Crowd funding site Pledge Me has applied for a licence to offer peer-to-peer lending.
Chief executive Anna Guenther said: “Peer-to-peer, or debt crowdfunding as it’s also known, is another way for Kiwis to fund the things they care about.
The new product will be called PledgeMe.Debt.
Guenther said it would be designed for organisations rather than individuals.
“An organisation’s crowd will be able to lend it money and the organisation will pay their crowd back with interest.
“It is a really simple way PledgeMe can further democratise what gets funded in New Zealand and offer an alternative to banks and selling shares.”
It will offer a transparent platform so campaigners can directly approach their supporters.
“This means growth companies, social enterprises, not-for-profits, schools, co-operatives and communities — organisations wanting to involve those around them to achieve their purpose — will be able to borrow from their crowds,” Guenther said.
“Unlike many peer-to-peer platforms, PledgeMe isn’t backed by a bank. This means borrowers will have a greater say over what, when and how they borrow and their crowds will be the decisive factor. This means the relationship campaigners will have with their lenders will be a lot different and, we believe, a lot more beneficial.”
PledgeMe expects debt crowdfunding campaigns will be live on the site by the middle of 2016.
There are already four operators in New Zealand: Harmoney, Squirrel Money, LendMe and Lending Crowd, which is in a soft launch phase.
| « Harmoney increases borrowers' interest rates | Lending Crowd soft launches » |
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