P2P lender Zopa has raised £44m in its largest funding round and will use it to launch a broader range of financial products.
Through this capital injection, the company will look to fund the ‘next generation bank it has been building.’ The UK-based company is hoping to launch new services which will help consumers ‘feel good about their money’, and will have no catches on rates or charges, are easy to understand and cater to changing demands in the market.
Founded in 2005, Zopa offers consumers loans and investment opportunities. Borrowers can access a digital loan of up to £25,000, on a repayment term of as long as five years and an APR ranging between 3.1 per cent and 34.9 percent.
Investors on the app help to fund the loans, with a lender able to choose two investment methods differentiated by the level of risk involved. A user simply creates an account, picks a risk level and the funds will then automatically be invested to matched borrowers. The monthly repayments received can either be withdrawn or a user can attempt to sell the outstanding loan to other investors on Zopa.
This new funding comes after Zopa has seen strong growth, with the company reaching full year probability in 2017, the first time it has since 2012. Since the company was founded, it has lend £3.5bn to UK consumers, helping nearly half a million people.
Zopa CEO Jaidev Janardana said, “We aim to be the best place for money in the UK and we believe that launching our bank is a key next step. It allows us to offer a wider choice of products and to help our customers make smarter choices with their money. This further injection of capital takes us a step closer to that vision and we are delighted that our investors have supported us on this journey.”
Earlier in the week, Zopa’s CEO Jaidev Janardana stated he believes the FCA’s proposed changes to P2P lending platforms is a positive step for the market.
The Financial Conduct Authority recently outlined a number of changes for loan-based crowdfunding platforms due to ‘growing complexity and poor practices’ since it first authorised trading in the market 18 months ago.
Last year, the lender raised £32m in a funding round which was co-led by Wadhawan Global Capital and Northzone.
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![Temenos (SIX: TEMN) today announced that National Bank of Iraq (NBI), part of the Capital Bank Group, has successfully gone live with Temenos core banking and payments. NBI, which has 27 branches across Iraq, offers a comprehensive range of services to individuals and businesses in the country. Since 2005, NBI has been majority owned by Capital Bank, one of the top financial institutions operating in the Jordanian and regional markets, with assets of approximately JOD 7.6 billion[1]. With this implementation, NBI moved from its legacy systems onto the same core banking platform as other entities in the Capital Bank Group. This will enable NBI to operate more efficiently and integrate seamlessly with other systems to develop new products faster and deliver an improved customer experience. Capital Bank Group is a long-standing Temenos customer with other entities in the Group including Capital Bank of Jordan, Bank Audi, Société Générale Bank Jordan and NBI Saudi Arabia, already on the Temenos platform. NBI also becomes the first part of the group to adopt Temenos Payments, which enabled the bank to process more than 100,000 transactions of incoming and outgoing domestic and international payments in the first 15 days of operation, with a 99% straight-through processing rate. The migration to the Temenos platform for core banking and payments at NBI was completed in under 12 months thanks to Temenos’ pre-configured banking and payments capabilities and APIs which reduced the need for complex customizations, as well as close collaboration between Temenos, NBI, Capital Bank and delivery partner ITSS. This success was recently recognized in the IBS Intelligence Innovation Awards, with Capital Bank winning ‘Best Implementation of Core Banking Services'. The implementation at NBI follows several other successful transformation projects with Temenos for Capital Bank in the last few years, including the launch of NBI’s branch operations in Saudi Arabia in just 45 days, as well as the integration of Bank Audi and the former Jordanian operations of Société Générale, each of which was achieved in under four months. Collectively, these projects helped Capital Bank to increase operational efficiency by more than 50% within three years, bringing significant cost savings and an improved customer experience. With faster, more accurate processing and immediate service requests, the bank has maintained high customer retention rates and a reputation for service excellence. Izzidin Abusalameh, Chief Operations Officer, Capital Bank Group, commented: “This achievement marks a significant milestone in our digital transformation journey and positions us as a leading player in the banking industry. We have seamlessly transitioned the National Bank of Iraq to a cutting-edge core banking system which will not only enhance operational efficiency but also support providing our customers with a superior digital banking experience. Our continued partnership with Temenos has not only provided us with an advanced technological platform but has also facilitated a culture of flexibility and adaptability, enabling us to execute our ambitious growth plans.” Lee Allcorn, Managing Director, Middle East & Africa, Temenos, said: “Congratulations to National Bank of Iraq and the Capital Bank team on this successful implementation that gives NBI business agility and the same modern technology platform and ability to deploy fast with pre-configured banking capabilities as the rest of the group. With Temenos, Capital Bank Group is future-ready, and we are proud to support them as they continue to innovate and leverage our platform to grow sustainably and enhance the banking experience for customers.”](https://fintech.global/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/rupixen-Q59HmzK38eQ-unsplash-2-218x150.jpg "Flutterwave teams up with Acquired.com to streamline outward remittances in EU and UK")
