Plenti
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending platforms such as Plenti have been on the rise in recent years. These loan facilities offer an alternative for lenders seeking higher interest returns on their cash.
The interest rate received for funds held with a bank is very low in the current market. This is also reflected by the low-interest rate currently in the Plenti loan market. The current rate for a 1-month rolling loan is 1.6% which is only slightly better than what I receive in my high-interest bank account.
Plenti is currently marketing an offer where you can earn a $50 bonus when you invest $1,000+ in the 5 Year Income lending market. For full disclosure, I would receive a commission for the referral using the link only if you were to take up the offer. I have included the link here.
Sign up Process
The signup process is fairly straightforward so I decided to go ahead and get an account set up. Once I was on the home page I selected “Get Started” up on the top right corner.
Plenti Registration
The website directed me to a registration page where I input my personal details to create a Plenti account. Once registered, I recommend that you should not even transfer a single dollar without first reading the Product Disclosure Statement provided by Plenti. The document clearly outlines the risks, terms, and conditions of the unsecured loan that you will be entering into as an investor. Please carefully read this document in its entirety before considering if this product is right for you.
Deposit Funds
Once signed up I decided to test the platform depositing $1 it took about 1-2 business days to be transferred across via a bank transfer. You can now log back in via the main page and starting investing. Now that the transfer was successful I decided to transfer $1,000 to test the market interest rate for a month. It is lower than what I expect shares could provide as a return. However, as I need these funds in the short term it offers a good in-between option while the funds are just sitting in the bank account. The platform is user-friendly and appears to have recently undergone cosmetic changes. An option on the home page allows you to toggle between a new and old version of the website, I prefer the new look.
Invest in Loan Market
After now successfully transferring across $1,000 I am ready to loan the money through the peer-to-peer platform. This is a relatively easy process as the interest rates are clearly stated and you just need to “invest now”.
Once you have hit invest you will be prompted to invest your funds at the current market rate. As I have selected only a 1-month rolling term the interest rate is 1.2%. Note that you can change this so set the rate you are comfortable with. I chose the market rate to test out the platform but the custom rate can be set much higher. Be wary that if you choose the highest rate offered you may not be immediately matched with a borrower. You also have the choice of the amount to invest I only had $1,000 in the account so that is what I invested.
Confirmation
A confirmation is shown with the investment amount, Interest rate, market period and the funds remaining. Once you are satisfied with the term you can confirm the order by selecting submit.
You are now an investor in the peer-to-peer lending market. The amount on the loan will be repaid once the 1-month rolling period has expired. I chose to re-invest the interest and capital on a rolling basis. This option is a personal choice and you will need to consider your own investing time horizon.
If you are needing ideas to generate income to invest in P2P lending such as Plenti check out the 10 side hustle ideas I have suggested for 2021.
