This edition of This Month at Zopa is less of a monthly update and more of an annual review. It's the Zopa equivalent of the Christmas issue of the Radio Times, although we're not expecting you to go through it with a highlighter circling things you like (but if you do, print it out first). In keeping with the end of year review theme, we've got our version of the Queen's Speech, a couple of Christmas plays, the Username of the Year competition, and an interview with cybergran, Zopa's oldest lender, which isn't particularly festive but we did ask her a question about turkey.
Enjoy.
2006 saw Zopa enter its second year - and what a year it was:
70,550 new members joined
We had a complete refurb, replacing the old website with a brand new one
The A and B markets got some company, as we introduced the A* and C markets
Zopa grew up as a business, introducing fees for borrowers and lenders
Pie charts divided the nation, as we made our first wave of improvements to the Lender Summary screens
The discussion board gave Zopa members a voice
The first ever Zopa Member and Team meet-up was held and all involved deemed it a roaring success
A number of big milestones were reached, including having £1 million on offer to borrowers, getting over 1 million page hits in one day, and breaking the 100,000 member barrier
Zopa won Internet Innovation of the Year at the coveted CNet Technology Awards
2007 will see Zopa get even better for existing members, and even more appealing for those yet to join:
More borrowers will be able to use Zopa, as we add new markets and introduce new products
Lenders will get all the information they could ever possibly want, thanks to the totally revamped Lender Summary screens
The signed-in area of the site will have a lot of new functionality added to it, including auto re-lend and more advanced custom lending
We'll be looking at the possibility of launching secondary markets
And fingers crossed we'll be spreading our wings and taking Zopa into foreign lands.
Having joined Zopa a couple of months ago, 84 year-old cybergran stands proud as Zopa's oldest lender. We caught up with her to have a chat about her life, her experiences at Zopa and her plans for Christmas.
Hi cybergran. First things first, that's a great username - what made you choose it?
One of my grandsons emailed me when I first got my computer and addressed me as cybergran.
Very appropriate. How many grandchildren do you have?
I have 7 grandsons and 5 great-grandchildren (3 boys and 2 girls).
That's a lot - they must keep you busy in your retirement. Can you tell us a bit about what you did before you retired?
I was a clippy on the London buses during the war. Prior to that I worked as a book-keeper and then an audit clerk, did my war work and married towards the end of the war. I brought up my family and at the age of 48 went back to office work and worked until my 70th birthday.
A very full life indeed. Moving on to matters Zopa, how did you first find out about the site?
Through my son.
And what made you decide to lend?
The thought of earning a decent percentage on my money and also helping people.
That's what Zopa's all about, cybergran. What are your plans for Christmas day?
Lunch with my daughter, son in law, and son at one of my grandson's homes. And then on Boxing Day I'm entertaining another grandson, his fiancee and my son.
Sounds great. Do you prefer turkey or goose?
Turkey.
Good choice. Thanks cybergran - have a wonderful Christmas.
It's been a great year for usernames, with creativity levels amongst Zopa members at an all-time high. The Username of the Month competition was initiated in March to reward the best effort each month, and some great names have walked off with the title:
All of the above could add the 2006 Username of the Year award to their trophy cabinet as well, but they'll need your help. Simply decide who you think deserves to win and then email your vote to tom@zopa.com. The winner will be announced next month.
It's Christmas time, and what better way to celebrate than by casting some of the 110,000+ Zopa members in a pair of festive plays?
(NB Casting decisions based on usernames rather than acting ability.)
First things first, we had to make some tough decisions as there were far too many angels for one play. So KrazeyAngel, badangel and darkAngel792 - thanks, but no thanks. But congratulations pinkangel66, angel27, MoneyAngel, angelkate, and AngelGirl - you've all made the cut. And special congratulations to archangeltim, who we've made captain.
On shepherding duty are shepherdm126, rshepherd and goodsheperd, and playing the three magi we've got timwiseman, jwiseman and gavinwiseman. If they follow twinklestar, they'll bump into Joseph0906, mary_1 and their sweetbaby. It would be rude to turn up empty-handed, so they can bring potofgold, Frankenstein and emmer with them as presents.
In this less traditional production, we were spoilt for choice for the role of the jolly, bearded fat man, with pietrasanta, santacat1963, santa14 and santaclaws all putting themselves forward. But in the end we plumped for santaclara, just because we thought it would be nice to have a Mother Christmas for once.
And she's got nearly a full compliment of reindeers to help her deliver all her presents. Step forward, dasher1962, dancer, vixen17, Cupiditas, BlitzN and donna123. Unfortunately we're without Prancer and Comet this year, so in their place will have to come rudolph and the imaginatively-titled reindeer. And once they've helped ensure every child has their stocking filled, they can tuck into some carrots23, and santaclara can enjoy a well-earned sherry121.
Hi there.
Looking back, 2006 was a year of legitimising Zopa. When we launched in early 2005 most people said "great idea - let's wait and see". In 2006 most people connected with Zopa or observing Zopa concluded that the Zopa marketplace is working: that it is giving borrowers and lenders a great financial deal and a more social alternative to banks. In my view, through our collective efforts, Zopa is increasingly trusted. This increased trust is reflected in our results - with your returns and your cost of borrowing improving each month, and with Member growth continuing to increase.
Looking forward to 2007, our goal is to grow Zopa significantly. We'll do this by making Zopa even easier to use, by providing more choice to both lenders and borrowers and by increasing the general public's awareness of Zopa. Growth will be good for everyone using Zopa, as the market will become increasingly efficient.
On behalf of the Zopa Team, I want to say thank-you for your continued usage and support of Zopa. You've been our strongest advocates and most vocal critics - and we greatly appreciate both contributions. They help us grow and develop far more quickly than we would on our own.
From us all, Happy Christmas and best wishes for the New Year
Hope you enjoyed the Christmas edition of This Month at Zopa - we'll meet again in the New Year.
If you prefer not to receive communication like this from Zopa, no hard feelings. Email contactus@zopa.com to let us know. Just so you know it's us, your username is ###.
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