A new peer-to-peer lending platform says it is delivering on its promise to shake-up the major banks, with a surge of brokers and lenders wanting to join the platform since its launch late last year.
In December, Australian Broker reported on the launch of peer-to-peer lender ThinCats, which vowed to challenge traditional banking by providing a flexible and competitive alternative for the $73 billion a year SME lending market.
Since then, Thincats Australia chief executive Sunil Aranha says the online lending platform has had 134 brokers and lenders register and has completed its first two loans.
“We are delighted with the response from lenders, borrowers and brokers to our unique platform, targeting specifically the millions of small to medium businesses whose financial needs are often ignored by the big lenders,” he said.
“We have already found a good niche with the SMEs, which borrow about $73 billion a year to finance their operations, and expect to build our portfolio of loans quickly as sophisticated and wholesale investors discover the potency of our platform. We are also generating a lot of interest from finance brokers, who we will be rewarding as they bring loans to the platform.”
Aranha has previously told Australian Broker that brokers can receive competitive remuneration for being “introducers”.
“If a broker introduces a loan, they can receive about 25bps for just the introduction of a successful transaction through to 60bps for doing part of the credit work and organising the loan submission. On an ongoing basis, the introducer would be getting between 15bps to 25bps of trail,” he said.
The global market for peer-to-peer lending is currently worth over $6 billion and doubling in value every year, according to Aranha.
