An update from the RateSetter customer services team

It has been a busy start to the year for RateSetter. Lucy Bott, Head of Customer Operations, runs through what has happened so far and what to expect over the next few months.

New Lender Terms

Something we announced in late 2016 and implemented in the first few months of this year is the update to our lender terms. The new lender terms came into effect on 1 March 2017, and the effect is that there is now more flexibility built into the structure of the Provision Fund.

Milestones

RateSetter has also reached some significant milestones in the space of the last few weeks: we now have over 50,000 people registered as RateSetter investors; we have collected £1bn of repayments back in – this is a particularly proud achievement for us – and investors have now earned more than £60m in total interest with more than £1.75bn of loans delivered to borrowers across the UK.

Improving our customer services

We’re making a change to the way our phone system works. When you call us, you’ll now be asked whether you’re a borrower or a lender, and will then be put through to the appropriate person in the customer services team to help with your query.

We don’t instinctively like automated phone line menus that ask callers to select an option, however we are introducing this change so that we can put you through to the right member of the team more quickly. Don’t worry though – it is definitely not our intention for this to be the thin end of the wedge! At the same time, we’re expanding our customer services team, so that we’ll have more people available to help you.

Innovative Finance ISA

Some lenders have asked us for an update on the Innovative Finance ISA. The largest peer-to-peer lending platforms are working with our regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, to receive full regulatory authorisation as soon as possible – this is required before we can launch our ISA. Unfortunately, there's no deadline for this, so we’re unable to give a reliable indication of timings, but we will of course provide more information as soon as we are able to do so.

In the meantime, it's worth noting that there are other ways to minimise the tax you pay on your interest from peer-to-peer lending. Depending on your overall income, the Personal Savings Allowance allows you to earn up to £1,000 in interest, tax-free (more information here).

Lender drinks

Finally, I’d like to remind you that our next lender drinks are coming up! They’ll be at our office on the evening of Wednesday 17 May 2017, and you can find more information and register here.