Zopa.com

[James]

Has anyone seen http://www.zopa.com ?

A simple idea. These guys are the first to do it. DAMN! Why didn't I think of it first!?

It's a loan exchange where people can lend or borrow their own money, all pretty safely as it is regulated by the FSA and borrowers have to pass credit tests.

For example, if I've got a spare couple of grand (that would be nice), I can ask Zopa to offer it to a borrower at say 9% interest. A much better return than a bank account.

Yes, there is a slight risk that the borrower will default, but the money lent is actually spread over many many borrowers so the risk is small. And bear in mind the borrower has to pass credit checks and will get debt collectors on to them if they default.

I think it is a wonderful idea and I'm gutted I didn't think of it and get backing for it!

[Tom]

The first and third worlds both have co-operative arrangements of this type for small loans but (1) they usually offer lower rates of interest than banks (2) they work because the people know each other personally (hence the security) and there are no marble frontages to maintain (hence the lower prices).

The Zopa arrangement sounds to me more like those shops which offer a cheque-encashment facility. They work through high prices, which allow for a few defaults.

My conclusion: every web business needs to be founded on detailed research.

Has anyone seen the film Startup.com (http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-03,GGLD:en&q=movie+%22Startup+%2Ecom%2C%22)? I heard the subject of the film on the radio this morning. He agreed to be filmed by the Harvard Business School as a case study but was dismayed, big time, when they turned his failure into a successful movie. HBS made a pile of cash out of him and did not part with a cent.

Note to David: do you think we might do this with freedigitalphotos.net?