investor education

Investors wanted it, peer-to-peer lending platforms wanted it, the government believed in it, and the taxman approved it. So how did the Innovative Finance Individual Savings Account (IFISA) get to be the best-kept secret in alternative finance?

Another Crowd is crying into its coffee over reports that as the end of the tax year approaches, nobody knows they can put up to £15,240 into P2P lending, and keep the proceeds tax-free.

Britain's biggest savers are missing out on the best interest because they don't know about IFISA rates and tax breaks. Saga Investment Services, which specialises in the over-50s, recently conducted a poll which shows only half of them know what an IFISA is.

The economy is too hot! The economy is too cold! The easiest story to write about crowdfunding and alternative finance  is the "something has changed, and it's all going wrong."  But Goldilocks is hungry. She's a growing girl, and she needs her porridge.

Peer-to-peer ending is riskier than saving, and lending platforms are often asked how they protect their lenders against losses. Today, the Bank of England's blog looks at the hidden costs of compensation schemes, and argues that in many cases, attempts to protect investors' money have the opposite effect: they reward flawed business models, and take away one good reason for investors to .move their money elsewhere.