Exclusive: RateSetter partnership with CommuterClub ends

The peer-to-peer lending platform is concentrating more on its core business.

As reported last week Zopa, the largest UK consumer P2P lending platform, has a new origination channel in the form of CommuterClub which finances season tickets to allow commuters to take advantage of annual travel passes.

Coinciding with the new funding channel deal via Zopa, loans issued by CommuterClub will no longer be funded by the UK’s third largest P2P lending platform RateSetter which has had a partnership with the firm since 2014.

The reasons for the move seem multi-faceted. The firm has refocused its strategy to concentrate on originating its own loans and avoiding wholesale partnerships. Zopa and Commuter Club also have a shared shareholder.

CommuterClub, founded by Open Banking czar Imran Gulamhuseinwala and ex-Mckinsey executive Petko Plachkov, received £2.3m Series B backing led by Wadhawan Global, the private equity and venture capital arm of the DHFL group, a giant Indian conglomerate.

Wadhawan Global also led the £32m Series E investment into Zopa back in July 2017. It also led a Series C round in August last year into lending platform Neyber.

CommuterClub users pay via monthly direct debits. The firm says that it is cheaper than using monthly or weekly tickets and substantially less than pay-as-you-go or using contactless cards. Users can cancel their CommuterClub subscription at any time.

RateSetter declined to comment.