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Zopa quotes

Zopa loves....walking to work

A good stroll clears out the cobwebs and makes you all bright and alert for when you hit the office. You'll get 10 emails out by 9.30, and the boss will finally recognise you as a real go-getter. Just remember to take an umbrella - it's hard to pull off the go-getter thing when you're soaked through and there's a squelch every time you take a step.

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What people are saying
about lending

Journalists

The Daily Telegraph (Mar 2007)
"With the average return a healthy 6.8% before tax and after bad debt and fees, it is a tempting offer. Lenders effectively tie up their cash for the period of the loan, which averages three years, and bear the risk of defaults directly, but the top rates beat best buys on the open market, such as Northern Rock's three-year bond, paying an APR of 6%."

The Sunday Times (Feb 2007)
"When it launched I was as sceptical as any about the idea, but after two years it clearly works."

This is Money website (Feb 2007)
"According to Barclays Capital's analysis of the historical performance of asset classes, (lender returns at Zopa) are better than the annual return from cash and gilts over the past 10 years, and have certainly been better than a saver would have seen from bonds over the past two years."

What Investment (Jan 2007)
"If your financial resolution for 2007 is to get your savings in tiptop shape then Zopa lending could be your answer."

The Independent (Nov 2006)
"Banks and insurance companies are not renowned for moving with the times - more often than not, innovation is an alien concept. But that doesn't mean the financial services industry doesn't occasionally come up with a new idea. And the best ones could make you serious amounts of money.....Zopa.com is an internet site that gives people the opportunity to lend to individual borrowers for their mutual benefit."

Motley Fool website (Oct 2006)
"A hidden gem"

What Investment Magazine: 5 stars, Product of the Month (Aug 2006)
"No bank in the middle, no huge overheads, no unethical investments - it's a completely new way of doing things and a completely new asset class for your portfolio."

Best Practice Magazine (August 2006)
"As an enterprising accountant looking at new borrowing or investment alternatives for clients, consider peer-to-peer lending. In the UK, one company in particular is bringing the concept of micro lending to the masses via its website, www.zopa.com, bypassing traditional banks and providing a new asset class for retail investors."

The Times (July 2006)
"You may think the idea sounds crazy, but a growing number of people are lending their own money over the internet - and they are receiving market-beating rates in the process."

Metro (July 2006)
"By spreading your money around, you limit the damage caused if any one investment takes a dive. On the buffet are such things as shares, bank accounts, bonds and National Savings. But now you can become part of a lending exchange. A website called zopa.com lets you lend money through its online company"

This Is Money (July 2006)
"It is lenders, who can put up between £500 and £25,000, that are flourishing under the system, with many finding they are getting better returns for their money than through traditional savings accounts."

Those in the know

Alpesh Patel, financial commentator and broadcaster
"Zopa meets my criteria for safety, it provides better returns than savings accounts and more predictable returns than stocks and shares. Lending through Zopa is becoming an important part of many people's portfolio, alongside their savings and investments. There's a strong chance that in the future people will talk about three things to do with your money: saving, investing and lending."

Cliff D'Arcy, financial journalist
"Some financial commentators have gone so far as to describe Zopa a completely new asset class, to be ranked alongside cash, bonds and shares. Indeed, you can think of it as a "bond market for individuals", where one person raises a large amount by borrowing smaller sums from lots of others. Hence, savers and investors can use Zopa to diversify their portfolio beyond the usual assets (cash, bonds, property and shares) by becoming a lender."

Simon Woodruffe, founder of Yo! Sushi
"Brilliant idea. Absolutely love it. I think it's just a taste of the future. Peer to peer is where we're going. It seems so obvious. You cut out the middlemen, cut out the bank, cut out the High Street, it makes all the sense in the world. Totally, totally into it."

Lenders

Martin
"The banks make way too much money out of me already so I am very happy to lend in a person-to-person market."

Nick
"It's brilliant to see where the money's going. It's almost worth using just for the fun value - I'm getting as good a return as saving the money, but I can see that Mr Jones is paying his tax bill and Mrs Smith is going on holiday! How cool is that?"

Paul
"I'm using Zopa to get a monthly return as part of my portfolio. I wouldn't put all of my money here but the return is good and better than term or bond accounts with building societies. Why would you sign up to a 3 or 5 year bond when you can get a better return with Zopa over the same period?"

Mark
"It's an alternative to a building society or bank deposit. You need to build up a portfolio and have to be quite thoughtful as to how you handle it but it's quite fun. I can lend about £5,000 a month and achieve a return of around 100 basis points [1 percentage point] over the best bank and building society rates."

Ian
"I wanted to make my money (savings) work harder. Everything I make by lending is going to pay off my mortgage ASAP."

Archie
"I could have probably put my money in a unit trust or something and sat back but I guess I am one of the "early adopters" who loves new technology and seeing how things work."

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