The eBay of banking
Zopa lets ordinary citizens borrow money from other ordinary citizens — no bank needed. This service is open to any UK resident over 18 years who clears a credit check. There are 2 categories for borrowers, those who have strong credit history and those who have a weak credit history. Those in the latter category pay higher interest rates. Zopa, meanwhile, takes a 1 percent commission from every borrower’s loan. I think the eBay model can be added to many other businesses too and it may well bring the barter system back from the dead.
12. August 2005 um 20:56
Wow. This is cool. Just one more reason why I’d like to be British.
14. August 2005 um 02:24
The people behind this idea seem to be well-known in many circles:
http://www.zopa.com/ZopaWeb/public/how/who.shtml
This is a really interesting concept; I’m surprised I haven’t heard about this elsewhere.