P2P Money Blog

ThinCats, the fourth biggest peer-to-peer company by loans arranged, has joined the P2P Finance Association, a trade body setup by Zopa, Funding Circle and RateSetter.  Between these four companies, they have arranged over 97% of all peer-to-peer loans, and currently have 95% market share.

Here is the full press release from ThinCats:

ThinCats, the fourth largest peer to peer online lending platform and current UK record holder for largest commercial P2P loan, has joined trade body the Peer to Peer Finance Association (P2PFA). This is a reflection on the growing success and expansion of the sector as well as the need to prepare as a sector for the forthcoming impact of regulation. ThinCats was launched in January 2011 and has experienced rapid success, having lent over £29 million since its launch.

The peer to peer sector is growing and developing extremely quickly. The P2PFA was born out of a desire to establish high standards of conduct and customer service and provides a clear voice to policy makers from within the sector. Earlier this year the government announced that the sector would be regulated from next April and the P2PFA is taking a leading role in discussions over how this will be implemented.

ThinCats’ MD Kevin Caley said, “We fully support regulation and the benefits this brings for consumers and by working together the sector has a much better chance of achieving a regulatory structure that does not stifle the innovation that has been shown by P2P operators so far. The P2PFA has done an excellent job of representing its members in the sector and we are excited about joining them and making the Association even more representative of the diverse nature of P2P operators.”

The UK leads the world in the development of p2p lending and proportional regulation is important if the sector is to fulfil its potential to provide a serious alternative to the banks.

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