The eBay of banking

August 12th, 2005

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.

2 Comments

  1. Comment by Valerie on August 12, 2005 8:56 pm

    Wow. This is cool. Just one more reason why I’d like to be British.

  2. Comment by Bes on August 14, 2005 2:24 am

    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.

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