405,000 people could open up an Innovative Finance ISA in 2016

By Dom Wolf, Co-founder of investUP – the crowdfunding supermarket

Hot of the press research by the Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) suggests that around 405,000 ISA savers could choose to use crowdlending (P2P), as it becomes part of the ISA family in 2016. This marks a huge number of people entering into the crowdlending market. The research, which was conducted this year, also highlighted two other key statistics.

1. More people are likely to start saving, with one in five (19%) of those who do not have an ISA expected to open one. Bearing in mind that 22m people in the UK, 46% of the adult population (Gov.uk), have an ISA, this shows that Britain’s number 1 financial product is about to get even more dominant.
2. Nearly one in four (23%) of the people who hold an ISA believe they will increase the amount they have in these.

Crowdlending is growing UP

investUP truly believes that crowdfunding and crowdlending is coming of age. The new rules are huge for both savers and the crowdlending industry as a whole. Don’t forget crowdlending is still comparatively small. Investors should remember that crowdfunding can be risky, so they must understand the risks involved and learn to protect against these through diversification.

Only one problem exists – aside from the name – the Innovative Finance ISA will only allow savers to use one crowdfunding site and still enjoy the tax benefit. Not good for choice and competition. If you ask us, the Innovative Finance ISA already needs innovating. Enter an ISA fit for crowdlending and P2P. The crowdISA – an ISA that works across more than a dozen and counting crowdlending sites. This new product allows savers to take maximum advantage of the huge potential in the developing markets of P2P and crowdlending – spreading the risk and maximising choice. It’s going to be an exciting year for the industry. Watch this space.