You deserve better. We all deserve better.
At a time of gross uncertainty, we can be certain that the UK’s debt is growing. We don’t need to put that of a side of a bus. We know. We feel the pinch. We see the effect on society around us.
The rise and rise of high-interest credit solutions – and the interest rate that goes along with that – has hit us as a nation and it seems we’re struggling to recover.
As of June 2019 The Money Charity highlighted that as a nation we owe £72 billion on unpaid credit cards alone – not taking into account mortgages or loans. The average credit card interest rate had reached 19.99% typical APR. The average UK household owns £59,713 in debt.
And these figures will continue to grow… Because in times of financial uncertainty, there’s almost certainly someone profiting.
It’s Time To Take A Leap
In wanting to change this grim picture, we launched Leap in the first quarter of 2019.
Leap Lending is an FCA regulated online peer-to-peer (P2P) platform with the aim to provide both borrowers and investors with fair and competitive rates. We want everyone to be able to focus on achieving their financial goals and understand how peer-to-peer can be used to improve financial wellbeing.
What Do We Do Differently?
At Leap, we operate with a shared responsibility to improve our members’ mental and financial wellbeing by allowing borrowers to refinance their debts at comparatively low interest rates, whilst lenders profit from competitively good returns.
From conception, it has been imperative that we only allow credit to those that we are 100% sure can afford to pay it back.
We have rebuilt our entire credit model with this as our focus. Our cloud architecture allows us to easily integrate with best-in-class third party providers, including strategic partners, data sources and outsourced vendors as well as to enhance current products or launch future online products.
Most recently, we’ve partnered with AccountScore to better assess our borrower’s affordability with Open Banking. We believe this will protect lenders and borrowers alike, allowing everyone in our P2P community to thrive.
To support and encourage our borrowers we have created and introduced Dynamic Rate. This innovative model will reward our borrowers for staying on track and reducing their overall debts by offering smaller monthly repayments.
Each quarter, if the debt is not more than 5% above the overall debt amount at the point of application (excluding mortgages), we’ll reduce the monthly repayment amount, putting extra money in their pocket.
All of these features have been born from our desire to create a fairer economy through peer-to-peer.
What’s Next For Leap?
Ultimately, growth is the next step for us. Grow our customer community. Grow our team. Grow as a brand and as a business.
Although we’re still at the very beginning of our journey, we’re already striving to develop and evolve to create the best possible experience for all of our P2P community. We’re hiring more hands to help us stay at the forefront of tech.
We want to be better, because you deserve better. And of that, we are certain.
