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It's about time we sent you an update about what's going on in the
world of Zopa in these United States! We've been cranking away on
getting Zopa up and running here in California. In this update:
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July is a great month here in San Francisco. Our US offices are in the
sunny part of the city, within a stone's throw of the headquarters of
all the major banks. (So far, none of us have thrown any stones.)
Instead, we're working on our California launch:
- We've hired and started work with all our vendors, for things like credit reporting and the like.
- The site redesign is underway.
We'll have a look and feel that is hipper, more informative, and easier
to use. Oh, and we'll be dropping all the British spellings, too (see
sidebar).
- We're knee-deep in partnering conversations. If you'd like to partner, drop us a line by responding to this email.
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This
summer (up to Labor Day), get a free case of beer from us by hosting
your very own Zopa Barbecue (er, Zopacue?). Here's how it works: |
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- Get 5 friends to sign up for the US preview for Zopa. They just need to submit their email address at http://zopa.com/ZopaWeb/promo/america
Note: they should use their work email address, it helps us verify their address.
- Email us at zopacue@zopa.com
Tell us who you invited, and when and where you'd like your case
delivered. (If you live in Timbuktu, we may Paypal you the cash
equivalent instead. But if you live near us, we may deliver it in
person!)
- Have a great time at your party! Send us a picture (at zopacue@zopa.com), and we'll put it on our blog! Best picture gets a $50 bonus!
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We've challenged our crosstown rivals, Prosper, to a friendly softball
game. (By friendly, we mean that we want to win by only 3 runs, instead
of 10.) If you live in the Bay Area and like to play softball, you're
welcome to come play on our team! Email us at playball@zopa.com for details.
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The first US operating team member we'd like to introduce you to is
Bruce Brenkus, who's a pretty important fish at Zopa. As Vice
President, Credit and Risk, he's the person responsible for
safeguarding Zopa lenders' money and making sure that only the right
people in the U.S. become Zopa borrowers.
Tell us a little about your role at Zopa, Bruce!
Sure. I approve borrowers while minimizing risk (losses). This process
has two sides - credit and fraud risk. The first involves using data to
make decisions in getting the right loans to the right people and the
second involves providing a validation process to ensure we are dealing
with the actual person presenting the application. I also provide
investors with estimates of expected losses and suggested pricing for
different risk tiers.
Great! How long have you been at this sort of thing?
Well,
I have over 19 years in financial services. I spent five years as Chief
Credit Office at Bank One for several different product lines within
the consumer credit world. Later I moved to Wells Fargo to head up a
new division for Home Equity Lending. Before that I worked in new
product development for Equifax, the big credit reporting agency.
So Bruce, how much in loan volume has gone though credit policies that you developed?
Well, I'd say $200 billion.
$200 billion? Wow, that's a lotta loans. So what made you leave your fatcat job at the biggest lender in the country?
Because
Zopa is cool, and because p2p lending is the future of lending. Even
though I was working at big companies, I was always involved in new
product development and this idea just makes so much sense, it was time
to take the leap into startup-land.
Well, we're glad you did. Welcome to the team, Bruce!
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For a site that's not up yet in the United States, we continue to get a
lot of attention from the U.S. news media. Here are just two examples:
- Online P-to-P Lending - Why It Matters
American Banker (June 20, 2006, free trial required)
Would you believe, some bankers are a bit, uh, stroppy about peer-to-peer lending?
- Lots of Loans, But No Banks
BusinessWeek (July 3, 2006).
Nice overview of P2P lending, though it could be clearer that diversification is uniquely essential to the Zopa approach.
If you have trouble seeing these articles, let us know and we'll try to help!
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That's it for this update. If you've got any ideas for stories, features, or Zopa-themed quizzes, email us at newsletter@zopa.com. Talk to you later!
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If you prefer not to receive communication like this from Zopa, no hard feelings. Email contactus@zopa.com to let us know.
ZOPA
505 Montgomery Street, 11th Floor. San Francisco, CA 94111
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