LendingCrowd loses 4th Way rating
Peer-to-peer lending platform LendingCrowd will no longer be rated by P2P analyst 4th Way, after the platform stopped publishing its loan book data.
The platform has removed the ‘Statistics’ page from its website, and is not providing any additional data to 4th Way on a regular basis. Instead, it has reverted to providing an outcomes statement, which is a requirement of the financial regulator.
“LendingCrowd has taken the rare step of deciding to no longer publish its loan book or provide 4th Way with it on a regular basis,” said 4th Way’s Matthew Howard, in a blog on the analyst’s website.
“As a result of this large step back in transparency, LendingCrowd has lost all its 4thWay PLUS Ratings on all its lending accounts.”
Read more: 4th Way gives its views on Zopa and Funding Circle returns
4th Way noted that “the vast majority of P2P lending companies that have provided 4th Way with loan books continue to do so and they show that they have no reason not to”.
4th Way uses platform loan books to conduct its analysis of the business, and to rate the platform based on the quality of the loans.
Howard added that LendingCrowd hasn’t given any reason for its decision to stop publishing full loan book data. While 4th Way will continue to list LendingCowd in its comparison tables, it will no longer be rated by the company.
LendingCrowd has been closed to new lending since December 2020, when the platform switched to offering government-backed loans.
“In the rare times that a P2P lending company has suddenly stopped providing or publishing its loan book, we have pointed 4th Way users to our 10 founding P2P Investing Principles, which have stood the test of time,” added Howard.
“Principle three states: treat buried information as if there’s a reason, missing or ambiguous information as if it contains bad news, and decreased information as if it contains worse news.
“Demand more verifiable information the less that is provided freely.”
Read more: P2P analyst 4th Way removes Zopa ratings