BondMason to close online accounts system for old P2P offering
BondMason investors in its winding-down direct lending offering are being given until the end of June to download any account documents before the online login system is closed.
The direct lending investment service, BondMason Core, previously allocated investor funds to property-backed and peer-to-peer loans but stopped in May 2019.
It has been in wind-down and focused on repaying investors since, which has almost completed.
A change in its terms and conditions was revealed this month as part of the end of the wind-down process that said accounts will automatically be closed on 30 June 2022.
“If your account balance is less than £10, then your account will automatically be closed on 30 June 2022, or thereafter at the end of the first calendar quarter once your account balance falls below £10,” it said.
Any leftover funds will be paid to an investor’s nominated account.
If an account is terminated, users will get limited access to their BondMason account for a period of seven days to download any of their files such as tax statements.
After this, any rights to access accounts or the platform will cease, according to the terms and conditions.
The product previously offered returns of six per cent.
The wind-down has received positive feedback so far from clients on the P2P Independent Forum.
BondMason Core investors have received 107 per cent of their invested funds back since the wind-down was announced and any remaining client balances will still be collected and processed once accounts close.
Chief executive Stephen Findlay (pictured) said in 2019 that a decision was made to close in 2019 and shift to a buy-to-let investment portfolio amid concerns of a drop in interest rates.
“The rates we’re seeing and the availability of loans we like are decreasing, which I think is because there is more institutional capital coming into the sector,” chief executive Stephen Findlay (pictured) told Peer2Peer Finance News at the time.
“Therefore the headline rate is decreasing over time.
“Secondly, operational costs – such as regulation, compliance and client acquisition – are rising, resulting in higher costs for clients.
“We expect net returns to fall to three to four per cent per year, and we don’t think this is high enough for the risks involved.”
Read more: Is there a future for P2P investment aggregators