to Funding Circle in response to the changes.
You may get a better return on your money with Funding Circle, but to me it is site that you have to tinker with and check your investments too much. It also has some features that grate with my programming standards.
Also, I tend to use Zopa as a safe deposit account, that allows me to withdraw up to about five percent of my money each month without any cost or hassle. I actually reinvest my earnings and repayments, but these are what I would tap into, if I needed them.
I think it is true to say, that depending on your circumstances, you would prefer a particular peer-to-peer lender. Zopa and Funding Circle have probably moved to different corners of the market.
It’s your money so take your pick!
Another Reason To Go Peer-To-Peer
The Times is reporting today that the Prudential Regulation Authority is going to compel banks to raise another £120 billion in equity over the next few years. Most of this will probably be raised from a whole collection of unsavoury characters ranging from Russian oligarchs to Arab sheikhs, whose biggest things in common other than the money, are being lucky in the first place and a general disregard for human rights and the real people of this world.
In five or so years tine, I wouldn’t bet on any major bank being UK-owned.
So peer-to-peer lending is starting to look even more attractive, as those behind their money, are the general populace of the Internet. My only worry is that the Prudential Regulation Authority, tries to impose its excessive rules on peer-to-peer lenders.
What we also need now, is a company or organisation, that handles all of the payment functions of a bank.
What A Wunch Of Bankers
According to various reports, of which this article in the Mail is typical, the total cost of the PPI scandal is over £18 billion. That works out at four hundred pounds for every adult in the UK.
I got caught, in that when C died, I needed to get a new John Lewis credit card, as previously my card was a second one on her account. But Waitrose didn’t advise me to uncheck the box, if I didn’t want PPI.
I have since got all my money back, by just filling in a form and posting it to their credit card services.
Could Banks Help To Cut Fraud By Doing Simple Things?
A couple of days ago, I noticed a spurious and unknown payment in my bank account for £115.73. It was just labelled Bank Ctedit, with no indication as to who had sent it.
Checking for those that usually pay money into my account, I could not find a similar payment in the past. So I came to the conclusion, it was probably an error in the banking system. Or possibly some clever fraud! But then I’m cynical.
This morning it revealed itself as a rebate from nPower, who supply my electricity and gas. Perhaps four days ago, they read my electricity meter, so there is a possible explanation.
But supposing that the credit had been a debit, or I had not noticed it, as many people don’t check their bank statements every day, as I do.
Now if the banks put more information on the pending debits and credits, which they must have, it might help cut fraud, in that customers would be alerted to what was happening earlier.
It’s the same with cashpoint withdrawals, where the information is very minimal. How many people would spot a fraudulent withdrawal from their bank account, from the information given now. If the withdrawals were properly labelled, customers would probably spot an illegal one earlier and more easily.
Is Funding Circle Going To Sleep With The Enemy?
There are rumours around the Internet that Funding Circle is going to tie up with Santander. Read a report here in The Telegraph.
For many years ING provided funding to a host of smaller lenders in the UK. Then they changed tack and left these lenders up the creek without a boat, let alone a paddle.
The only possible tie-up that I would possibly do if I was the CEO of Funding Circle is to licence the technology for use in a non-competing market.
I certainly wouldn’t get involved in any direct tie-up in the UK, for a number of reasons. Most of these are detailed in the Telegraph.
But I was part of a small dynamic company taken over by a big US corporation and it just didn’t work. Santander and Funding Circle are so different, I’d only give them a few months before they fell out in a big way.
I hope that if they are talking, that Funding Circle see the light and withdraw.
But the rumours probably haven’t done their business a load of good.
Cash Flow Problems
In the last week, I’ve joined a few organisations like the Tate, the British Museum etc., where I pay my subscription by direct debit. Some have turned up in my bank account, but most haven’t!
I know it’s the holiday season, but surely speed is of the essence.
Is it the organisations or is it the banks? In two cases, everything was typed into the computer as I stood there, so surely that must be in the system by now!
The Anonymous Widower 