NZ’s 4th P2P lender to target SMEs

New Zealand’s peer-to-peer (P2P) lending scene is set to get busier, following the news that Lending Crowd received its license from the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) on Friday.

Monday, October 12th 2015, 11:55AM

by Miriam Bell

Lending Crowd is now the fourth P2P lender to receive a license after Harmoney, LendMe and Squirrel Money.

The service, which is set to launch before the end of the year, will offer loans from $2,000 up to $200,000 secured by a registered vehicle, a second security of residential or commercial property, or both.

Lending Crowd managing director Wayne Croad said they offer several points of difference to their competitors.

“We will be targeting small and medium sized business enterprises (SMEs), so it’s a different niche and borrowing sector altogether.”

Vehicle financing and personal loans – although not personal mortgages - will also be available, but Croad expects at least 60% of the lending will go to SMEs.

He said many SMEs want to raise money to purchase assets, obtain working capital, or fund business expansion, but find the existing system overly bureaucratic and difficult.

“Lending Crowd is all designed around easing the process and driving down the cost of borrowing money.”

Investors will also have access to an investment class normally dominated by the big banks, Croad continued.

But they can rest assured that all borrowers will have skin in the game, or security of an asset, as that is baked into all loans at inception.

“We have heritage behind us as Lending Crowd is built on Finance Direct*, which has 16 years in the market. So, from a risk mitigation point of view, we think that our experience and reputation will be a competitive advantage.”

In New Zealand’s P2P market, to date, only Harmoney – which is preparing to enter the Australian market – is active.

However, Squirrel Money managing director John Bolton said they hope to launch their service by the end of the month.

While the P2P market is becoming more competitive, Croad said there was room for movement, particularly as traditional financing systems were ripe for disruption.

“We think there is a definite advantage to being the fourth P2P lender on the market. The New Zealand public has had time to get their head around P2P lending, so they understand it and what they want from it.”

Once fully established, Lending Crowd will look at launching in Australia, Croad added.

*Finance Direct is an independent financing company. Croad is managing director and majority owner of Finance Direct.

Tags: finance companies FMA investment Peer to Peer Lending