London fintech Zopa returns to P2P lending as losses narrow

Zopa has quietly re-entered the peer-to-peer lending market where it originally made its name after ditching its P2P subsidiary last year, the Standard can reveal. The London fintech said it had acquired a £41 million loan portfolio in March from an investor in its former P2P lending business for a cash fee of £38 million. Zopa, which began operations as the first peer-to-peer lender in 2005, decided to exit the market at the end of 2021 after the UK financial watchdog began a crackdown on lenders, citing concerns over a gap in protections for customers taking out finance products through loan-based crowdfunding.