Funding Circle www.fundingcircle.com

Put 2k in, matured to give me £2,068.00 in 12 months except.... I can’t withdraw it! I was able to withdraw around 2k but conveniently the interest made is tied up in loan parts that have been on sale now for over 4 months and never sell. As a result my interest rate is 0% and I can’t seem to release the money no matter what I try.

I have been with FC for 3-years and it was a good site , very flexible.

They have today, changed how the platform works, now investors cannot review loans nor pick the loan you wish to fund, you can only pick two options with selected % bands , they will be the one to pick the specific loan for you , however they take no responsibility if the loan defaults.

This is a real problem for investors, who wants someone you don't know picking unknown loans and allocating your money against them ??

Its a real shame as FC was definitely one of the best P2P Platforms... I see this as a real mistake and certainly a real disadvantage for investors...sorry FC bad move.

Found them quite easy to use. They offered us an unsecured loan at 18 %. We could get a similar deal with our bank at 8%.

I have been an early investor of FundingCircle loans since 2011 and recently, I have had to make my first withdrawal from them after I sold all my loan assets. I used their facility and a week later, the monies had not been released (usually takes 2-3 days). I called them and they claimed to have sent a security email to me to ask me to confirm that I made the withdrawal.

Upon searching my email box, I found out that the title of the email that FundingCircle sent was this:

"Request #xxxx: How would you rate the support you received?"

Hence, my feedback to future users of FundingCircle:

1) Be careful when withdrawing for the first time, especially if you have deadlines to get your funds

The email I alluded to above is misleading because it looks like a survey or feedback request (hence you may not be inclined to open it immediately), whereas in the body of the email, it asks you to call to confirm initiation of the withdrawal of funds by calling them.

Because of that, I did not get my capital back until much later. Yes, technically, it was my fault for not opening the email, but FundingCircle could have done more to make communications with investors more direct and transparent. These email trails also do not appear in one's online account.

2) Expectations of net returns

I usually only invest in A and B above rated loans and even then the loss rates are not necessarily low. This eats into any promised returns. Hence, the net interest you get after fees and losses does not match expectations. Yes, it is slightly higher than if you put in a bank (e.g. Santander has 3% on its 123 Current Account), but you have no recourse to the UK Financial Conduct Authority should anything go wrong (I am told that FundingCircle are applying to be under the FCA regime by middle of 2016 - this is ongoing).

Overall, I would say: Be careful that you know what you are getting into. They are not the magic bullet to the current low interest rate environment. Test out withdrawing some money first before you really need it.

OK so I hate getting unsolicited mail shots. But the letter I got from The Funding Circle intrigued me, it seemed too good to be true. The fact is that it has proven so, here's why.

The first thing that was a breath of fresh air was the way their account manager dealt with my enquiry. The process was described as simple, everything was done on-line and responded to in nano seconds with a great customer portal to track progress and back up options like using email or just speaking to the account manager.

Best of all I was treated with respect and positivity. Unless you've made it and are rich, the banks always look down their noses as small business, especially in the early stages of development. Whist the due diligence that the Funding Circle does is exactly the same, it's the attitude and sense of real partnership with us as a client that really makes a difference. That on top of a well thought out, straight forward and fast service means the result is I have already made two referrals.

Funding circle have been brilliant. I applied a while ago but had to wait for my accounts to be finalised. Once they were done the process was fast and simple. I was kept up to date every step of the way. Can't thank them enough...onwards and upwards for my little business now.

I liked the fact I had a named account manager and could contact with any queries.

I am averaging 6.8%, I stick to the highest credit ratings and £20 each investment. Now with the fixed rate there is no rush to get your bid in before the time runs out, and i particularly like the interest only builders loan; where the principle is paid back at the end, and with first charge security, no worries, well not many.

I have only had one bad experience where the lender went bust after just one repayment, I thought Funding Circle had not done a good job in checking the credit worthiness of the company, but that was a couple of years ago and I have had no losses since.

As far as getting your money out if you have an emergency, I have had to do it and found it easy and surprisingly fast.

would recommend funding circle to any one excellent telephone service and communicatence

I applied for a loan for my company and within 2 weeks (would of been sooner however, I slowed down the process!) it was approved. It was simple easy and a breath of fresh air. Wish I had been aware of it years ago -

Got loan approved answered all info required got loan account set up and scheduled said yes to extra work then get email saying cant lend now got to ring customers and tell them cant do work