Unbolted and Abundance Funding have pledged to maintain their low minimal funding thresholds, regardless of the elevated price of compliance within the retail area.
The Monetary Conduct Authority (FCA) has imposed stricter rules on the peer-to-peer lending sector, together with advertising restrictions and extra stringent investor onboarding processes.
This has been compounded by the brand new Shopper Responsibility, launched on the finish of July, which additional will increase the onus on all regulated corporations to set excessive requirements of customer support and safety.
Increased compliance prices have led platforms reminiscent of JustUs, Brickowner and most not too long ago, Kuflink to extend their minimal thresholds.
Learn extra: How increased funding thresholds can defend peer-to-peer buyers
Nevertheless, some platforms stay open to extraordinarily small minimal investments.
P2P pawnbroking platform Unbolted gives short-term loans secured by luxurious belongings, which might be funded with as little as £1. Annual returns might be as excessive at 10.2 per cent.
Chris Brown, head of lending and operations at Unbolted, mentioned the platform felt “no have to impose a minimal funding stage”.
“Our platform works on the quick circulate of a number of six-month loans, a few of that are at a comparatively low worth,” he added.
Learn extra: The right way to spend money on an IFISA with lower than £1,000
In the meantime, moral crowd bonds platform Abundance Funding gives its customers the prospect to spend money on native councils and corporations which might be creating inexperienced power initiatives. Traders can earn annual returns of as much as eight per cent with a minimal funding of £5.
Abundance’s managing director Bruce Davis mentioned that the platform has “no plans” to extend its minimal threshold, “particularly given our deal with democratic finance working with native councils”.
He added that whereas stricter rules on the sector “have had a major affect on our potential to recruit new prospects”, Abundance has “no plans to alter one of many founding rules of the platform”.
Davis, who can also be a founding director of the UK Crowdfunding Affiliation (UKCFA), which represents the trade, mentioned that “the UKCFA continues to speak each with the FCA and the Treasury in regards to the unintended penalties of the brand new guidelines.”