The UK peer-to-peer industry has issued over £500 million of new consumer and small business loans since April this year, according to industry body, P2PFA. Interest rate impact? At an event last week, Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, hinted strongly that this might come at the turn of the year. As Giles Andrews, Zopa’s CEO and co-founder explains: “Any rise in base rates will benefit both our lenders and borrowers as bank spreads will increase as they always do as interest rates rise. Commentators have been talking about the prospective increase in bank profitability as interest rates rise and that will have to be paid for by consumers, making our alternative proposition even more compelling.”

http://www.zopa.com/blog/2015/07/24/uk-peer-to-peer-loans-hit-315-billion-and-counting/